ACTION ALERT: Stop Texas' 26% Spending Increase

The disastrous 83rd Legislature comes down to this, from the Tea Party Advisory Caucus:

Fellow Patriots:

THIS IS AS URGENT AS IT GETS.

PLEASE SPREAD JOANN'S MESSAGE FAR AND WIDE AS SOON AS YOU CAN.

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Spending Up 26%! Texas Legislature Takes Wild Left Turn & Spends like there’s No Tomorrow

Alert from: JoAnn Fleming, Chairman, TX Legislature's TEA Party Caucus Advisory Committee; Executive Director, Grassroots America

The news is bad – very bad. A majority in the Texas House and Senate (yes, a majority of Republicans) have gone on a wild spending spree! We have one last chance to stop it. Please help us kill HB 1025 and SB 1 to force a special session. We believe we can get a more conservative budget when all the focus is on spending.

It is time for YOU to come to the aid of Texas! Call, e-mail, text, FaceBook, and Tweet your state representative as soon as possible! Melt the phone lines starting at 8 AM Friday and call all day! Call your representative’s district offices and Capitol office. Tell him/her you do not support the budget and you support a special session to get it right. Ask them to vote down HB 1025 & SB 1.  Be firm and employ the Golden Rule.  Yelling and cursing doesn't make them hear you, in fact, it can have the opposite effect.

To find your state representative click here.

For good measure, call your state senator & declare you don’t support the budget, click here.

Call Governor Perry’s office & ask him to veto the budget if it passes!(512) 463-2000

Special thanks to Texas Public Policy Foundation for its help in putting together the numbers that follow...

The bad news - if HB 1025 (supplemental spending bill) and SB 1 (budget) pass, this happens:

·        The $1.8 billion in tax relief called for by the Governor is slashed because a majority of the legislature went on a spending spree. The Legislature includes about half of the Governor’s request (about $900 million) and wants to count $631 million in a one-time electrical ratepayer fee rebate for about 80% of Texans as a tax cut—which it isn’t.

·        The budget will exceed the state’s constitutional spending limit. They will bust the spending cap! The big spenders seek to circumvent the spending limit through SJR 1, the constitutional amendment to be approved by voters in November. They are changing the definition of “busting the cap” so they can say they didn’t…sounds just like Washington, DC!

·        Though they had more than $13 billion in new general revenue (GR) on hand for the 2014-15 budget, House & Senate budget appropriators did not include money in the budget for “pay as you go” highway funding or provide taxpayers with a meaningful tax cut. Instead, they spent it all and want to raid the Rainy Day Fund too!

·        The Legislature has decided to raid the state’s Economic Stabilization Fund (Rainy Day Fund) for almost $4 billion. The ESF was intended to protect against the pressure for a tax increase during an economic downturn. Instead, this budget uses the Rainy Day Fund to explode spending during a time of plenty, cutting the fund balance in half—from $8 billion to $4 billion. This leaves Texas vulnerable if the national economy continues to falter or we have a natural or manmade disaster.

·        The Legislature will appropriate approximately $106 billion in General Revenue and Rainy Day funds. This is an increase of $22 billion, or 26%, over last session! (This is a session to session, not a budget to budget, comparison.)

·        The total of all funds (including federal funds) in the new budget looks to be about $214 billion, an increase of about $38 billion, or 21%, over what was appropriated in 2011. (This is a session to session, not a budget to budget, comparison.)

·        This level of spending is proof most legislators are tone deaf (94% of 2012 Republican primary voters signaled they wanted spending cut). They willingly ignore the unstable national and global economies. This is a threat to a strong Texas and should be treated as an assault on liberty.

·        This spending repeats the mistake of the 79^th TX Legislature (2005). After the 78^th Legislature (2003) held the line on spending, the 79^thLegislature went on a spending spree that led to the 2011 $15 billion budget shortfall. It could happen again. Are the big spenders setting the stage for gambling and/or and income tax next session?

·        This spending rejects principles of fiscal conservatism in exchange for a big-gov’t approach like those of the other big-five states: CA, NY, IL, FL.

·       This budget is a threat to the economic prosperity of Texas citizens, families, and communities. It is a threat to Texas – the best hope for enduring freedom in these United States. 

 The Legislature appears determined to spend the State of Texas into becoming the next California, and the Governor is sucking his thumb.  The situation is dire.  Call and Tweet your legislators AND the Governor.

