Texas Voters Should Beware Lobby Front Groups

A timely post about from www.empowertexans.com about moderate groups claiming to be conservative in Texas. This follows this post about an attempt to get DEMOCRATS to abandon Obamacare (The Affordable Care Act). This follows this post about endorsements for TEXAS. This follows this post about Texas legislators who are graded "Worse than Wendy." This are GOP legislators!  In the meantime, you can get more involved if you like here and read an interesting book HERE.

Voters Should Beware Lobby Front Groups

by Tony McDonald

As the primary election season pulls into the home stretch, voters are being bombarded with information from a host of campaigns and groups. Unfortunately some of the information they will see this cycle is pure bluster – created to mislead voters into supporting someone who doesn’t share their values when they are in Austin.
Texas Conservative Roundtable
On many moderate Republicans’ mailers, voters will see them tout an award called the “Lone Star Conservative Leader” award. This award is given out by something called the “Texas Conservative Roundtable.” In reality the award is a participation trophy for moderates so that they can claim conservative credentials on their mail pieces when real conservative organizations are unwilling to lend their endorsement. “Texas Conservative Roundtable” gives awards to fully 85 of the 95 Republicans in the Texas House. So who doesn’t get an award? Many of the names missing from the list occupy the highest rankings on the Fiscal Responsibility Index. What’s more, the group actually gave an award to presumptive Democratic Lt. Governor nominee Leticia Van de Putte while withholding one from conservative Donna Campbell.
Curious as to whether “Texas Conservative Roundtable” was a real group or not, we recently visited the address listed on their website. The group claims to be located a block away from the Capitol at 1108 Lavaca St, Suites 110-209, which makes it sound like the organization occupies a whole two floors of downtown office space. Their space, in fact, is a bit smaller than that. It turns out that Suite 110 is the UPS Store. Mail sent to Suite 110-209 ends up in private mail box 209.
Texas Future Business Alliance
Last year, a new front group popped on the scene. Calling themselves the “Texas Future Business Alliance,” a coalition of lobby organizations ranging from the Texas Medical Association, to Texans for Lawsuit Reform, to the Texas Association of Realtors began sending mail into the districts of liberal-to-moderate Republicans proclaiming them to be conservative stalwarts. The mailers were emblazoned with a big “A,” though what that top grade was referencing was anyone’s guess. Texas Future Business Alliance didn’t produce a scorecard. They don’t even have a website.
An exposé by the Dallas Morning News revealed that the group was cobbled together to back moderates over conservatives and to do battle with Empower Texans. The coalition mirrors efforts by the US Chamber of Commerce to do battle with the TEA party.
Keep Texas Working
The newest group to send mail into Republican districts defending moderates and calling them conservatives is called “Keep Texas Working.” Last week, we exposed the group for sending mail into House District 115 that called liberal Republican Bennett Ratliff a conservative. We also noted that the group is led by lobbyist Luke Bellsnyder.
A review of the group’s website showed it claiming a physical address of 809 W 12th Street, Suite E, Austin, TX 78701. Our interests were particularly sparked when a google search of this address turned-up a listing for “Equality Texas,” a left-wing LGBT group. Curious as to the connection, we visited this address as well. The offices behind 809 W 12th Street are fairly run-down, and while a search of the premises revealed doors labeled A–D, there was no office space marked Suite E and a review of the mailboxes at the complex showed that Suite E was skipped. How “Keep Texas Working” and “Equality Texas” are connected, and whether “Keep Texas Working” is any more than paperwork and websites remains a mystery.

Editorial: Will Texas turn Blue NOW?

Editorial


This week begins the primary season in what is the last GOP stronghold of the U.S. How long that will continue is an interesting question as there is a concerted effort to "Turn Texas Blue." If THAT ever happens, the GOP would be finished as you can see by looking at the electoral map with Texas added to California, New York, and other large "Blue States." Do consider this when watching the Texas primaries and general elections!

Support Stockman for Senate‏

A timely post about from  www.PeterMorrisonReport.com about the Senate race in Texas. This follows this post about U.S. athletes in the Sochi Olympics.  In the meantime, you can get more involved if you like here and read an interesting book HERE.


