Julian Castro's Christian Persecution Ordinance

Texas Values on the shocking new ordinance proposed in San Antonio:

In early August, the City Council will consider an ordinance to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the discrimination ordinances in the city code. The proposal would ban anyone that has ever opposed (“demonstrated bias, by word or deed…”) homosexuality from being involved in city government and/or performing a city contract/subcontract. The proposed ordinance provides no exemptions for religious beliefs on homosexuality, even beliefs expressed in Church. - See more at: http://txvalues.org/2013/07/25/san-antonio-looks-to-ban-christians-from-city-government/#sthash.r9UdVQA2.dpuf

In early August, the City Council will consider an ordinance to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the discrimination ordinances in the city code. The proposal would ban anyone that has ever opposed (“demonstrated bias, by word or deed…”) homosexuality from being involved in city government and/or performing a city contract/subcontract. The proposed ordinance provides no exemptions for religious beliefs on homosexuality, even beliefs expressed in Church.

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This ordinance is filled with serious legal (and moral) problems (see here for more detail).

• The ordinance directly violates the First Amendment freedom of religion and freedom of speech.
• The ordinance violates the Texas Religious Freedom Act by infringing on religious liberty while not proving a compelling need for the law and not using the least intrusive way to address the issue.
• The ordinance further violates the Federal and Texas Constitutions by creating a de facto religious test for involvement in city government.
• The ordinance does not provide any protection for religious organizations, non-profits, or businesses, thus forcing these organizations to provide services that may be in direct violation of their religious beliefs.

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The continued push to accept homosexuality and redefine marriage will continue to put our precious religious freedoms in grave peril. As evidenced by this ordinance, little tolerance will be given to those, particularly Christians, that continue stand for the biblical truth on marriage and homosexuality. And, the successful passage of this ordinance will certainly tempt other cities in Texas to follow suit.

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Jonathan Saenz of Texas Values speaks on the proposal:



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Red Sonja has the background of Castro's adherence to the most radical aspect of the agenda here.

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The Hollow Mayor: Updates on Julian Castro

A great new site has one stop shopping for Barack Obama's chosen Texas crony, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro; among the "highlights":

• Castro's 15% increase in the homicide rate 

• Castro's city has 37% of schools failing. 

• Castro's roach infested public housing.

In addition, today's San Antonio Express-News details the roll-out of Castro's pre-K initiative:

In what the mayor recently described as a “Herculean effort,” 20 members of the city's staff have been on a learning curve to become educational experts while developing the program. They were trained on the job by educational consultants at taxpayers' expense, but it was City Manager Sheryl Sculley and her staff, not educators, who built Pre-K 4 SA. 

After a nationwide search costing $175,000, a CEO was recruited from Harlandale ISD at an annual salary of $176,000. The job requirements specified “a master's with a focus in early childhood education, preferably a doctoral degree, and a proven record of achieving excellence,” along with other experience and skills not present in the person selected. She has a master's in educational psychology and supervision, and served Harlandale as a principal for 23 years and as head of curriculum and instruction for nine years. 

Since Pre-K 4 SA's success will be measured by third-grade STARR scores in reading and math, we are interested in the academic performance of children educated under the leadership of the new CEO. The 2012 report of third-grade performance on the STARR in Harlandale shows that 33 percent failed to attain a satisfactory reading level and 43 percent failed in math.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/Pre-K-4-SA-promises-empty-so-far-4587637.php#ixzz2VqZm1KPy

 Finally, this surprisingly honest piece from Al Jazeera (yeah, that Al Jazeera) takes the cake:

Given the parallels between the lives of Castro and Obama, it would seem impossible for Obama not to have noticed the two-term mayor. Like the president, Castro earned a degree from Harvard Law School. Like Obama, Castro is the son of a single mother. And like Obama, some of Castro's relationships can be seen as a challenge to mainstream political thought.

Obama's personal connection with Jeremiah Wright, his former pastor, and his more tangential connection with William Ayers, a 1960s radical with whom Obama served on two foundation boards, have drawn vehement criticism from some conservatives.

