Straus Lieutenants Heart Dan Branch

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Majority of Texas House Republican Caucus Endorses Dan Branch

AUSTIN – A majority of the Republican Caucus in the Texas House of Representatives has endorsed Dan Branch for Texas Attorney General.

The 53 current legislators who stand with Texans for Dan Branch represent not only the majority of the Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives but also the backbone of the Texas House GOP.

These members represent a wide geographic cross-section of Texas, from the Panhandle and West Texas to the Piney Woods of East Texas and the Gulf Coast, as well millions of Texans from rural, suburban, and urban communities throughout the state. Texans for Dan Branch has support from some of the most senior members of the Texas House as well as members in their first and second terms.

“For the past 10 years, the Republican members of the Texas House of Representatives have led the way in passing conservative legislation that has been a model for our nation,” Branch said. “I have been proud to work alongside so many strong conservatives to support an environment that has helped foster the Texas Miracle while protecting limited government and traditional values. I am grateful for and honored by the generous support of my peers, and I look forward to continuing to work with them as the next Attorney General of Texas.”

The current list of Texas House Republicans who have endorsed Dan Branch for Attorney General is included in this release.

1. Representative Jimmie Don Aycock (Killeen)
2. Representative Cecil Bell (Magnolia)
3. Representative Dwayne Bohac (Houston)
4. Representative Greg Bonnen (League City)
5. Representative Cindy Burkett (Garland)
6. Representative Angie Chen Button (Richardson)
7. Representative Bill Callegari (Houston)
8. Representative Travis Clardy (Nacogdoches)
9. Representative Byron Cook (Corsicana)
10. Representative Drew Darby (San Angelo)
11. Representative John Davis (Houston)
12. Representative Sarah Davis (Houston)
13. Representative Gary Elkins (Houston)
14. Representative Marsha Farney (Georgetown)
15. Representative Allen Fletcher (Cypress)
16. Representative John Frullo (Lubbock)
17. Representative Charlie Geren (River Oaks)
18. Representative Lance Gooden (Athens)
19. Representative Patricia Harless (Spring)
20. Representative Linda Harper-Brown (Irving)
21. Representative Dan Huberty (Kingwood)
22. Representative Todd Hunter (Corpus Christi)
23. Representative Jason Isaac (Dripping Springs)
24. Representative Kyle Kacal (Bryan)
25. Representative Jim Keffer (Granbury)
26. Representative Ken King (Canadian)
27. Representative Susan King (Abilene)
28. Representative Tim Kleinschmidt (Lexington)
29. Representative Lois Kolkhorst (Brenham)
30. Representative John Kuempel (Seguin)
31. Representative Lyle Larson (San Antonio)
32. Representative George Lavender (Texarkana)
33. Representative JM Lozano (Kingsville)
34. Representative Doug Miller (New Braunfels)
35. Representative Jim Murphy (Houston)
36. Representative John Otto (Dayton)
37. Representative Chris Paddie (Marshall)
38. Representative Diane Patrick (Arlington)
39. Representative Larry Phillips (Sherman)
40. Representative Jim Pitts (Waxahachie)
41. Representative Four Price (Amarillo)
42. Representative John Raney (College Station)
43. Representative Bennett Ratliff (Coppell)
44. Representative Debbie Riddle (Tomball)
45. Representative Allan Ritter (Nederland)
46. Representative Kenneth Sheets (Dallas)
47. Representative J.D. Sheffield (Gatesville)
48. Representative Ralph Sheffield (Temple)
49. Representative Wayne Smith (Baytown)
50. Representative Phil Stephenson (Wharton)
51. Representative Jason Villalba (Dallas)
52. Representative Paul Workman (Austin)
53. Representative John Zerwas (Simonton)

 If Dan Branch wants to base his AG campaign on the support of Charlie Geren, Bennett Ratliff, and (Mr. Medicaid Expansion himself!) Jason Villalba, he can be our guest; is Tommy Williams next?!?

Captain Renault said it best:



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Update: Agendawise has more:

This self-generated publicity is a good snapshot for primary voters who get to see the liberal Branch’s concept of “conservative” – a Republican endorsement list with a D+ average on the 2011 scorecards of Empower Texans and Young Conservatives of Texas.

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Greg Abbott (plus free Beer) draws ENORMOUS Crowd in Austin

Cahnman's Musings attended Greg Abbott's Austin campaign kickoff event earlier tonight in Austin.  We didn't take notes or pictures.  We thus write from memory.

We were impressed.

Between Rick Perry's various campaigns and Ted Cruz's race last year, we've attended A LOT of campaign events in Austin.  Tonight was unique.  We've never seen this many people at an event for a Republican candidate.