Support Stockman for Senate‏


Summary of this report:

Senator John Cornyn is up for re-election in November. Most
observers and pundits expected him to be unopposed in the
Republican primary, but Rep. Steve Stockman has also entered the
race. This has thrown the business as usual GOP establishment into
panic mode. The mainstream media is also coming to John
Cornyn's defense, and they've begun giving Congressman
Stockman the Ted Cruz treatment, attacking him relentlessly.
Don't be fooled by these tactics. While RINOs and the liberal
media both favor John Cornyn, conservatives need to support Steve
Stockman for US Senator.

Full Report:

In a few short weeks, Texans will cast their primary votes for the
US Senate race, and this will be one of the most important
elections in our state's history.  That's because 2014 is
shaping up to be a very important year in politics for both Texas
and the entire country.  Obamacare has now become the law of the
land, and tens of millions of people have been shocked to discover
the devastating impact this socialist abomination is going to have
on their health and their pocketbook, all in the name of helping
the "poor and underprivileged."  In addition, we're
seeing yet another big push for amnesty for millions of illegal
aliens, disguised as "immigration reform."

Who we choose to send to the Senate this fall may well determine
how both these issues play out. John Cornyn is our current Senator
who's up for re-election, but he's being challenged in the
primary by Rep. Steve Stockman.  If conservatives want to have any
chance of repealing Obamacare or stopping amnesty in its tracks, we
need to send John Cornyn packing, and replace him with Rep.
Stockman.  While John Cornyn has a conservative voting record on
some issues, when it comes to illegal immigration and amnesty, he
has been either missing in action or actively working against
conservatives.

Not long ago, newly elected Senator Ted Cruz made a valiant effort
to prevent Obamacare from being funded. Instead of supporting him
in his efforts, John Cornyn opposed him - he actually worked behind
the scenes to encourage other Republican Senators to shut down the
filibuster.  There's simply no excuse for this betrayal.  Ted
Cruz knew that our freedom to make our own choices when it comes to
health care was at stake, and he took a stand to preserve that
freedom.  Instead of fighting for our freedom right beside Ted
Cruz, John Cornyn did everything he could to sabotage his
courageous stand.

As a result of Cornyn's betrayal, America may be stuck with
Obamacare. A lot of people are hoping to see it overturned when a
new Congress comes in, but that's a real long shot.  It's
possible it might happen, but it will be an uphill battle. One
thing's for sure - we won't be able to count on John Cornyn
to take the lead in repealing Obamacare. Texans need two Senators
who are committed to doing everything they can to repeal Obamacare.
If Steve Stockman is elected, he'll stand with Ted Cruz, not
sabotage him.

Illegal immigration is the other looming battle, and it's even
more important than Obamacare.  Make no mistake - when politicians
and the media talk about "immigration reform",
they're talking about amnesty for 15-20 million illegal aliens.
If "immigration reform" passes, Texas will go the way of
California.  It used to be one of the most conservative states in
the country, but thanks to the amnesty of 1986, the largest state
in the country is now a permanent Democrat stronghold. If we have
another amnesty, the millions of newly minted voters could ensure
that Texas becomes majority Democrat in just a few short years.

We're currently seeing a huge push for amnesty. According to
several media reports, John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and other GOP
"leaders" are currently working behind the scenes to
grease the skids for passage of an amnesty bill.  GOP leaders seem
to think their job isn't to represent the conservative voters
who voted for them, but to create millions of new Democrats who
will vote for the likes of Charles Schumer, Barbara Boxer, and
Harry Reid.  To make matters worse, big business groups in Texas
and across the country are pouring tens of millions of dollars into
promoting "mainstream" Republican candidates. To these
groups, conservatives like you and me are called "wackos"
and "extremists". They want Republican politicians who
will roll over on the amnesty issue, because they like the cheap
labor illegal immigration provides.

