For over a decade I have been calling to put men with rifles on the Southern border. There is no border security without controlling the flow of illegal immigration into Texas and the nation. Walls, river barriers, and surveillance equipment will not suffice. A border protection force of volunteers, Texas guard troops, and law enforcement is necessary. They must be given the means and authority to return people to Mexico. The minute this occurs, illegal immigration stops. The safety of Texas is enhanced, and the drug cartels are starved of money. This could have been accomplished in the 88th legislature, but Republicans failed to do so. The only way to achieve this is to elect people willing to make border security a priority.
There is no set of rights that survives tyranny. Tyrants do not survive an armed populace. It is no surprise, then, that those who hold in contempt the individual rights afforded citizens under our national and state constitutions constantly seek to overturn the 2nd Amendment. I will not support any further restrictions on the rights of the law abiding. Criminals do not follow gun laws. The answer to controlling criminals who use guns illegally, is to mandate very long jail terms with NO parole, and to execute anyone involved in the deliberate killing of another innocent victim.
The election system in Texas is not secure. This situation can be remedied, but only if real reforms are enacted. Any plan to achieve this goal must include the following:
Property taxes in Texas are completely out of control. So is the budget process. Texans are being forced to lease the homes they have invested in for decades and sacrificed for from the state, if you “own something”, why do you have to give your money to someone else just to keep it? This is immoral and should be stopped. The impossible demands of larger and larger budgets require more hard-earned tax dollars be given to bureaucrats that are accountable to no one. Budgets are set by people who have no incentive to control spending.
I propose a fair tax on sales of certain goods and services. The more you spend, the more you pay. You might also combine a much-reduced level of property tax with a fair tax. The main driver of tax reform in Texas, however, would require that revenue amounts are voted on by the public. After all, it’s our money. No school board or state budget writer should be able to dictate how much revenue they receive. The people should determine that by periodic elections.
As a former law enforcement officer, this subject creates an incredible amount of concern. I am well aware of the immense power of the state to protect or destroy the lives and freedoms of the citizens governments should serve. Politicized law enforcement has become all too common. This is particularly true at a federal level, but state agencies and large municipal agencies are not immune from this abuse of power either.
No nation will survive this type of corruption. When the law is used as a weapon for political purposes, the citizenry has no other option but to cast off those responsible for the abuse. In plain English, you are igniting the flames of civil war if you insist on abusing authority under the color of law. Defunding agencies who abuse their authority is sometimes the only remedy available without resulting to force. I believe this is an appropriate path forward, but you will never hold rogue agencies or individuals accountable if you do not elect representatives who value your freedom as much as their own.
Texas is the leading supplier of oil and gas in the United States. Millions of jobs, both direct and indirect, are supported by this industry. The so-called green agenda is a money laundering scheme designed to enrich allies of a socialist Democrat party. Companies and individuals are selected to receive billions of taxpayer dollars because they hold the correct political views, while productive results-driven companies are punished and regulated out of business. Try driving a loaded truck that is battery powered and see how far you get, how many times you must stop, how long it takes you to charge. How are you going to drive in rural areas where there are no charging stations?
The destruction of the fossil fuel industry is about control. Global warming is a natural phenomenon. The earth warms and cools based on its trajectory around the sun. All wind and solar energy produced in Texas should be sold to the residents of California at non-subsidized rates. Let them pay for what they say they want. The interference with fossil fuel production in the United States is a national security issue and it is being ignored by too many Republicans.
According to the federal government, covid killed well over 1 million Americans. Yet we still have no answer how that virus reached our shores. We have held no one accountable for the deaths and the suffering, or the destruction of the economy this country suffered. Instead, millions of Americans were thrown out of work and businesses destroyed. Doctors were forced to comply with government mandates, and citizens were forced to accept experimental vaccines.
Under no circumstance should this be tolerated again in this country or state. No one has the right to force you to accept medical treatment. I firmly believe that the American people, given the right information, can make proper decisions regarding their care and treatment. The long-term effects of covid vaccines will not be known for years. What is known without any doubt is that the rights of millions of Americans were violated. No medical mandates, government or private.
America's schools are no longer places of education—they are places of indoctrination. Your children are still being specifically targeted in schools and public institutions with over sexualized material and radical identity ideology despite the action taken in the last legislative session. This must stop.
In addition to America's schools, America's courts, companies, and government entities are being destroyed by the demand to incorporate radical leftist ideologies into the operations of business. D.E.I., transgenderism, C.R.T., and E.S.G. scoring are being pushed into every aspect of society. Many of these programs encourage racial division and hate. Victimization is being used as a weapon to intimidate conservative citizens into silence. Any government agency or private business engaged in the use of these destructive policies should be subject to heavy fines or suspension of their business license. Texas does not need racist or discriminatory policies enforced or encouraged by anyone.
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