There were easily 500  to 750 people present.  This wasn't just tea party folks.  Everyone was there.

General Abbott stated his opposition to having government pick winners and losers in the economy.  The implicit rebuke was obvious if subtle.  He made his opposition to crony capitalism in Austin clear.  Although he "didn't want to look backwards" regarding the current budget, General Abbott stated his opposition to future spending.  Cahnman's Musings looks forward to hearing General Abbott address these questions in detail.

The most impressive aspect of the event, however, was the size and energy of the crowd.  It packed out the side room at Scholz Garten.  Heading into Election 2014, Cahnman's Musings is VERY happy with the enthusiasm we will likely see at the top of the Republican ticket.

Time will tell, tonight's Abbott campaign event in Austin deserves an A+.

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Debra Medina's Super Crappy Fundraising

Cahnman's Musings found an interesting nugget in the fundraising chart Must Read Texas posted yesterday:

In the comptrollers race, Debra Medina has only raised $55,000.  That's worse than disappointing.  It's pathetic.

This is shame. Being comptroller plays to Debra Medina's strength in a way being Governor never did and never will.  Debra Medina is notorious for being a pain in the you-know-what and asking unpleasant questions of government agencies.  They hate when she does this.  Asking fiduciary questions of governmental entities is a major component of the Comptroller's job.

Debra Medina could be a really good Comptroller; Cahnman's Musings urges her to step up her game!

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Everything You Need to Know About Dan Branch in One Headline

Apparently, Dan Branch is one of only four candidates to whom Dubya has given money since leaving office:

Former President George W. Bush gave Dan Branch $5,000 last month for his race for attorney general.

....

Bush gave $1,000 to Branch in both 2010 and 2011.

Now that Branch sees daylight and can try to move up — because Attorney General Greg Abbott is running for governor — Dubya upped his contribution to $5,000

Cahnman's Musings already had already ruled out supporting Branch in this race; this is yet another reason.

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Wendy Davis Does Not Speak for Me

From Konni Burton, Wendy Davis's likely 2014 opponent:

Right now on the Senate floor, Wendy Davis is filibustering a bill that, if passed, will protect those among us that cannot speak for themselves. Those that do not have a voice. The innocent. The unborn.

Wendy Davis is holding that bill hostage so that it does not pass. She wants the world to think she's doing this to stand for "women" and "families". That, my friends, is the height of hypocrisy. So typical of a politician - to use something like this for political gain.

I say... enough. Wendy Davis does NOT speak for me.

Pass it on.

#WendyDavisdoesnotspeakforme

 Amen.

You can donate to Konni's campaign here.

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In other Tarrant County news related to this filibuster, several conservative members of the Tarrant County House delegation released the following statement this morning:

TARRANT CONSERVATIVE MEMBERS RESPOND TO WENDY DAVIS’S REQUEST

“Delivering 84,610 blank letters representing those letters that will never be written”

(Austin, TX) In response to Senator Wendy Davis’s request for citizens to send in their stories for her to read during her filibuster on the Senate floor, Conservative Representatives from Tarrant County decided to answer her call Tuesday afternoon by delivering 84,610 blank sheets of paper. Each piece represented a child’s life that was ended in 2011, the most recent year of abortion statistics in Texas.

Texas State Representative Jonathan Stickland commented on the letters, saying “It is my hope and prayer  that Senator Davis would recognize all of the letters that will never be written due to the tragedy of abortion today.”

Referring to the ambulatory services center portion of the legislation, Representative Klick said, “Senate Bill 5 raises the standard of health care for Texas women, but Senator Davis claims it is somehow a ‘war on women’.  Tarrant County constituents know better.  This is simply a political stunt aimed at the far left of the Democratic Party.”

Representative Capriglione said, “I will never meet thousands of my potential constituents - men and women who, instead of serving our great state, have been taken by the tragedy of abortion.”

Representative Krause explained the significance of the letters saying, “As a father of three, the thought of how many innocent pre-born children are denied the most basic right to life every year in Texas is both alarming and heartbreaking. It is my sincerest belief that every life is unique and special, and it is our duty as Americans to defend and advocate for the most fragile and helpless of our society."

Representative Zedler called on Senator Davis saying, “Wendy Davis does not represent the voters of Tarrant County by her actions today. She’s playing political games with the lives of Texans who deserve protection.” 

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Would Wayne Christian Challenge Senator John Cornyn?!?

It's not a secret that Cahnman's Musings would like to see a primary challenge to Senator John Cornyn; the question is who will do it.  We've proposed having Senator Ted Cruz's father Rafael and Tea Party Superstar Katrina Pierson take this challenge.  Today, we have another idea.

