Good morning, 

Today I reflect on how the parable of the talents explains why so many conservatives Texans – myself included – are frustrated with Republicans in the Lone Star State.  

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Friday, September 13, 2019
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• Seeing the grassroots revolt around him, Gov. Greg Abbott appears to be moving to the right of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Second Amendment issues. While Patrick has spent the past week waging war on gun owners and the National Rifle Association over his support of mandatory Obama-style background checks for private gun sales,  Abbott has taken a different tact. In his own policy recommendations, which were released yesterday, Abbott suggests making background checks easier and more affordable, but keeping them voluntary. Brandon Waltens has the details. 
       
• Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said yesterday it would be a mistake for Texas to adopt Patrick’s proposal on private gun sales because it falls right into the playbook of congressional Democrats. “Dan Patrick is a good man,” Cruz said. “I have every confidence the legislature in Texas will debate and consider these issues. Thankfully, I serve in a different lunatic asylum.” Check out the full report by Destin Sensky.
      
• Grassroots activists from around the state, left unimpressed by the “purple” legislative session, are asking Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session to enact the Lone Star Agenda. Brandon Waltens reports the agenda covers a range of commonsense reforms widely popular with conservatives and taxpayers that have been left undone by the Republican-dominated legislature. 
      
• Democrat State Sen. Royce West of Dallas has apparently amassed a great deal of wealth while serving in an office that pays just $600 per month. As  Robert Montoya reports, the next generation of the family appears to be trying to cash in as well. A slap-dash proposal to build soccer fields under I-345 in southeast Dallas by the senator’s son appears to be moving forward. It should be noted that Sen. West has reportedly blocked other plans for the space.
     
• Earlier this week the Austin City Council approved their budget for the next fiscal year, with a deadly new amendment: they are putting $150,000 of citizens’ cash to pay for logistical costs of getting an abortion, such as rides to a facility; hotel rooms; and, ironically, childcare. Jacob Asmussen reports the spending is designed to skirt a new state law prohibiting local governments from using tax money to subsidize the abortion industry.
   
• Former Austin City Councilman Don Zimmerman has filed a lawsuit against the city over the abortion policy. Cary Cheshire has that story.
      
• Harris County Commissioners Court has proposed raising taxes to maximum rate allowed without voter approval. Facing the prospect of an automatic election trigger for property tax revenue hikes above 3.5 percent year to year starting in 2020, Darrell Frost reports the county is joining a number of other taxing entities across the state engaging in last-chance tax grabs.

Friday Reflection

I have grown increasingly tired of the weak and cowardly crowd that makes up Texas’ Republican establishment. On whole, Republican officials lack what their Democrat counterparts exude in abundance: the governing courage of their publicly proclaimed convictions.

Here is what I’ve learned watching the GOP’s control of Texas, in comparison to the Donkey Party’s control of California. When Democrats have power they use it as if it will never come again. In contrast, Republican politicians cling miserly to power in the vain hope it will never go away.   

But political power is like water; the tighter the grip, the faster it disappears. 

President Donald Trump has proven that doesn’t have to be the case for Republicans. From day one of his administration, he has governed like there is no second chance. His administration has made huge – if unheralded – strides dismantling the regulatory state. He has enacted more practical pro-life reforms than any of his predecessors. Trump has stared down regimes, moved embassies, and worked to deliver on his promises.

While the hand-wringing “respectable” politicos of both parties work against his much of his agenda in Congress and wistful establishmentarians scoff at his tweets, Donald Trump is busy making America great again. 

Meanwhile, in the alleged GOP haven of Texas... crickets. While other Republican governors were pushing strong initiatives this year to protect life and challenge the horror of Roe v Wade, ours was silent. Our “Big Three” political leaders want credit for property tax “relief” in 2019 yet have a hard time explaining exactly when citizens will see their actual tax bills go down (hint: not any time soon). Maybe that is because so much money has been blown on growing government beyond the confines of population and inflation? Rather than cut government spending to provide a tax cut, Greg Abbott’s response this spring was to propose a tax increase on 75 percent of Texans. Just this month our lieutenant governor is promoting gun control laws that Republicans blasted when Barack Obama proposed them.    

When did Texas Republicans become the party of bigger government and new taxes? That’s not what they campaigned to be; that’s not what Texans voted for.

A comparison to the biblical parable of the talents is not unjustified, if perhaps generous. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells of a master who entrusted three servants with large sums of money. The first invests the money and comes back with double. Same goes for the second. Both were praised and given more responsibility and reward. The third, however, buried it and came back only with what he had been given. He didn’t lose anything, but he wasted the opportunity given too him. He receives a heaping of scorn, and deservedly so.   

In Texas, maybe voters would have been fine with Republicans merely maintaining the status quo. If only...

In fact, the size of government has expanded, corporate welfare is on the rise, and we are going backward on Second Amendment rights. Republicans in both chambers flat-out refused to address labor union encroachment, the House killed election integrity reform... They aren’t merely misusing the power given to them, Texas’ Republican leadership has squandered it in a misguided effort appealing to partisan Democrats. (Or, rather, appeasing partisan Democrats?)

Fortunately, Texans are a bold, self-governing people even if our politicians are cowards.

It’s why so many grassroots activists from around the state banded together this summer and created the Lone Star Agenda: substantive policy reforms our governor, lieutenant governor, and legislators could enact tomorrow for the good of Texas. It’s a positive rally cry at a time when it is so dearly needed.

If Republican officials cannot deliver on the meaningful reforms favored by their base and embraced by large swaths of the population at large, then they have lost their claim to moral legitimacy as our public servants. 

But that cannot be their choice. They must instead step up and serve the public. They must use the power they have been given while there is still time.

They must reclaim the courage they have lost. They must perform. They must deliver. Rather than promise action later, they must do it now. There is simply no other choice.