No Sharia or other foreign law in Texas, thank you

Texas State Representatives Leo Berman (R-Tyler) and Harvey Hilderbran (R-Kerrville) have sponsored amendments which would prohibit Texas courts from applying foreign laws – such as Islamic Sharia law – when those measures conflict with the rights guaranteed by the U.S. and Texas constitutions:

The House approved a Berman amendment Tuesday to an omnibus courts bill (HB 79) that prohibits Texas courts from applying foreign laws in family cases, when they conflict with constitutional rights. Berman’s amendment was filed during the regular session as HB 911. It passed the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee unanimously, but died in the House Calendars Committee.

“We have a constitution of the United States and laws of the United States. We have a constitution and laws of Texas,” said Berman, noting that legislators take an oath to the U.S. and Texas constitutions upon taking office, not foreign jurisdictions. “I thought that doing this – prohibiting Texas courts from using any international law, culture, rules, or regulations – would be one way to protect Texas residents from Sharia law.”

Islamic Sharia law governs both societal matters such as marriage, divorce, and business relations and matters that US law considers personal such as hygiene and diet.

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The Berman court only nullifies a foreign law when it violates a law or the Texas constitution.

- JP

New Poll: Texans Like Perry... as Governor

Most Texans approve of Gov. Rick Perry's performance as governor of the Lone Star State, but when it comes to consideration of him as a potential pony in the race for the White House... well, that's a horse of a different color. The results of a new independent poll released Thursday show that just 9 percent of likely GOP voters in the state said they would favor Perry in a presidential race. That's well below the level of support for Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin, the win and place finishers this time around the Texas track:

Romney, favored by 16 percent in the annual Texas Lyceum poll, is the presumptive national front-runner for the Republican nomination, while Palin (14 percent) and Perry have not announced their intention to run.

Several caveats, however, are in order. The presidential preference results have a large margin of error — 8 percentage points — and the Texas primaries are still nine months away.

If Perry were to formally launch a campaign, his support would rise in Texas, though how far is an interesting question, said Bruce Buchanan, a University of Texas government professor.

"In Texas, what's causing me to hesitate is a sense that people have supported Perry strongly for governor, but they have to think about him as president," Buchanan said. "If he did jump into the race, would his polls jump up? Most probably. But I don't know if they would jump up enough to catapult him into front-runner status, not until he showed his chops, so to speak."

[...]

The new poll was conducted two weeks after another state survey showed Perry trailing most Republican hopefuls in Texas, with only 4 percent of GOP voters favoring their governor as a candidate.

But the latest poll, conducted May 24-31, came after increasing speculation about a Perry candidacy and amid Perry's May 27 announcement that he would consider running for president, ramping up state and national media coverage of the governor.

The telephone poll of 707 adults was conducted for the Texas Lyceum, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of community and professional leaders under age 46.

A UT/Texas Tribune poll in late May indicated only 4 percent of Texas Republicans said they'd give Perry their votes for president. Sarah Palin led that field at 12 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich at 11 percent, and Mike Huckabee with 10 percent. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota were in a tie for fourth place at 7 percent each. Since then, Huckabee has declined a presidential run, and Gingrich has stumbled badly. Many of his campaign staffers, formerly with Perry's 2010 gubernatorial campaign, walked out en mass.

Texas poll numbers notwithstanding, Perry's people are surveying the political landscape in Iowa.

- JP

Twilight Zone: Is Rick Perry having presidential dreams?

Picture of a man looking at a picture. He sees himself painted on the canvass as the 45th President of the United States. James Richard "Rick" Perry, whose world is centered in the close orbit around Austin Texas, a man whose dreams are tucked away in the safety deposit box of his mind. James Richard "Rick" Perry, who is tempted to open that box and try to parlay his dreams into a seat at a poker table where the players are willing to wager all the the political capital they have accumulated in hopes of winning their nation's top job. For the winner, it means the coveted titles of "commander in chief" and "leader of the free world." But the losers may find themselves reduced to panhandling on the political pavement, trying desperately to fill their pencil cups with the coins of fleeting fame. But those are the risks one takes when the cards are shuffled and dealt... in the Twilight Zone.

Brian Preston advises from Austin that despite a number of former Perry campaign people bailing on Newt Gingrich's stumbling campaign, more than one of his sources inside the Texas governor's circles say “nothing has changed”:

If Gov. Rick Perry gets into the presidential race it’s obviously a game-changer. Perry is the nation’s most experienced serving governor and he has built up an economic record that’s pretty tough to match. That should count for quite a bit as we deal with the worst national economy of most of our lifetimes. And if Dave Carney and Rob Johnson really have left, at least in part, because they’re moving back to the Perry team to power his run, that puts some of the top talent on the GOP side on the Perry team. They know how to run a campaign. They are very disciplined and very very good at what they do. Gingrich wasn’t able to get any traction in spite of the talent he had assembled around him, mostly because of his own record and gaffes coming out of the starting gate; I doubt Perry will suffer from that same problem. If their 2010 run in Texas is anything to go by, Perry’s team will bedevil President Obama at every turn.

