Good morning!

Even before the Declaration of Independence was signed, the Americans considered themselves an independent and self-governing people. I head into the holiday weekend reflecting on the significance of their belief – and what it means for us.

But first, here is the Texas Minute for Friday, July 1, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

UPFRONT: In yesterday’s Texas Minute, the timeline for the pro-life “trigger” law lacked some context. The new law, effectively outlawing abortion in Texas, goes into effect 30 days after the Supreme Court’s judgement overturning Roe v Wade is effective – which is expected approximately 30 days after the ruling was announced.

Florida Bans COVID Jab For Babies... Will Texas?

• With the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) having authorized the first round of Pfizer and Moderna shots for children as young as 6 months old, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that the State of Florida will take no part in such a venture.

      
• As Sydnie Henry reports, Texans are wondering if Gov. Greg Abbott and the Legislature will do likewise.
     
• Although Florida healthcare providers may privately vaccinate children at the request of parents, no state program in Florida will do so.“People can make their judgments,” said DeSantis, but he advises that they “ask questions.” 
       

• “We look forward to lawmakers in Texas making similar stands and working in 2023 to enshrine these protections into law,” said Christine Welborn of Texans for Vaccine Choice.
      

• For now, the Texas Department of State Health Services “recommends COVID-19 vaccination for everyone included in the current Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emergency use authorizations and approvals.” 

New SCOTUS Ruling 'Makes Border Crisis Worse'

• In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday ruled the Biden administration can end the “Remain in Mexico” policy originally implemented in the administration of President Donald Trump. Juliana Berg has the details.
      
• The policy required non-Mexican migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. to remain in Mexico until their U.S. immigration court date. Under “Remain in Mexico,” federal agents have been allowed to return migrants to Mexico if there is no room in the detention centers. However, President Joe Biden wants to release them into the U.S., hoping they show up for their court dates.
      

• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the "decision makes the border crisis worse."  
     

• Meanwhile... The Supreme Court also issued a ruling barring the Environmental Protection Agency from overhauling entire industries without additional congressional approval. The case stems from the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, which directed coal power plants to either reduce production or subsidize alternate forms of energy. 
     

• Gov. Greg Abbott applauded the ruling against the EPA, saying it was important to "invalidate the EPA’s power grab and… stop D.C. bureaucrats."

Denton City Council Votes to ‘Deprioritize’ Protecting Children

• After protests and a heated hours-long public meeting, the Denton City Council voted 4-3 to approve a resolution advising their police department to “deprioritize” enforcing Texas laws that stop abortions. Jacob Asmussen has the details.

Protestor Hope 'Heads Will Roll' At Appraisal District

• A large crowd of protesters lined up outside the Tarrant Appraisal District office on Thursday morning, but they weren’t waiting to protest their property tax appraisals. Instead, reports Erin Anderson, they were standing in line to speak against what they call corruption within the appraisal district office. Specifically, they were there in support of Chandler Crouch, a local real estate agent who has been harassed by one of the agency’s top bureaucrats.

Texas GOP: Secure the Border and Protect Texans

• Sebastian Castro explores border security in light of the Republican Party of Texas naming the issue one of its eight legislative priorities for 2023.
      
• Many conservative grassroots activists have called for the governor to declare the crisis an invasion. Doing so, they argue, would give Texas the authority to arrest, detain, and deport illegal aliens. It would also enable Texas to raise a task force or activate the Texas State Guard to repel the invasion. 

Today's Headline

• Join Brandon Waltens for The Headline at 5:30 p.m. today as he reviews some of the most interesting stories of the week. He'll be joined by Robert Montoya to discuss what happened when a local government bureaucrat targeted a citizen advocate for taxpayers.
   
• Brandon will also be joined by the new president of Texas Right to Life, John Seago. They'll talk about the continuing fallout from the landmark Dobbs decision overturning Roe v Wade, and what is next in pro-life advocacy.

Get EXPOSED

• If you haven’t already, this weekend gives you a great opportunity to listen to one of the top podcasts in the nation: EXPOSED, Season 2. The five-episode season takes you behind the scenes into the machine that is controlling public education to the detriment of students, teachers, parents, and taxpayers.
   
• Watch the trailer to get a sense of the season, and then get started listening on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon/Audible, and iHeartRadio.

🚧 Pardon The CyberDust 🚧

• COMING SOON! The current website for Texas Scorecard will be replaced with our new digital home. All the old links will keep working, but with added features and a whole new look. The transition shouldn't interfere with folks using the website... We hope!
   
• Special thanks to the generous support of thousands of Texans whose donations have made this website redesign possible.

NOTE: The Texas Minute will resume on Tuesday, July 5, 2022.

Friday Reflection: On Being Independent

Despite the name, the document really was not so much a “declaration” of independence as it was a recognition of independence. Our Founding Fathers were merely expressing in the legal and moral language of the day what was the current reality in the world around them. The American people were no longer subjects of the king.

I’ve told this story before, so forgive the repetition, but it is important to understand what the Americans believed in the 1770s.

Levi Preston was a minuteman at the Battle of Concord in 1775. Many years later, he was asked why he had fought the British. The interviewer clearly expected him to wax eloquent about oppressive British rule, to deride the stamp tax and the tea tax, and sprinkle in quotes from the writings of philosopher John Locke.

He said none of that. You can almost hear the exasperation. “Well, then,” asked the interviewer, “why did you fight?”

To this day, Preston’s answer takes my breath away: “Young man, what we meant in going for those redcoats was this: We always had governed ourselves, and we always meant to and they meant that we shouldn’t.”

The Americans did not see “independence” as a new thing. Being free was the status quo, and Preston was intent on maintaining the freedom into which he had been born.

Self-governance is what the Americans had, what they expected, and what they were willing to kill and die to retain.

They understood, as expressed in the document drafted in June 1776 and then adopted in early July of that year, that their rights came not from a king, a parliament, or any other man, but from God Himself. They understood those rights to be inalienable.

It was the king who had first broken faith. It was the parliament which had attempted to circumvent the self-governing status of the Americans. And so, after repeatedly petitioning for correction, the American people said they had had enough.

This is our legacy. This is our heritage.

Reading today the “long train of abuses and usurpations” on which our forefathers based their political separation from England, I cannot help but think they would be disgusted by us, their progeny. We have allowed, in their name and on the basis of their work, even worse things to occur than the king could have dreamed possible. The taxes are higher,  the abuses more traumatic, the usurpations more severe. And yet, like Roman citizens from a millennia earlier, we tolerate it as long as we can be entertained and get freebies from the government.

Freebies, sadly, paid for with the liberty of ourselves and our posterity.

It is time for Americans to emerge from our entertainment-soaked stupor. It is time for us to declare yet again our independence from the would-be masters. We must rise up and reclaim our heritage of self-governance now.

Independence Day should not only be a celebration of history, but a commitment to the future. We must again make self-governance in this republic a current reality.