Another amnesty could be the end of the America we know and love.
It's difficult enough for conservatives to get elected now. Add
millions of new voters that overwhelmingly support liberal policies
and in even more of the country it will become impossible to elect
a conservative leader. It's also no exaggeration to say that
John Cornyn is doing nothing to slow down this massive push for
amnesty, let alone stop it. If the amnesty issue were really
important to him, he would be going all out to stop it. He would be
calling out John Boehner and Eric Cantor and the rest of the go
along to get along Republicans. He would be making speeches and
giving media interviews spelling out exactly what amnesty will mean
for America, and how it could be the death knell of limited
government. Instead, he's silent on the issue.  He's not
about to rock the boat, because liberals might get the idea
he's some sort of "extremist."

That's why the mainstream media loves John Cornyn and are
running attack pieces on Steve Stockman.  They know that while John
Cornyn may give lip service to opposing amnesty and Obamacare, his
heart isn't in these fights.  In the end, they know he can be
counted on not to mount any real opposition to their agenda.
That's also why they hate Steve Stockman - they know he really
means the things he says, and he'll go to the mat for
conservative Texans. Having Steve Stockman and Ted Cruz
representing Texas in the Senate would be every liberal's
nightmare. That's the reason the media is treating Rep.
Stockman the same way they've treated Sheriff Joe Arpaio,
former Congressman Tom Tancredo, and Arizona governor Jan Brewer.
Anyone who is serious about stopping the invasion of America by
illegals is attacked and ridiculed pretty much non-stop, while the
media gives "respectable" conservatives like Cornyn the
kid glove treatment.

For conservative Texans who want to defeat Obamacare and amnesty,
the choice is clear: Steve Stockman for Senator.  Yes, he's an
underdog, but so was Ted Cruz when he announced he was running for
the Senate. Few thought he had any chance of defeating David
Dewhurst, who was the overwhelming favorite. Conservative Texans
had other ideas, though, and we came out in force and turned the
race upside down. We can do it again. In one poll, Texans supported
a generic Tea Party candidate over John Cornyn. Steve Stockman is
that Tea Party candidate, and with our support he can defeat John
Cornyn.

I urge all conservative Texans to support Steve Stockman. If you
can, volunteer to help his campaign, or send him a donation. The
GOP primary is on March 4th, and it may well be our last chance to
roll back Obamacare and defeat amnesty.

Take action:

Contact the Steve Stockman for Senate campaign and offer your help.
He needs both donations and volunteers.  Talk to your friends and
family. Let them know that it's critically important to elect
Steve Stockman if they want to defeat amnesty and roll back
Obamacare.

http://stockman2014.com/volunteer

The Peter Morrison Report

http://www.PeterMorrisonReport.com
http://www.facebook.com/morrisonreport

Sources:

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/09/23/Exclusive-McConnell-Cornyn-whipping-votes-against-Ted-Cruz

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2014/01/08/Boehner-says-GOP-is-working-on-immigration-reform/UPI-80321389210170/

http://stockman.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/stockman-opposes-senate-immigration-plan

http://www.humanevents.com/2013/10/28/texas-gop-poll-tea-party-candidate-beats-cornyn-46-to-33/

PO Box 8742, Lumberton, TX 77657, USA

16 GOP Reps. Reject President’s Call for Immigration Reform in the House

A very interesting post from www.numbersusa.com about Republicans who are standing against an immigration increase. This follows this post about the worker increase in the unemployment bill. REMEMBER, “Amnesty” means ANY non-enforcement of existing immigration laws! This follows this comment and this post about how to Report Illegal Immigrants! For more about what you can do click here and you can read two very interesting books HERE.