You can tell that Preston is decidedly pro-Perry, but he maintains that the governor's decision not to run for president still stands. That contradicts the reading of the smoke signals going up from other quarters however. Jonathon Seidl at The Blaze has a source "close to the Gingrich campaign" who says Perry has offered Rob Johnson his old job back. Johnson was Gingrich's campaign manager until today's walkout, and he help the same position with Perry's campaign:

According to the source, “Rob and Perry spoke last week and Perry told him his old job is waiting for him.”

“I know that for a fact,” the source said.*

The final piece of evidence submitted for your consideration, as Rod Serling used to say on "The Twilight Zone," is furnished by National Review editor Rich Lowry:

“he’s in”: that’s what a TX source who’s always discounted idea that gov perry would run just told me

All of the sources cannot be correct, obviously. But which ones are dispensing reliable information, and which ones are just blowing smoke? Ah, that's the billion-dollar question. With apologies to the late Mr. Serling:

To the wishes that may come true, to the strange, mystic strength of the political animal, who can take a wishful dream and give it a dimension of its own. For James Richard "Rick" Perry, who claimed he had "the best job in the world" as governor of Texas, will he risk all he has to try to win the best job in an alien world, one which orbits around that blazing sun known as The Beltway of Washington DC? It can happen in the Twilight Zone.

- JP

Mr. Obama, stop tearing down this state

Bill Hammond, president and CEO of the Texas Association of Business, has had enough of Barack Obama's vindictive assault on the Lone Star State, as he makes perfectly clear in this Chronicle op-ed:

Texas versus Washington talk is popular political chatter, but if you move beyond the rhetoric there's substantial evidence that President Barack Obama's administration is waging a strategic and sustained campaign against lives and livelihoods in the Lone Star state .

With all due respect, the president and his administration's hell-bent determination to tear down Texas could be better focused on more pressing matters like reining in debt and reforming entitlements.

The moves against Texas are well documented, some are more bold and brazen than others, and they amount to a war by regulation and executive order that's aimed at knocking Texas off its leadership position.

And lead Texas does. Chief Executive's seventh annual ranking on the best and worst states in which to do business put Texas on top for the 7th year in a row.

Less business-friendly states like the president's home state of Illinois (No. 48) and others sympathetic to his politics and anti-business policies (New York No. 49 and California No. 50) languish in the bottom three spots of the annual survey of the country's CEOs.

I suppose being an economic powerhouse makes Texas an easy target. It's easier to tear down others than to focus on rebuilding America's greatness.

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- JP

Texas Music Break: 'Bob Wills Is Still The King'

Waylon Jennings
Austin, TX (1989)


- JP

Pickens makes his case for the Natural Gas Act

Billionaire Dallas oil man T. Boone Pickens has returned fire at fiscal conservatives who say that industry-specific tax credits, such as those laid out in his proposal to to greatly increase the natural-gas-powered vehicles on American roads, are bad economic policy:

In an opinion piece, Pickens makes a constitutional argument for the Natural Gas Act, which would create billions of dollars in tax credits to encourage motorists and businesses to buy the vehicles.

Those tax credits would mean “someone gets to keep more of the money he’s earned, rather than giving it to the government to spend on who knows what,” Pickens says. “It is not a government grant. And this tax credit, unlike many others, (would have) a sunset provision of five years.”

Pickens makes the case that the tax credit plan would help promote a domestic manufacturing capability for natural gas-powered vehicles and could help lessen U.S. dependence on foreign imports of oil. The increased energy security, he says, dovetails with the Constitution’s charge to Congress to “provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.”

“Absent a plan of their own, critics of my plan are for the status quo, which is to continue sending billions of dollars to OPEC nations, many of whom, in return, are helping to fund terrorism,” Pickens says.

The legislation, known as the Natural Gas Act, would dramatically expand the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel among heavy- duty fleets. The bill has 188 sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives. House and Senate versions of the bill provide tax breaks for natural gas-powered vehicles and fueling stations.

Pickens' opinion piece is here (scroll down).

- JP

Club for Growth endorses Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate

Former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz is gathering endorsements as he tries to become the leader of the pack in the rather crowded GOP primary for retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's seat. The Republican received the stemp of approval last week ofThe Club for Growth, a fiscally conservative 527 national organization:

"Ted Cruz will fight for economic liberty and will be a stalwart defender of the U.S. Constitution," Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said in a Thursday statement. "He will be an ally for other pro-growth Senators and Texans will be proud to have him representing them in Congress. Club Members will do everything they can to see that Ted Cruz is elected as Texas's next Senator."

