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Good morning,

There are those who want us to believe our rights come from the government. I end the week reflecting on why such a lie is dangerous for our republic.

This is the Texas Minute for Friday, October 3, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

Paxton Orders Cities To Halt Tax Hikes Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is ordering four cities to halt implementation of newly adopted property tax increases while his office investigates whether the hikes are illegal under a new state law designed to protect taxpayers. Brandon Waltens has the story [[link removed]].

Under a new law that took effect last month, cities that fail to meet annual audit deadlines are prohibited from adopting a tax rate above the no-new-revenue rate, which generally keeps property tax bills flat. The first city in Paxton’s sights is Whitesboro, where just this week the city council approved a 61 percent tax rate increase despite warnings that the move could violate state law.

The other cities accused of adopting property tax increases without meeting state audit requirements include La Marque, Odessa, and Tom Bean.

Paxton says his office will use “every step” available to ensure local governments comply with state law and protect taxpayers from unlawful increases.

Redistricting Trial Day 2 Democrats' Testimony Undermines Democrats' Case A high-stakes legal challenge to Texas’ new congressional map continued Thursday in El Paso, with Democrats undermining their own case by admitting representational districts are drawn along partisan, rather than racial, divisions. Travis Morgan is covering the case [[link removed]].

Testimony began on Thursday with State Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas), who admitted his primary reason for believing race was a factor in the new maps was a sense that minority communities were “used as pawns.” However, under questioning, West conceded he lacked evidence to support this allegation.

Also taking the stand was State Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston), who admitted that “every redistricting we have, lawsuits are filed,” describing it as a routine political exercise rather than unique evidence of discrimination.

The court was also shown a video of U.S. Rep. Al Green (D-Houston) saying, "If we don’t say this is racial ... we won’t win." Texas Universities Are Auditing Curricula With Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and the University of Texas-Austin having announced that they are initiating audits of classes and curricula in order to comply with a new state law, Robert Montoya reports [[link removed]] that other universities are following suit.

The University of North Texas, the University of Houston, and the Texas State University systems have all set audit programs in place; the Texas Woman's University System's is under development.

Under a law adopted this spring, boards of regents are to review general education curricula every five years. The regents must ensure the courses deliver foundational knowledge for postsecondary success, prepare students for civic and professional life, and equip them for workforce participation and societal betterment.

Not all in academia are happy with the changes. A professor’s union advised faculty throughout the Texas A&M University System to “resist” their employers’ efforts to hold them accountable for classroom instruction.IN OTHER HIGHER ED NEWS Adam Cahn reports [[link removed]] that the Dean of the University of Texas at Austin’s College of Education will leave the position at the end of the current academic year. Charles Martinez has held the position since 2019, during which time the College of Education has promoted far-left content. Martinez announced his departure in an open letter, making reference to UT-Austin's new president and provost, both of whom are seen by many as reformers. Feds Arrest Substitute Teacher for Facilitating Financier’s ‘Sex Dungeon’ Erin Anderson reports [[link removed]] that a married Southlake mom of three who worked as a substitute teacher in the Carroll Independent School District now faces federal sex trafficking charges. Jennifer Marie Powers is alleged to have lured dozens of women to her then-boss’ New York City “sex dungeon.”

Powers has been charged with sex trafficking and transporting women in interstate commerce to engage in violent sex acts with retired New York financier Howard “Howie” Rubin. She was arrested last week and released on Monday with an ankle monitor.

Among other things, Rubin allegedly paid for Powers’ million-dollar home in an exclusive Southlake neighborhood, which she moved into with her husband and their children in 2020.

Without naming Powers, Carroll ISD issued a statement noting that a "former substitute teacher" was no longer employed by the district and does not have access to any campuses or facilities. State records show Powers was first certified to teach elementary school from 2002 until 2007. She received a new certificate on August 11, 2025, which is now under review by the Texas Education Agency. This Sunday on REAL TEXANS John Seago [[link removed]]

For Sunday’s edition of Real Texans, I visit with John Seago [[link removed]], the president of Texas Right to Life. We discuss Seago’s personal and professional journey as well as the new threats to creating a pro-life culture.

New interviews with REAL TEXANS [[link removed]] every Sunday!

Friday Reflection

Your Rights From … Government? [[link removed]]

by Michael Quinn Sullivan

Given the sorry state of civic education, most people can be forgiven their ignorance of the nuances of constitutional theory and the practical operations of government. But there is nothing forgivable about those who would willfully misrepresent the very character of our rights as individuals.

Several weeks ago, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia pontificated against the notion that rights come from “the Creator.” He was adamant that rights instead come from government in the form of laws that people—like him—choose to bestow. Indeed, he compared those who hold that rights come from the Creator to the “theocratic” impulses of Iran’s ayatollahs.

For a little context, Tim Kaine was the Democrats’ nominee to be the vice president of the United States in 2016 on the ticket with Hillary Clinton. He has been in the U.S. Senate since 2013 and served in public office since the mid-1990s.

To say he knows better would be an understatement. He is a Harvard-educated lawyer. Yet, he was emphatic and never backed down.

Our Declaration of Independence is equally emphatic, declaring that:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

What was self-evident to our founding fathers is now declared heretical by some of our nation’s governing elite.

The reason should be equally self-evident. If rights come from government, rather than God, then they can also be taken away. Anchoring the rights of life, liberty, and property to the whims of government officials is the surest way to see those rights sacrificed on the altar of governing expediency.

Your rights are an impediment to those who wish to rule over you. Your rights are inconvenient to the whims of tyrants.

Our rights come from God. The only legitimate government is one that protects those rights.

It is up to us as the citizen-leaders of this republic to never forget that.

Quote-Unquote

"A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins."

– Benjamin Franklin

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