For Castro, however, it is his mother - a leading figure of Texas' La Raza Unida party, a nationalist Mexican-American movement that seeks equal rights for Latinos, who could become a lightning rod. 

For Julian and Joaquin, both sons of Texas, statements like the ones their mother made in an interview with the New York Times Magazine, attacking one of the greatest sources of San Antonio pride - the Alamo and the battle for Texan independence - could prove problematic in their ability to sell themselves as Mexican-Americans. 

Rosie Castro said "the ‘heroes’ of the Alamo were a bunch of drunks and crooks and slave-holding imperialists who conquered land that didn’t belong to them", potentially a major contributing factor to conservative criticisms of her two sons.

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Update: To say nothing of his ongoing campaign finance scandal.

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BREAKING NEWS: Rick Perry Caves on Obamacare

Sigh:

Governor Rick Perry reverses position on Medicaid Expansion
by,
Abe Rill Phuelez
April, 1st 2013

Austin, TX -- Citing a need to 'embrace political moderation' and fear of 'being called mean by Democrats,' Texas Governor Rick Perry today reversed his position on expanding Medicaid under the 2010 Federal Health Care Law.

"In 2012, Mitt Romney decisively won independents and the results speak for themselves.  Texans should embrace political moderation to achieve similar results," Perry said.  "As Governor, I fear being called mean by Democrats so much that I would rather expand a bankrupt Medicaid program."

Medicaid expansion will split Texas Republicans.  Representative David Simpson and Senator Donna Campbell issued a joint statement calling the move 'heartbreaking and inexplicable.'  Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, by contrast, hailed Perry's decision as "the best news I've heard all session."

Battleground Texas Reacts

Jeremy Bird, President Obama's handpicked choice to rebuild Texas Democrats, echoed Straus' sentiments.

"Battleground Texas is ecstatic Governor Perry has joined the tradition of former Virginia state senator John Chichester and former Colorado Governor Bill Owens by preemptively expanding government" said Bird. "As we recently made clear, Battleground Texas does not yet posses the resources we need to win.  Medicaid expansion is the taxpayer financed slush fund of Battleground Texas' dreams."

Former George W. Bush speechwriter Mark McKinnon called the move 'a strategic milestone' for Democrats.  "The long-term objective of the Democrat party is subvert traditional American virtues of individual sovereignty and self-reliance and to replace them with a spirit of fear and dependence on Caesar.  Any system that traps another million souls in a substandard health-care system is a slam dunk win for Texas Democrats."

Julian Castro salivates

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, the political figure most widely expected to benefit from Medicaid expansion, issued the following statement:

"I am delighted Governor Perry chose to reject common-sense Medicaid reforms like Federal block granting in favor of the mother of all payola schemes for Texas Democrats.  Socialized medicine will allow me to establish a protection racket for a statewide run in a way that felony corporate contributions never could.  Medicaid expansion will be Julian Castro's personal Tammany Hall.

Tea Party activists were too busy fighting among themselves to comment.

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Julian Castro SCANDAL: This could get interesting!!!

Oh baby, the Texas Democrats' little golden boy might not be so golden afterall:

In an official response to nine Sworn Complaints, the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) has notified most members of the San Antonio City Council they are being investigated for multiple campaign finance violations.

Mayor Julian Castro, Council members Cris Medina and Diego Bernal had the most alleged violations at over 200 each.

The Sworn Complaints allege 41 instances of accepting donations from corporations. Corporate donations are, if done knowingly, a 3rd degree felony offense. All nine complaints alleged these offenses. Well known names include MacDonalds, Inc., Holiday Inns, Inc. and Texas Associaton of Realtors.

 Ouch; read the whole thing here.

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How to Kick the Left's Ass in Travis County

With the emergence of Battleground Texas, a lot of ink has been spilled about the left's efforts to flip Texas.  The threat is real, but we can beat it.  One key is to make the left play defense on territory it thinks it owns.

