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Good morning,

With the legislative session gearing up, expect your legislators to tell you how much you don't understand. More on that in my Friday Reflection [[link removed]].

But first, here is the Texas Minute for January 6, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

Biden To Visit Texas-Mexico Border, Push Bad Policy

President Joe Biden is set to visit El Paso on Sunday, nearly two years after his inauguration sparked an onslaught of illegal border crossings and just days after announcing a slew of policy changes that further weaken U.S. immigration laws. Sydnie Henry has the full story [[link removed]].

The National Border Patrol Council says Biden’s visit will change nothing [[link removed]] on the ground. "Biden will get the usual Dog and Pony Show. Then he’ll leave and the madness will continue."

Biden recently announced that the "parole" programs for Venezuelan nationals would be expanded to include Haitians, Cubans, and Nicaraguans. With these additions, up to 30,000 individuals per month from all four countries will be paroled into the U.S. for a two-year period if they meet certain criteria.

"The Biden Administration has engaged in illegal expansion of categorical parole programs far beyond their intended purpose," said Chris Russo [[link removed]], president of Texans for Strong Borders. "It’s petty politics disguised as a humanitarian effort." Texans Ready to End Taxpayer-funded Lobbying

Texas taxpayers are literally forced to fund their own political opposition in the state Legislature. Each legislative session, reports Erin Anderson [[link removed]], local governments spend millions of tax dollars on professional lobbyists to push policies in Austin that hurt citizens. Activists want the practice brought to a halt in 2023.

According to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Texas local governments spent as much as $75 million in 2021 hiring lobbyists to promote government causes.

Texans for Fiscal Responsibility calls taxpayer-funded lobbying “innately corrupt and immoral” and “a major conflict of interest for taxpayers.” MILLER: Capitalism, Education, and Texas In a new commentary, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller extols the benefits of school choice [[link removed]] and competition in education.

"Every other marketplace has been strengthened by competition and freedom. So will education," writes Miller [[link removed]]. "Today’s public school system is not worthy of our kids. It’s not worthy of our ambitions. It is not worthy of Texas." POLL: Texas Republicans Want Representation A new poll of Texas' Republican primary voters show they want more conservative values and stronger representation in government, and less dealmaking with Democrats. Soli Rice has the story [[link removed]].

“Texas is a Republican state, and our voters want their lawmakers to fight for their policy priorities, not cede the narrative and fight to the radical Left,” said Jonathan Stickland [[link removed]], whose Defend Texas Liberty PAC commissioned the poll. 📺 Watch The Headline! [[link removed]] I'm filling in for Brandon Waltens this morning on The Headline [[link removed]].

Attorney Tony McDonald stops in to talk about [[link removed]] a major court victory that accomplished two things: freeing Texans to talk about the state House speakership race without fear of prosecution (yes, literally), and exposing two "Republicans" as opponents of civic engagement.

We'll also talk to Drew Koch, who produced the new documentary, "It's Not Gonna Lick Itself."

Catch the show on Texas Scorecard [[link removed]], YouTube [[link removed]], or Rumble [[link removed]]. 🎧 Do You Hear The Storm? Catch the Salcedo Storm podcast [[link removed]] each weekday! Texas Scorecard partners with Chris Salcedo in bringing listeners hard-hitting interviews, conversations about culture, and a lot more. Friday Reflection: Well, They Don't Understand [[link removed]]

by Michael Quinn Sullivan

Listen to the Reflections Podcast [[link removed]]

Politicians are at their most condescending when informing constituents that they “just don’t understand.” The comment inevitably comes when the constituent has expressed frustration that long-promised action on publicly popular legislation has yet to materialize.

With the Texas legislative session about to begin, you can expect to hear that sentiment with frustrating regularity.

The real problem isn’t that the citizenry doesn’t understand the legislative processes, it’s that citizens have come to understand all too well the lack of results.

Whenever politicians feel a growing criticism from the public, far too many lash out in exasperation with one of several versions of that “you don’t understand” temper tantrum. One of my least favorite is, “You didn’t attend the meetings at the Capitol where we hatched this idea, so you cannot criticize it.”

Well, definitionally, 30 million Texans were not in those meetings. That does not, however, negate anyone’s right to speak out about the results of policies under which we must all live. The arrogance of suggesting otherwise arises from a fundamental misunderstanding of the roles of citizens and elected officials.

In our republican form of government, the citizens are allowed to miss every single millisecond of government hearings and yet still reserve their sovereign rights to opine loudly and vigorously about the results.

To the politicians’ chagrin, that is the way our system was designed. Without exception, citizens are the masters in our republic; elected officials are the servants. The First Amendment was designed specifically for political speech critical of the ruling class.

The job of the citizen is to set the expectations. It is the job of the public servants to get the job done.

The details of the legislative process are interesting and sometimes informative, but in the end, those details – and even the process itself – can serve as a distraction by crony politicians more interested in serving themselves than serving the citizenry.

When the servants start making excuses or imposing demands on the people in charge, it’s time to replace the servants.

It is up to the politicians to make sure their processes produce the results Texans want. It’s the politicians who just don’t seem to want to understand a very basic truth: The citizens don’t want excuses; they expect and deserve results.

Quote-Unquote

"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedoms of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."

– James Madison​

Number of the Day

1,029

The number of days Texas has been under a state of emergency for COVID, since Gov. Greg Abbott first declared it on March 13, 2020. He has renewed the declaration every 30 days since.

(Source: Office of the Governor, calendar)

Your Federal & State Lawmakers

The districts and names displayed here should reflect those taking representational effect on January 1, 2023.

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]]

Dawn Buckingham (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

State Board of Education [[link removed]], District

Update your address ( )

Main (512) 463-9007

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

Update your address ()

Congressional Switchboard (202) 225-3121

Texas Senate [[link removed]], District

Update your address ()

Capitol Switchboard (512) 463-4630

Texas House [[link removed]], District

Update your address ()

Capitol Switchboard (512) 463-4630

Speaker of the Texas House

Dade Phelan (R)

(512) 463-1000

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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).

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