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Contact Info:

Governor Rick Perry:
Phone: (512) 463-2000
Twitter: @GovernorPerry

Lt. Governor David Dewhurst:
Phone: (512) 463-0001
Twitter: @DavidHDewhurst

House Speaker Joe Straus
Phone: (512) 463-1000
Twitter: @SpeakerStraus

Find your own legislator here.

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Update: Continuing the pattern of this bizarre session, Lt. Governor Dewhurst NAILS it!!!

Update II: Empower Texans has more here; money quote: 

There is $13 billion of additional general revenue sitting in the state treasury than two years prior. But that wasn’t enough to satisfy the Legislature’s appetite for more spending. They say they need $4 billion more from a fund constitutionally created to backfill budget shortfalls.

There are many aspects of the current version of the budget that should be of serious concern to voters (like throwing $4 billion extra into public education to appease Democrats, the lack of substantial tax relief, a pension increase for legislators… etc.). Arguably the biggest though is the reckless disregard for the original purpose of the Rainy Day Fund.

Legislators should hit the reset button and pass a better budget in a special session. Getting it right is far more important than just getting it done.

 Update III: Chuck DeVore Tweets this diagram:

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The Original, Biblical, Tea Party

From 2 Chronicles 10:

The Revolt Against Rehoboam

10 And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. ² So it happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard it (he was in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon), that Jeroboam returned from Egypt. ³ Then they sent for him and called him. And Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵ So he said to them, “Come back to me after three days.” And the people departed.
⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, saying, “How do you advise me to answer these people?”
⁷ And they spoke to him, saying, “If you are kind to these people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be your servants forever.”
⁸ But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. ⁹ And he said to them, “What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?”
¹⁰ Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to the people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist! ¹¹ And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!’”^[a]
12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had directed, saying, “Come back to me the third day.” ¹³ Then the king answered them roughly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders, ¹⁴ and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father^[b] made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!”^{[c] 15} So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of events was from God, that the Lord might fulfill His word, which He had spoken by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
¹⁶ Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying:

“What share have we in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
Every man to your tents, O Israel!
Now see to your own house, O David!”

So all Israel departed to their tents. ¹⁷ But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.

¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of revenue; but the children of Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

 See also 1 Kings 12:1-20.

 Background: This section follows the death of King Solomon.  While Solomon had been a godly King in his early years (when he built the temple), in his later years he was swept with the temptations of Earthly power.  Where he originally raised taxes to build the temple (which the people supported), he moved on build palaces and country estates for himself.

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Will Progress Texas Apologize for (at best) mischaracterizing the IRS Scandal?!?

The other day, we called out Progress Texas for claiming they received similar treatment from the IRS as Tea Party groups.  We linked to their IRS application and the application of the Waco Tea party along with highlights from other Tea Party-type applications.  In response, Progress Texas retreated into semantics.

We were going to drop the matter, but that was before Friday's bombshell U.S. House hearing.

Details that emerged in that hearing (and other news reports we've seen the past 24 hours) belie Progress Texas' claim that they received similar scrutiny:

• Was Progress Texas ever asked to detail the contents of their prayers?!? No.

• Did any members of Progress Texas have their personal businesses audited?!?  No.

• Was Progress Texas ever asked to provide the names of every person they trained?!?  No.

At best, Progress Texas mischaracterized the scrutiny they received relative to Tea Party groups.

The honorable thing would be for Progress Texas to apologize and admit they were (at best) premature in claiming similar treatment; we'll see what happens.

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Facebook: Progress Texas
Twitter: @ProgressTX 

Update: Seriously, Progress Texas, similar treatment?!?


Update II:
In response to reading this post on my Facebook page, Toby Marie Walker wrote: "The answer is "no" however you can pass along to them that I gave all their info to Oversight since they too were asked illegal questions."

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Did Progress Texas fib about the IRS scandal?!?

Yesterday, Progress Texas claimed that they received identical treatment to Tea Party groups when they applied for tax-exempts status; Progress Texas made the following three claims:

• While the IRS was screening Tea Party groups, the agency was headed by Doug Shulman - a George W. Bush appointee
• Many Tea Party groups operate like political PACs or political parties - which is not allowed under law
• It took us at Progress Texas 479 days to have our tax-exempt status approved, and we support the due diligence

Today, Robbie Cooper of Urban Grounds points out that Progress Texas received a standard set of IRS follow-up questions (*), not the detailed inquisitions sent to Tea Party Groups.

You can read the request sent to Progress Texas here.