Cahnman's Musings has been a resident of Travis County for five and a half years.  We've always found the reports of it's liberalism, much like Mark Twain's demise, to be greatly exaggerated.  Before living in Travis County, we grew up in NYC and spend half a decade in and around Los Angeles.  Cahnman's Musings has seen places hopelessly up their ass with progressivism.  Travis county ain't it.

One thing we've always observed is that there are a lot of people in Travis County who are liberty minded in a general sense, but don't follow politics closely and don't vote.  Those folks are the key.  One example is the fraternities and sororities at U.T.  The Greek system is under assault from the permanent U.T. bureaucracy, and kids in the Greek system don't buy into progressivism in the same way other U.T. students do.  If you take 20 to 100 active members per house and multiply it by 20 houses, all of a sudden you're talking about meaningful vote totals.

And that's just one example.

In that spirit, Cahnman's Musings offers the following outline to put the left on defense in Travis County:

• Online Video -- This is an inexpensive way to push information.  Online video allows us to go around media gatekeepers.  The key is to use humor to capture attention.

• Identify, Register, and Turnout New Texans -- What do Glenn Beck, Chuck DeVore, and myself have in common?!?  We're all economic refugees from blue states, and we're all conservatives.  Economic refugees to Texas are a self-selected group.  The people moving to Texas aren't liberals.  As Governor Perry told Glenn Beck last week, "if they're takers who want government to take care of them from cradle to grave, they're going to stay in California."

• Follow the Money -- Big government inevitably begets boondoggles.  Nobody likes boondoggles.  On a related note, there could be a major scandal breaking in San Antonio.

• Make the Villains Household Names -- There are plenty of potential villains in Travis County.  In the spirit of Alinsky's thirteenth rule, Cahnman's Musings suggests raising these people's profile.  Personally, we'd start with this guy.

• Education -- We need to increase the economic literacy of average citizens.

Any effort to protect Texas from the left must include Travis County.  There are a lot of potential voters here.  In the short term, we can put the left on defense; over the longer haul, we can kick their ass.

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Push Junction: Carpetbagging Hipster Leads Battleground Texas

The San Antonio Express News reports on an early meeting of Battleground Texas:

Jeremy Bird, the former national field director for President Barack Obama and the driving force of Battleground Texas, could have picked anywhere in the state to begin the group's launch tour. He chose San Antonio not because it's the “best city in Texas,” as Julián Castro proclaimed, but because — as Medina noted — this is where the political firepower is located.

Like many successful political organizers, Bird is a hipster nerd: a skinny, bespectacled, coolly analytical veteran of the game who also sees that game as an inspiring civics lesson. The product of a suburban St. Louis trailer park, he has no roots in Texas, but tried to make up for lost time by twice expressing his enthusiasm for tacos.

Above all, Bird might be the best representation of the strategic revolution that Obama (via Howard Dean) has wrought in American politics. While the GOP has made great sport of Obama's background as a community organizer (and it's certainly debatable how valuable that background has been in the White House), that experience made Obama unusually receptive to the concept of grassroots political organizing — and unusually aware of the modern-day limits of TV advertising.

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Bird and Jenn Brown, executive director of Battleground Texas, said the campaign will be relentless. It will center on local, precinct-by-precinct drives to tap into the large number of unregistered Latino and African American voters, and the use of state-of-the-art data collection and analytics to get those voters to the polls. And it'll rely on plenty of money.

It all sounded strikingly similar to the ethos that drove the Obama campaigns of 2008 and 2012. Obama campaign leaders generally paid little attention to polls. They believed turnout was everything — that they had the votes to win; they just had to go out and get them.

(h/t Push Junction)

 There isn't a lot of new information in this article.  That Battleground Texas intends to win through aggressive micro-targeting isn't exactly news.  That being said, when they say: 'that they had the votes to win; they just had to go out and get them,' Cahnman's Musings considers that statement interesting, considering that Julian Castro is up for re-election in two months.

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