Good morning,

Brandon Waltens’ weekly wrap-up show, The Headline [[link removed]], is getting a fresh format and a new time. Three ways to enjoy it: catching it every Friday at 5:30pm as it premieres, watching the video archive, or downloading the podcast.

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

Friday, January 14, 2022

Update/change your subscription [[link removed]].

#DecisionTexas: 30-Day Warning Today marks 30 days until early voting begins on Feb. 14 for the Republican and Democrat primaries in Texas… and 45 days until the March 1 election day.

The biggest race on the ballot – and maybe the biggest race in the country – is the Republican primary for governor. Democrats have not won a statewide seat in 28 years, and that won’t happen in 2022. So the winner of the Republican gubernatorial election will be the next governor of Texas.

All of our coverage for the gubernatorial race will be collected in a new section [[link removed]] on our website, Decision Texas [[link removed]]. That will be your best one-stop for comprehensive race coverage and reporting on the issues at play. Go To California? Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is thinking Californians will pay big to keep him in office, according to the invitation for a Golden State trip on January 24. As Brandon Waltens reports [[link removed]], the governor is asking for folks to pay $25,000 to co-chair the private Orange County event – or pay $5,000 per person.

Those Californians who pay up the big bucks to co-chair will also get a signed copy of his 2016 book Broken But Unbowed (the hardcover is available for $5.47 on Amazon [[link removed]]). The fundraiser comes as Abbott has been criticized [[link removed]] for so-far failing to attend a single forum or debate with his opponents in the Republican primary.

FWIW, Brandon Waltens and I talked about this yesterday during a quick Decision Texas chat [[link removed]] on social media. State Spending SOARS Since 2015 the size of the state budget has grown by 19 percent, according to a report from Texans for Fiscal Responsibility released Wednesday. Meanwhile, population has grown just 5.4 percent. Sydnie Henry has the details [[link removed]].

“Most conservatives consider the size and scope of the government to be far beyond what our founders originally intended. TFR agrees that government should be so small that we can barely see it. But with a $250 billion biennial budget, we are not even close to the size of a government that fiscal conservatives would deem to be ‘limited.’ Why then would we classify a budget that allows a government to grow (even at a limited pace) conservative?” – Tim Hardin, president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility Plainview Citizens To Force Ballot Measure Since their city council is refusing to take action, citizens in Plainview are working to place a ballot initiative before voters that would ban abortions in the city limits. Mark Lee Dickson has the details [[link removed]]. Friday Reflection: Protecting Words [[link removed]]

by Michael Quinn Sullivan

Read in Browser [[link removed]]

Listen to the Reflections Podcast [[link removed]]

Two years before Israel became a nation in 1948, the first ancient scrolls were discovered by Bedouin shepheds in the caves of Qumran, near the Dead Sea.

Nearly a thousand scrolls were eventually uncovered by archeologists, covering most of the Old Testament, commentaries on those texts, other religious documents, and even some information about the community that lived in Qumran before it disappeared into the sands of time.

Who these people were dwelling in the Qumran caves near the Dead Sea continues to be a topic of debate. It is believed many of the scrolls were placed in clay jars in the caves during the Great Jewish Revolt in the late 60s and early 70s A.D. They wanted these documents preserved from the ravages of war with Rome.

Two lessons spring to mind. First, the scrolls themselves provide a stunning testimony to the power of devoted transcription. These ancient copies of even more ancient texts mirror the translations we use today.

Second, the people at Qumran – the Essenes? a sect of Sadducees? – clearly wanted to preserve these writings, the fundamentals of their faith. They did so the very best way they could.

Even in an age of text messages and emojis, we can relate. Original copies of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution sit in special cases at the National Archives, set to drop safely into special chambers at a moment’s notice of a natural or manmade disaster. We do this for the same reason they did: to preserve the words that define who we are.

It’s not that thousands upon thousands of copies of the Constitution don’t exist. (I have three different copies within arms’ reach as I type this!) No, we protect those original copies because they are meaningful representations of what we believe and who we are as a self-governing people.

Before the discovery of the scrolls at Qumran, it was very fashionable to question whether the translations we read today were authentic. We preserve important literature for the same reason we are thankful the people of Qumran did.

Words matter, and maintaining faithful translations and copies of important works remain as important today as 2000 years ago.

Quote-Unquote

“All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honour, duty, mercy, hope.”

– Winston Churchill​

Today in History

On Jan. 14, 1784, the Continental Congress gave its approval to the Treaty of Paris that brought a final end to the War of Independence.

Your CURRENT Federal & State Officials

This does not account for new district lines, which take representational effect next year.

Click the office to find more contact information.

U.S. Senator [[link removed]]

John Cornyn - R

(202) 224-2934

U.S. Senator [[link removed]]

Ted Cruz - R

(202) 224-5922

Governor of Texas [[link removed]]

Greg Abbott - R

(512) 463-2000

Lt. Governor [[link removed]]

Dan Patrick - R

(512) 463-0001

Attorney General [[link removed]]

Ken Paxton – R

(512) 463-2100

Comptroller [[link removed]]

Glenn Hegar – R

(512) 463-4600

Land Commissioner [[link removed]]

George Bush – R

(512) 463-5001

Commissioner of Agriculture [[link removed]]

Sid Miller – R

(512) 463-7476

Railroad Commissioners [[link removed]]

Wayne Christian – R

Christy Craddick – R

Jim Wright – R

(512) 463-7158

U.S. House [[link removed]], District

Update your address so we can display your congressman -



Texas Senate [[link removed]], District

Update your address so we can display your state senator -



Texas House [[link removed]], District

Update your address so we can display your state rep -



Speaker of the Texas House

Dade Phelan (R)

(512) 463-1000

Something not right?

Confirm we have your address correct [[link removed]]!

Update Your Subscription Profile [[link removed]] Request A Speaker [[link removed]] 🔒 Contribute 🔒 [[link removed]]

A product of Texas Scorecard

www.TexasScorecard.com

(888) 410-1836

PO Box 248, Leander, TX 78646

Produced by Michael Quinn Sullivan and Brandon Waltens, the Texas Minute is a quick look at the news and info of the day we find interesting, and hope you do as well. It is delivered weekday mornings (though we'll take the occasional break for holidays and whatnot).

This message was originally sent to:

John xxxxxx |

If you ever stop receiving our emails, it might be because someone unintentionally removed you from the list. No worries; it is easy enough to reactivate your subscription immediately on our website.

[link removed]

Before you click the link below... If someone forwarded this email to you, clicking the link will end the subscription of [email protected].

Unsubscribe [link removed]