Good morning! 

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Thursday, January 6, 2022
Change your email preferences.

UPFRONT: In yesterday’s Quote-Unquote section I slapped James Madison’s name on a quote from Mark Twain, as I was vacillating between a couple different quotes to use for the day. I apologize for the confusion! Today, I’ve got Twain’s pithy quote correctly attributed, and the bonus quote from Mr. Madison.

Gubernatorially Absent

• Just over 50 days remain until the March 1 Republican primary, but the incumbent governor has been absent from the campaign trail. With well-funded opponents traveling the state and launching ad campaigns, GOP activists are wondering why Greg Abbott is ignoring their forums… and questions.
   
• “There’s a general rule of thumb for incumbents during election season: lay low and keep your mouth shut. That’s why they rarely show at candidate forums,” said True Texas Project leader Julie McCarty. “But what does that say about how they view their role in a representative government? And what does it tell us about their desire for accountability? To me it says, ‘I will do what I want, and you need to just shut up and vote for me.’ Sadly, low-info voters often submit without a fight. That is changing, but maybe Abbott hasn’t clued in.”
   
• Abbott’s challengers said voters should be insulted. Lt. Col. Allen West described it as “arrogance of officialdom,” while former State Sen. Don Huffines said Abbott “sees all this as beneath him.” Media personality Chad Prather described the governor’s repeated absences as “dishonorable.”

Doling Out Food Stamps

• Despite businesses across Texas struggling to find employees to staff open positions, Gov. Greg Abbott has announced that Texas will once again dole out even more additional food stamp funds in light of the COVID emergency declared in March of 2020. Brandon Waltens reports yesterday’s announcement is hardly unique.
       
• In fact, these monthly announcements of additional welfare money have been almost formulaic since the beginning of Abbott’s COVID emergency declaration that closed down much of Texas’ economy.
      
• While SNAP is a federal program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, its administration is left to the states. Funds are put on a Lone Star Card, which looks and operates like a debit card, to make approved food purchases.
   
• This month, the announcement boasts that the emergency allotments will help Texans “ring in the new year” and are “in addition to the more than $5.4 billion in benefits previously provided to Texans since April 2020.”

UT Officials Allowed To Engage In Child Gender Mutilation

• According to their website, the publicly-funded University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center—which is overseen by Gov. Greg Abbott’s appointees on the UT Board of Regents—is involved in the controversial GENECIS program at the Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. Jacob Asmussen has the story.
      

• Currently in Texas, medical professionals are permitted to perform “transgender” procedures on children. The UT Southwestern-led GENECIS program is one of those clinics, and while they don’t offer physical castration they do provide chemical castration.

         

• In late November, citizen activist Adam Cahn sent an open records request to the Regents for “all communication” between the regents and any representative of UT Southwestern or Children’s Medical “regarding the ‘GENECIS’ program over the past six months.” The Regents’ office replied this week they did not find any.
      

• “I don’t know whether they’re lying, or if the board is just doing zero oversight,” Cahn said. “Either one is plausible. Neither is good.”

More Money, More Blackouts

• In the newest episode of the Liberty Café podcast, Bill Peacock explains why the billions being spent on the Texas grid will do nothing to address the problems that led to the 2021 winter blackout. It comes down to fear and the costly inefficiency of “renewables.”

More Debt For You

• Local government debt in Texas now tops $8,500 per citizen, reports Brad Friend at The Texan. School districts – of course – account for the largest portion of the outstanding debt. The State of Texas has $24.6 billion in outstanding debt, or $846 per citizen.
     
• According to data from the Texas Bond Review Board, Frisco Independent School District is the local government entity with the highest debt per person: $6,912.
      
• Nearly all of this local debt is paid for out of property tax levies.

Get On GETTR?

• I’ve started posting more on GETTR, a social media site that isn’t run by censorious left-wingers. You can find me there, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

• Please join me in wishing Texas Scorecard’s director of communications and marketing, Sarah Kitchen, a very happy birthday!

Quote-Unquote

John xxxxxx
  
[email protected]