16 GOP Reps. Reject President’s Call for Immigration Reform in the House

 posted on NumbersUSA

In a letter to President Obama, sixteen Republican Representatives said they “reject” his call for the House to pass an immigration reform bill because it would “permanently displace American workers.” The letter also suggests Obama’s immigration proposals would increase unemployment and poverty and decrease American wages.
“We write to you today on behalf of the 21 million Americans who can’t find a full-time job.  We write to you on behalf of the 6 million young Americans who are neither working nor in school.  We write on behalf of the countless American workers whose wages today are lower than they were more than a decade ago.  We write on behalf of the 90 million Americans over 16 – including early retirees, college grads living at home, and those living on welfare – who are not part of our nation’s workforce.
“That is why we reject your call for the House to get an immigration bill to your desk that would permanently displace American workers.  The Senate immigration bill, which the White House helped craft and which you personally endorse, would double the number of guest workers brought into this country at a time of crippling joblessness and falling incomes.  On top of that, the Senate immigration bill would also add millions more permanent immigrant workers through green cards – handing out permanent residency to more than 30 million immigrants over the next decade.  This represents a tripling of the normal green card rate.
“CBO confirms that these immigrants will be mostly lower-skilled, and that wages for American citizens would fall while American unemployment would rise.  Per-capita GNP would sink as well.
“According to research from Harvard Professor Dr. George Borjas, low-skilled immigration has, between the years 1980 and 2000, resulted in nearly an 8% wage reduction for US-born workers without a high school degree.  Rapidly expanding unskilled immigration – at time when factory work and blue collar jobs are disappearing – would represent the final economic blow for millions of workers who have been struggling to gain an economic foothold.
“Yet, despite this jobs crisis for American workers, the White House continues to advocate that CEOs and business executives seek lower cost labor.  The White House has entertained a parade of high-powered business executives to discuss immigration policy, all while shutting out the concerns of everyday wage-earners who overwhelmingly oppose these measures.  You even released an economic report saying that the “hospitality and leisure industry” needs ‘legislation that would legalize workers in the U.S. and facilitate the lawful employment of future foreign-born workers.’
“Is it the position of the White House that the hotel industry cannot be asked to find employees from among the legions of unemployed residing here today?
“As Byron York notes in the Washington Examiner, many of the CEOs asking for new workers have been laying off thousands of their own workers.
“So-called Comprehensive Immigration Reform may be a good deal for big businesses who want to reduce labor costs, and it may be a good deal for progressive labor unions seeking new workers from abroad, but it’s an awful deal for US workers – including African-American and Hispanic communities enduring chronically high unemployment.
“Job number one for Congress should be to reduce the unemployment rolls, get families and communities out of poverty and government dependency, rebuild our deteriorating communities and collapsing middle class, and increase wages for American citizens. Your immigration proposals do the exact opposite on every count.”
Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks organized the letter, which was signed by Lou Barletta (Penn.), Kerry Bentivolio (Mich.), Walter Jones (N.C.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Phil Gingrey (Ga.), Michelle Bachmann (Minn.), John Fleming (La.), Joe Wilson (S.C.) Steve King (Iowa), Ted Yoho (Fla.), Lamar Smith (Tex.), Steve Stockman (Tex.), Steve Palazzo (Miss.), Jeff Duncan (S.C.), and Mike Rogers (Ala.).
As Breitbart notes, the concerns laid out in the letter are nearly identical to those raised by Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in a 1994 op-ed in the Los Angeles Times. At the time, Reid had proposed legislation that would have reduced the annual number legal immigrants from 1 million to about 325,000.
See more in The Weekly Standard.

Some ways to bolster House resistance to Senate amnesty‏

A very interesting post from www.NumbersUSA.com  about persuading the HOUSE of Reps to block amnesty. This follows this post about the Senate's amnesty bill's affect on both the GOP and the U.S.This follows this post about the  DC March for Jobs against more immigration.This follows this post about the release of illegal immigrant felons from prison by ICE. This follows this post about how to Report Illegal Immigrants! For more about what is happening in the nation now click here and you can read two very interesting books HERE.

Ask U.S. House leadership to 'blue-slip' Senate amnesty bill -- Express your disdain for the amnesty at holiday weekend events



CHECK OUT THE NEW FAX AND PHONE ACTION NOTES ON YOUR ACTION BOARD: www.NumbersUSA.com/actionbuffet



The nation's political writers are in over-drive trying to figure out a way to get House Speaker John Boehner to renege on his promise last week that he won't bring any immigration bill to a vote if it is opposed by the majority of Republican Representatives.



You can do some things this week to help solidify our current anti-amnesty position in the House. (Check out the actions in the Red Action Box below.)



Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) has started a very interesting effort to persuade House Leaders to "blue-slip" the S. 744 amnesty bill that the Senate passed last week.



