Good morning,

More than 100 million people were butchered in the 20th Century at the hands of their country's socialist and communist governments. I end the week reflecting on the need to remember and fight that murderous ideology.

This is the Texas Minute for Friday, January 30, 2026.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Casino-Backed PAC Floods Texas Primaries With Mail

• The casino lobby is escalating its spending blitz ahead of the Texas Republican primaries, with mailers landing in districts across the state as gambling interests push to reshape the legislature. But, as Brandon Waltens reports, some of the candidates have publicly rejected the PAC’s efforts.
       
• While some contributions have come directly from the Texas Sands PAC, much of the recent activity has flowed through the Texas Defense PAC, a multimillion-dollar political committee funded almost entirely by Miriam Adelson, the owner of Las Vegas Sands. Despite its name, Sands does not operate casinos in Nevada or anywhere in the United States; most of its revenue is generated in China.
     
• After Texas Defense PAC sent mail supporting State Rep. Trent Ashby in the open race for Senate District 3, the candidate issued a statement distancing himself from the group. "I oppose casino gambling in Texas ... I reject these deceitful campaign tactics attempting to misrepresent my position."
       
• Adelson's money is also being used to attack conservative incumbents, such as State Reps. Andy Hopper (R-Decatur) and Terri Leo-Wilson (R-Galveston).

A.G. Launches Investigation Into Alleged H-1B Visa Abuse by Texas Businesses

• Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced a wide-sweeping investigation into alleged abuse of the federal H-1B visa program by Texas businesses, issuing civil investigative demands to three North Texas companies suspected of operating sham enterprises to fraudulently sponsor foreign workers.

       
• Paxton has not publicly identified the three companies that received his office's demand letters. He noted that the investigation includes “entities identified in videos that were widely circulated online.” Those videos were produced by BlazeTV and Texas Scorecard personality Sara Gonzales.
      
• "Abuse and fraud within these programs strip jobs and opportunities away from Texans." – Ken Paxton

Postponed Reservoir Project Still in State Water Plan

• Amid continued protests from citizens in northeast Texas, Addie Hovland reports the Water Development Board approved keeping the Marvin Nichols Reservoir project in the state water plan but put it on hold.
      
• Estimates have projected that Marvin Nichols would cost about $7 billion to complete, one of the most expensive projects in the state’s water plan. First proposed in 1968, the reservoir would require the use of eminent domain to acquire nearly 200,000 acres of land.
      
• The project has been at the center of a fight between northeast Texas residents, where the reservoir would be located, and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, where the water would go. With the postponement, DFW's plan is shifting to focus on water conservation and reuse.

What is the “Right Size" for Government?

Athletic Trainer Arrested for Crimes Against Student

• Erin Anderson reports that, for the second time in one week, a McKinney Independent School District employee has been accused of sexual misconduct involving a student. McKinney North High School athletic trainer Lindsey Post has been arrested following accusations of engaging in inappropriate behavior with a student at the school.
    
• The district learned of the allegations on January 27. At the request of law enforcement, school officials waited until after Post’s arrest to issue a statement. She has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

Governor Issues Disaster Declaration Over Screwworm Spread

• Gov. Greg Abbott has issued a statewide disaster declaration over the continued northward expansion of the New World screwworm, which has been labeled by state officials as a threat to Texas’ wildlife and livestock industries. 
    
• Originating in South America, the New World screwworm is a parasite that eats the tissue of warm-blooded mammals. Although there have not yet been any confirmed cases of the parasite in the U.S., multiple cases have been confirmed near the border with Mexico. State agricultural officials have warned that the parasite could not only devastate the Texas' wildlife population, but also the $15 billion cattle industry.
      
• U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins launched a five-prong plan in June, which aims to push the parasite back to the Darien Gap in Panama.

This Sunday on REAL TEXANS

Friday Reflection

Witnessing Horror, Fighting Socialism

I have had the opportunity over the years to meet several men who participated in the liberation of the concentration and death camps created by Germany’s National Socialist Workers’ Party. The horror of what they and their colleagues found defies words – yet simultaneously demands we try to find the words so it can be remembered and fought.

Adolf Hitler’s personal antisemitism and racism only begin to explain the systematic murder of six million people by the Nazi regime. The reality is even worse.

The Holocaust was the natural result of the worldview embraced by the Nazis and socialist movements everywhere. When one abandons God and His precepts, when one looks to government as present-day savior, a cult of death and destruction is but a step away.

The God-rejecting systems of socialism and communism enabled the murder of more than 100 million people around the world throughout the 20th century at the hands of their own governments. 

As governing systems, socialism and communism demand—like the ancient Romans before them—that government be placed over the God of Abraham. The dignity of man collapses before the needs of the state.

Yes, there are some who try to put a Christian spin on government-enforced socialism. But that is a lie straight from the pit of hell. Government compulsion is the opposite of Scripture’s call for voluntary charity. Government always operates through coercion and force, and force lodged in the hands of men is always a tool to be abused for power. 

Always.

The ugly, horrible truth of the Holocaust is that all of us are capable of participating in such atrocities, left to our devices and separated from God. Yet, thankfully, God provides us glimpses of the beauty possible when people love Him and serve others.

For example, honored outside Israel’s Yad Vashem are more than 26,000 Gentiles who placed themselves in danger to rescue Jews from the clutches of the Holocaust; a tree was planted in memory of each. 

Among those honored is Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds, a Baptist from Knoxville, TN. While himself a prisoner of war, Edmonds watched in January 1945 as Nazi guards began gathering up Jewish POWs for persecution or murder. He wasn’t going to allow it. 

Edmonds demanded that the German officer count each American POW as Jewish, to be gathered up and executed. Of course, that would be in direct contradiction to international treaties governing the conduct of war, thus making the individual German soldier personally subject to prosecution for war crimes. The German officer already knew the war wasn’t going well for his country, so he holstered his weapon and walked away. Hundreds of lives were saved that day.

But hundreds, out of six million lost? It might seem inconsequential. Except for those who were saved, and except for the example it set. 

If we are to reject the tyranny of socialism, if we are to live in a self-governing republic, we must individually be willing to fight against systems of horror. We must be like Roddie Edmonds, willing to stand up and raise our voices to defend and improve the lives of those around us. It can be risky, but we are called to be faithful. 

Such acts of personal courage are like the scent of a rose, reminding us just how beautiful God’s world can be.

Quote-Unquote

"Socialism easily accepts despotism. It requires the strongest execution of power—power sufficient to interfere with property."

– John Dalberg-Acton, Lord Acton

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* The new congressional boundaries for representational purposes will not take effect until January 2027.