How about former Texas State Rep. Wayne Christian?!?

The most important thing for grassroots Texans to understand about Wayne Christian is that the leadership of the Texas State House hates his guts; in fact, they hate him so much that they redistricted him out of his seat in 2011.

In other words, Wayne Christian already has a long record of confronting clowns on the Republican side of the aisle; willingness to confront Republican 'leadership' is one of the biggest things we need more of in Washington.

Similar to Katrina, Wayne Christian would enter this race with credibility and name recognition.  He's been through the ringer before, so he knows how to run a general election campaign.  If Wayne Christian had skeletons in his closet, Joe Straus would have dug them up by now.

As we wrote back in April:

John Cornyn is a nice guy.  That's the problem.  Nice guys like John Cornyn, who lack the internal fortitude to defeat this President (or any potential 2016 successor), are why the Republican party keeps finishing last.  John Cornyn voted for TARP.  John Cornyn voted for the 2011 Debt Ceiling deal.  John Cornyn voted for the Fiscal Cliff Senators never improve in third terms.

 Someone needs to step up, preferably someone with campaign experience; Wayne Christian would be a darn good choice.

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On Perry's Vetoes

Yesterday, Governor Rick Perry let loose some awesome vetoes:

• He vetoed the attempt to make University regents accountable to the permanent University bureaucracy instead of an elected Governor; this had been priority legislation for Cahnman's Musings.

• He vetoed a separate attempt to gut the authority of the elected State Board of Education.

• He followed through on his threat and used his line item power to eliminate funding for the so-called 'Public Integrity Unit' of the Travis County DA's office over the ongoing Rosemary Lehmberg embarrassment.

These vetoes helped restrain the worst excesses of the legislature for which the Governor deserves commendation.

Unfortunately, the Governor let the overwhelming majority of the budget stand.  He also signed the Common Core-style data collection bill.  And those are more important.

Last month, we wrote:

The general session of the 83rd Legislature revealed a Governor who is either unable or unwilling to control the Austin insider crowd in his own party.

 While yesterday's vetoes helped to contain said 'Austin insider crowd,' they don't control them.  The Governor helped stop some bad stuff, but he still let A LOT of crap through.  An appropriate end to a heartbreaking legislative session.

Onward....

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Update: Just spoke with a friend who knows more about Texas politics than anyone we've ever met.   This person believes the odds were "50/50 at best" that Perry would have gotten a better deal out of the budget a second time.  In either case, the solution is to throw out these clowns in 'leadership' of the legislature.

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OFFICIAL ENDORSEMENT: Konni Burton for Texas Senate!!!

Cahnman's Musings wasn't planning to jump into Election 2014 before sine die.  Legislative outcomes during final week of the General session and the upcoming Special session(s) remain our top state level priority.  But it's Friday and this one's a no-brainer.

Konni Burton has worked behind the scenes the past few election cycles.  She helped lead the revolution that swept the Tarrant County GOP during 2012.  She also supported Ted Cruz in 2011, back when doing so was (to put it mildly!) controversial.

Konni Burton has been an advocate of school choice and an opponent of educrats for a long time.  In post CSCOPE Texas, with the school finance lawsuit expected to come to a head in 2014, an irreconcilable clash of visions is brewing.  Cahnman's Musings encourages Konni Burton to focus on the moral case FOR school choice while simultaneously mocking educrats and their financial enablers.

That being said, another aspect of Konni Burton's platform holds special appeal:

Work to reduce the state’s dependence on federal dollars.

 This is VERY important, and it highlights a concern that drives everything Cahnman's Musings does at the state level.  40% of Texas' Budget comes from Washington.  This is dangerous.  Washington is not a reliable business partner.  Cahnman's Musings is pleased to see Konni Burton make this issue a priority.

While the case FOR Konni Burton is strong enough on it's own, Cahnman's Musings must also comment about her opponent, incumbent State Senator Wendy Davis (D - Educrats).  In 2011, Wendy Davis held taxpayers hostage to flush more money down the rat-hole of public education.  In addition, the relationship between Wendy Davis' law practice and her votes in the Texas Senate are questionable at best.  Wendy Davis uses a self-righteous mask to cover crony corporatist double dealing.  It's just as easy to oppose Wendy Davis as it is to support Konni Burton.

An irreconcilable clash of visions over education is brewing in Texas.  In one corner are parents, children, and taxpayers who want options and a reasonable rate of return on their investment.  In the other are a group of self-serving bureaucrats protecting their boondoggle.  Konni Burton is the former; Wendy Davis is the latter.  For this reason, Cahnman's Musings unapologetically and unconditionally endorses Konni Burton for Texas Senate!!!

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