The "blue slip" procedure essentially allows the House to refuse any legislation from the Senate in which the Senate has originated new taxation. The Constitution gives the House sole right to originate tax changes.



Rep. Stockman said in a release:



Not only is the Senate amnesty bill an abuse of taxpayers and immigrants, it's utterly unconstitutional. The Senate cannot invent its own amnesty taxes. I hope Speaker Boehner will immediately kill the amnesty bill through a constitutionally-required blue slip. As long as the amnesty bill sits in the House it poses a threat to taxpayers and immigrants.



Several provisions of the Senate amnesty bill create new taxes, a violation of the "origination clause," Article I, Section 7, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution, which states "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills."



Section 2102 of the amnesty bill requires the payment of certain taxes and forgives the payment of other taxes as a condition of receiving amnesty and other benefits. The Constitution prohibits the Senate from approving bills that raise revenue.



The Congressional Budget Office flatly states "enacting S. 744 would have a wide range of effects on federal revenues, including changes in collections of income and payroll taxes, certain visa fees that are classified as revenues, and various fines and penalties. Taken together, those effects would increase revenues by $459 billion over the 2014-2023 period."

Action Opportunities

Click on the red button below to find the toll-free phone calls you can make and the faxes you can send to support Rep. Stockman in his attempt to "blue-slip" S. 744, refusing to allow the bill to even sit on a shelf in the House of Representatives.


 Click https://www.numbersusa.com/actionbuffet





In addition, I know that many of you are eager to raise your voice in protest of the Senate amnesty bill.



Many local citizen groups across the country are organizing for town hall meetings with Members of Congress or for encountering Members at holiday events the rest of this week.



If you want to find out if something is happening in your area -- or if you just want some assistance to do something on your own -- please email our Melanie Oubre at:



moubre@numbersusa.com



Also, please check new information on our home page regularly at:



www.NumbersUSA.com/actonbuffet


THANKS FOR ANYTHING YOU DO TO MAKE SURE THAT THE INSANITY OF THE SENATE LAST WEEK DOES NOT SPREAD BEYOND THE SENATE,

roy

beck

Texas Primary Review and Runoffs‏

A very interesting post from www.PeterMorrisonReport.com
 about elections in Texas. This follows this post about the possiblility of suing the administration over non-enforcement of immigration laws. This follows this post about the Black Caucus hurting Black Americans with their immigration stand. This follows this post about how to Report Illegal Immigrants! For more that you can do to get involved click HERE and you can read this very interesting book HERE.

Summary of this report: 

The Texas primary has come and gone, and it brought both good news
and bad news to Texas conservatives. Joe Straus survived a primary
challenge for his own seat, but many of his cronies went down to
defeat. Unfortunately, we lost a few staunch conservatives, and
the new redistricting maps drawn up by Straus and his moderates
played a big part in that. Several races are still undecided, and
are headed for runoffs in July, giving us another opportunity to
elect strong conservative leaders. We also have a challenger for
Speaker of the House.

Full report:

After being delayed by lawsuits, the Texas primary finally took
place on May 29th. Texas conservatives had high hopes that the
passion and energy that were unleashed a few years ago had not
diminished, and that the results of the GOP primary would be a
clear message to the GOP about what kind of candidates we're
looking for. Unfortunately, the results weren't that clear cut,
but were more of a mixed bag. There was some bad news, but there
was a lot of reason for hope, too.

We'll start with the bad news, which is that some very good
people were defeated in their bids for re-election. Three
candidates whose defeats will have the most impact were Gail Lowe,
Leo Berman, and Wayne Christian. Gail Lowe, who fought so
valiantly to make sure that schoolchildren in Texas get a real
education based on the actual facts of history, instead of
left-wing PC fantasies, lost her seat on the Texas State Board of
Education. Leo Berman and Wayne Christian, two of the finest
conservatives in Austin, both lost House re-election bids to GOP
challengers.