You can read the request sent to Waco Tea Party here.

Bottom Line: Progress Texas was asked standard follow-up questions by the IRS (*) and had their application approved in a little over a year; Tea Party groups were given a proctology exam and many are still awaiting approval 3+ years later.

* which, in the opinion of Cahnman's Musings, are already waaay too intrusive.

Update: Fox 7 Austin has a great piece on the Waco Tea Party Case here:


Update II: Progress Texas has updated their original post to use the word 'similar' instead of 'the same;' without getting into semantics, a little over a year compared to 3+ years AND the two questionnaires speak for themselves.

Update III: An earlier version of this post contained a link to this account from the American Center for Law and Justice; with Progress Texas playing word games, we recommend you compare those questions with the Progress Texas request linked above and judge for yourself.

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Jon Stewart Rips on the IRS scandal

Cahnman's Musings isn't a fan of Jon Stewart, but since this scandal is personal, we'll take all the allies we can get:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Barack Trek: Into Darkness
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Indecision Political Humor The Daily Show on Facebook

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IRS Messes with Friends of Cahnman's Musings

Last week, the IRS apologized for specifically targeting Tea Party and 9/12 groups; today, Glenn Beck had two friends of Cahnman's Musings on to discuss their experience.

Maria Acosta, head of Central Texas 9/12 project, is a close personal friend.

We've also known Toby Marie Walker, head of the Waco Tea Party, for years; we've been a guest on her radio show in the past. While we are not as close with Toby as we are with Maria, Toby is also rad!  For the record, there is no-one, outside of the candidate himself (and his father) who did more to get Ted Cruz elected last year than Toby Marie Walker.



Highlights:

• This is far more intrusive than Watergate.

• At 2:42, you can see Sunshine State Sarah (of Texas) to the viewer's immediate left of Maria.

• Waco Tea Party has had to keep track of thousands of pieces of paper.

• CenTex 9/12 was asked to give the IRS a login.

• These IRS agent's are trained specialists.

Although, perhaps this will end well; this evening, Toby posted the following message to her facebook page:

Today the Governor called me....Gov. Perry asked me about the IRS story, I explained what they were doing to us. I told him they were picking on us, and he told me "Well, that ticks me off and I'm going to go pick back." LOL Thank you Governor!

 This is an amazing story, and if it leads to the administration's comeuppance, that will be amazing!!!

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After HB 11: How to Move Forward

This morning, Cahnman's Musings was blessed to attend a breakfast/Q&A session with Governor Perry.  The discussion was candid, much of it surrounded water, and last night's failure of HB 11 weighed heavily on the visibly tired Governor's mind.  The Governor made several salient points regarding the long term water needs of our state and, in the spirit of solving this impasse, Cahnman's Musings has a proposal:

Pass the Texas Budget Compact first.

The discomfort around HB 11 in grassroots circles concerns creating new quasi-governmental agencies before we've addressed the state's long-term finances.  Grassroots Texans are justifiably queasy about tapping the state's savings account before the legislature enacts structural reforms to state spending.  The Texas Budget Compact has always been the best way to assuage those concerns.

By amending the state constitution to limit spending to inflation and population growth, the Texas Budget Compact will prevent a new water authority from growing out of control.  The Texas Budget Compact will enforce the discipline necessary to limit any new water authority to its original functions.  Speaking candidly, the Texas Budget Compact will keep a new water authority honest.

In the event that the legislature passes the Texas Budget Compact, Governor Perry's points regarding water make a lot of sense; the Governor wanted to stress that:

• Right now, with $12 billion, there's too much money in the rainy day fund.  The state only needs to keep $7 billion in the rainy day fund to maintain its bond rating and be prepared for a major disaster.  Keeping this extra $5 billion around ad infinitum is an invitation for mischief.

• Water infrastructure is a one time expense.  Governor Perry repeated his opposition to using the rainy day fund to pay for ongoing expenses (ie. education and Medicaid).  If you have extra cash, and you face a one time expense, proactively addressing the problem  makes a lot of sense.

• Given the rate at which Ben Bernake is printing digitizing money, the bucks sitting in the rainy day fund will shortly have a lot less bang.

Using extra cash to pay for one time expenses makes sense, but only if the necessary long-term controls are put into place first.

If the Texas Budget Compact becomes law during the General session, then grassroots opposition to a narrowly tailored water infrastructure package will be defused during a special session; the ball is in your court, Mr. Governor.

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