Cruz already scored an endorsement from FreedomWorks PAC, former Majority Leader Dick Armey's organization, earlier this week. He also is backed by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a conservative with tea party backing who defeated Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) in the 2010 primary.

The Republicans vying to be the last man or woman standing for the general election include Cruz, Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, former Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams have announced campaigns. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is also expected to jumps into the race. On the Democrat side, Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez has announced he will seek his party's nomination.

- JP

It's getting very dangerous down on the border

During her recent trip to Texas, Greta Van Susteren, host of Fox News' "On the Record," spent some time with Dr. Michael Vickers, who owns a ranch 69 miles from the border. Dr. Vickers showed Greta a number of photos he’s taken on or around his land which illustrate the danger on the border. According to Dr. Vickers, there’s been a recent influx of people from India, China, Pakistan, and numerous South American countries trying to cross the border:


Our border patrol agents are doing a great job, but there just aren't nearly enough of them. While Congress continues to throw millions of dollars away on ridiculous research projects such as observing shrimp on treadmills in sparkling clean laboratories, murder and mayhem have become daily facts of life down on the border.

Related: KGRV-TV has more on the "Battle in Brooks County" here.

- JP

Romney: States like Texas make nat'l health ins. reform impossible

The day after Mitt Romney formally launched his second campaign for president, the former Massachusetts governor appeared on "Fox & Friends," where he was asked about RomneyCare, the mandated state health care reform measure he enacted as governor:

He said that it was, “right for the people of Massachusetts” and re-iterated his opposition to a national model based on the same plan.

“It’s not the model for the nation… in Massachusetts, 93 percent of people were insured,” Romney said, mentioning that fixing health insurance cannot be done nationally because of states like Texas, where Romney said 25 percent of the population is uninsured.

But former White House senior adviser David Axlerod would beg to differ with Mitt Romney. Appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" in March, Axlerod said that the RomneyCare health plan “inspired” President Obama and was a “template” for the White House’s own national program.

- JP

Federal appeals court lifts ban on graduation prayer

It looks like prayers will be allowed at a Texas high school graduation after all. Stewart Ball reports from Dallas that a federal appeals court Friday reversed a ban which resulted from the lawsuit filed by an agnostic family that claiming that invocation ceremonies at public events are unconstitutional:

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the emergency appeal filed by the Medina Valley Independent School District. The San Antonio-area school was ordered by a federal judge earlier this week to forbid students from asking audience members to join in prayer or bow their heads at Saturday's graduation.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Christa and Danny Schultz, whose son is graduating. The family's suit was being backed by the Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

[...]

Biery's original ruling prohibited students from praying at the graduation. Biery instead suggested that students modify their remarks to be "statements of their own beliefs," allow them to make the sign of the cross, wear a yarmulke or hijab, or kneel to face Mecca.

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Amen.

- JP

Michael Williams may run for U.S. House instead of the Senate

According to a Texas Tribune source, Michael Williams may withdraw from the crowded field of GOP candidates vying for the U.S. Senate seat of Kay Bailey Hutchison and instead run to represent a newly created congressional district (TX-12) which includes his hometown of Arlington. The former Texas Railroad Commissioner had announced in January his candidacy for the Senate.

The decision hinges on whether the House and Senate pass the current congressional redistricting maps early next week. Sources say that Williams could exit the Senate race before next Wednesday's Tribune forum featuring the leading intended candidates in the race...

[...]

Williams' campaign consultant Corbin Casteel, confirmed the switch was impending. "Commissioner Williams has lived in Arlington since the early 90s when he returned to Texas after working for Presidents Reagan and Bush," Casteel said in a statement to the Tribune. "His home has been drawn into a newly created Congressional district. He has received a great deal of encouragement to transition from the Senate race to run for Congress. Provided the new district does not change significantly, he will pursue the new congressional seat."

Other announced or likely candidates for Hutchison's Senate seat include former solicitor general Ted Cruz, Railroad Commission Chair Elizabeth Ames Jones, former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and state Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston) are considering entering the Senate race.

FEC filings show that Williams' Senate campaign raised a disappointing $418,000 in the first quarter of 2011. Running a campaign for the U.S. Senate, even at the primary level, is something of a high stakes poker game, and the players need to ante up at least $1 million if they want a seat at the table. Congressional contests are much less costly, and the amount Williams has raised should be sufficient, at least for now, to run in a primary where he is sure to have fewer GOP rivals.

- JP