Of course, there are many factors that come into play in every
election, but there's no getting around the fact that one of
the biggest factors in some of these losses was the redistricting
plan created by Joe Strauss and his team of RINOs. It's
difficult to avoid the conclusion that one of the purposes of the
new redistricting map was to punish certain strong conservatives.
It seems clear that the RINOs deliberately forced candidates like
Wayne Christian and Gail Lowe into these new, artificial districts
filled with people who don't know them, and whose voting
patterns would make it much more difficult for them to be
re-elected. Here's what Michael Quinn Sullivan said about the
Wayne Christian loss:

"A dark spot on the night was the loss of State Rep. Wayne
Christian. But even there, the Straus team had to radically re-draw
Christian's district and spend heavily from the Austin
lobby."

The good news is that most conservative Republicans won their
primaries and that several Straus supporters went down to defeat,
including three of his closest cronies (Vicki Truitt, Rob Eissler,
and Mike Hamilton). In addition, two more of Straus's pals
(Chuck Hopson and Sid Miller) didn't win their contests; they
only managed to qualify for a runoff election on July 31st. Other
contests resulted in runoffs, too. This means that there are still
several opportunities for conservatives to make a difference when
it comes to deciding who will represent us in November.

In fact, there's no reason conservatives can't be the
deciding factor in every one of the upcoming runoff races.
That's because turnout will probably be very low. According to
official government figures, only 1.4 million registered
Republicans came out to vote in the primary on May 29th.
That's an 11% turnout. Numbers for runoff elections are
usually even lower than that. One political expert is predicting
that between 6% and 8% of GOP voters will come out on July 31st.
Compare that to a general election, when about half of all
registered voters generally come out to vote.

A low turnout is great news for committed conservatives. The lower
the turnout, the more impact each vote has, which means that if we
all take a little time out of our schedules and go to the polling
place on July 31st, while most other voters are too apathetic to
bother, we can dominate the runoff races, elect people who will
stand for our principles, and send another strong message to Joe
Straus and the RINOs in the Republican establishment. We can't
let up now; it's imperative that we keep letting the GOP
establishment know that we expect our elected leaders to fight for
true conservative values, instead of going along to get along. It
might take a while, but if we refuse to give up, eventually
they'll get the message.

On that note, Rep. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) has filed paperwork
with the Texas Ethics Commission declaring that he will mount a run
for Speaker of the House, opposing Joe Straus. This is excellent
news. It takes real courage to oppose a sitting Speaker, because
there are consequences when you go up against the man who calls all
the shots. Rep. Hughes has already proven that he's not afraid
to challenge the status quo. He vocally withdrew his support for
Straus in 2010, after he received word that GOP members who
didn't support Straus would be punished by having their
districts redrawn unfavorably. He never wavered even as he endured
a firestorm of criticism after his announcement. Many lesser men
would have apologized or said "my remarks were taken out of
context." Bryan Hughes is a true conservative with a lot of
character, and he deserves our full support in his challenge to
Straus.

Here are the runoff races to be decided on July 31st. I've
marked candidates that I'm endorsing with an asterisk. (I'm
not offering an endorsement in every race.)

Railroad Commissioner - Full Term: Christi Craddick vs Warren Chisum
Railroad Commissioner - Unexpired Term: Barry Smitherman vs Greg
Parker

State Board of Education:

*Gail Spurlock vs Tincy Miller
*Tom Maynard vs Rebecca Osborne

Supreme Court Justice, Place 4 - *John Devine vs David Medina

State Senator, District 25 *Donna Campbell vs Jeff Wentworth

Texas House:

*JD Sheffield vs Sid Miller
*Travis Clardy vs Chuck Hopson
*Jon Cole vs Jeff Leach HD
*Jim Landtroop vs Ken King HD
*Stephanie Klick vs Kenneth Sapp

US Senate - *Ted Cruz vs David Dewhurst

US House

District 14 - Randy Weber vs Felicia Harris
District 15 - Eddie Zamora vs Dale A. Brueggemann
District 25 - *Wes Riddle vs Roger Williams
District 34 - Adela Garza vs Jessica Puente Bradshaw
District 36 - *Steve Stockman vs Stephen Takach

So make sure to vote on July 31st, and let's do everything we
can to support Bryan Hughes in his run for Speaker of the House.

The Peter Morrison Report
http://www.petermorrisonreport.com/
http://www.facebook.com/morrisonreport