Why do you have to be a dick about everything? Harris County Commissioner Tom Ramsey

June 15, 2023

Welcome to the great Bag of Dicks joining Gov Abbott, CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen, Congressman Randy Weber, and many more.

Sometimes you just have to ask “Why do you have to be a dick about everything? . Yesterday was one of those times after a vote on creating a committee to address LGBTQ concerns. From the Houston Chronicle:

The new committee, which was pushed forward by Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones, will serve an advisory function and make recommendations to Commissioners Court to improve economic, health and safety outcomes for LGBTQIA+ residents, according to the court agenda. 

Ramsey had to be a dick and say something uncalled for and untrue. It was what we call a “dick move”. He just couldn’t help himself. Again from the Chronicle:

“They deal with the grooming of children.”

Someone on the Commission should have asked Ramsey “Why do you have to be a dick about everything?”. Seriously dude. Grow the fuck up. If you are concerned about adults grooming children go advocate against gun shows allowing kids to attend, or against kids going to Twin Peaks, or kids attending MAGAt rallies, or Republican State Representatives porking 19 year old staff members. How about advocating against something that is actually real instead of stupidly repeating stupid comments from Fox News.

Or just shut the living fuck up.

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The attack on your judicial system. Judicial Fairness PAC.

June 14, 2023

When do you stop bashing trial lawyers? When you need one.

While looking at the donations to Texans for Lawsuit Reform I stumbled on a PAC called Judicial Fairness, which is far from fair. Judicial Fairness PAC was created in 2020 with a one time donation of $900,000 from Engage Texas, an extreme right wing organization. They have since raised over $10 Million and spent the most of these donations to sway the election of Judges in Harris County. In 2022 they failed but they came very close across the board. $10 Million is considered, in political terms, a shitload of money for Judicial races.

Of the $10.8 million raised $10.3 Million came from 11 PACs or corporations. (See list below) The top donors include Texans for Lawsuit Reform for $5.3 Million, Conoco, Chevron, Don McGill Toyota, and even $750,000 from the Las Vegas Sands. Needless to say their goal is fairness in the court room, not for you or me, but for their corporations.

They spent $3.3 Million specifically against Harris County Democratic Judges including donations $650,000 to Stop Houston Murders PAC. Other expenditures of over $7 Million were not disclosed on who they specifically supported/opposed. These expenditures were for ad buys, mailers, TV, and radio. Nebo Media in Atlanta Georgia was paid $7.2 Million for their advertisement services.

So when you or a family member are in front of a Judge in a criminal or civil case just think about how important judicial fairness really is, and who paid for it.

DonorAmountCity/State
Texans for Lawsuit Reform$5,300,000Austin TX
Trinity Equity Partners$1,000,000Houston TX
Engage Texas$900,000Austin TX
Las Vegas Sands$750,000Las Vegas NV
Chevron$500,000San Ramon CA
Apache Corporation$500,000Houston TX
Don McGill of Katy$500,000Houston TX
Republican State Leadership$300,000Washington DC
ConocoPhillips$250,000Houston TX
Restoration PAC$250,000Downers Grove IL
SRR Ranches LLC$100,000Galveston TX
$10,350,000

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Texans for Lawsuit Reform. Why you should have been concerned. (hint. It’s too late)

June 12, 2023

While you have been clutching your guns your rights to the 7th amendment of the Constitution has been taken away.

Texans for Lawsuit Reform filed their first Ethics Commission report back in 2000. I remember their lobbyists at the Texas Capitol from my years as a consumer advocate. They claim to advocate on behalf of Texans but the money they raise paint a very different picture.

Mandatory Binding Arbitration
The 7th Amendment of the Constitution states “In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved…..” In short, we have (had) a right to a civil trial for consumer issues such as a faulty foundation in your new home, or cell phone contracts, or buying a new or used car. Giving up your Constitutional rights isn’t an option in Texas. It’s called “Mandatory” for a reason. You have no choice and if you think it is “faster, cheaper, better” you are just ignorant, as most consumers are.

Protecting the bad doctors
TLR also advocated for changing the Texas Constitution to allow for limits on medical malpractice. At the time they said it would lower our health insurance bills and protect doctors from malpractice suits. So take a look at your healthcare bills and tell me how that worked out fer ya. (Hint. It didn’t) As expected nothing has changed. Texas ranks #1 in the uninsured, #45 in health care access, and #38 in overall health care. Luckily most Texans will never need the help of a Texas trial lawyer when it comes to medical malpractice, but when you do….god help you.

TLR Donors
So who has wiped out your safety nets? Since 2000 TLR has raised over $109 Million. $153,000 or .13% (not 13% .13%) was raised from the everyday, common, ignorant, citizen who donated $100 or less thinking they were helping. $90 Million or 83% came from donors who gave from $20,000 to $5,000,000. $48.5 Million or 44% came from just 18 individuals. It gives you an idea of who TLR really represents. In 2020 there was a significant increase in donations corresponding to the 2020 elections.

Here are the top donors:

NameAmount
Jan Duncan$7,300,000Retired
Richard Weekley$6,300,000Homebuilder
Ross Perot$4,700,000Developer
Robert McNair$4,500,000Texans Owner
Bob Perry$3,100,000Homebuilder
Jeffery Hildebrand$2,800,000Energy
Harlan Crow$2,500,000Investor
Harold Simmons$2,400,000Financial Planning
Joe Walter$2,300,000Oil & Gas
David Weekley$2,100,000Homebuilder
Anthony Annunziato$1,600,000Commodity Trading
W Bosarge$1,500,000Consulting
Boone Pickens$1,300,000Investments
Kenney Troutt$1,200,000Investments
Alan Hassenflu$1,700,000Real Estate
Jay Adair$1,100,000Auto Parts
Javiad Anwar$1,000,000Energy
Russell Gordy$1,000,000Oil & Gas
$48,400,000

And if you are interested in graphs:

So you better go clutch that gun a bit tighter because that is all you have at this point.

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Posted by johncoby

BREAKING: Another civil suit filed against Trump for defamation of character.

June 11, 2023

It’s like a nightmare, isn’t it? It just keeps getting worse and worse, doesn’t it? — The Color of Money

You would think that after getting hit with a $5 Million judgement for defamation of character Donald Trump would think about keeping his damn mouth shut. Unfortunately that isn’t who he is. He just can’t shut the hell up. Even Fox News has to cut away from his campaign speech and correct his claims about election fraud. (they really did!) And so it didn’t take long for him to be sued, again, for defamation of character after his unhinged rantings on Truth Social concerning his newest indictment.

So it comes to this. From a press release:

It has become apparent that after numerous attempts requesting the former President to stop defaming us in public, we have decided to file suit seeking not only a formal apology but for $450 Million in punitive damages. We have tried to resolve this without litigation but the former President continues to defame our members and we can no longer tolerate it. Former President Donald Trump’s continued rantings and ravings have defamed the members of WALBA (wall-a-bee) Whiny Ass Little Bitches of America. We are proud whiny ass little bitches but Trump’s whiny little ass has made us look and feel stupid.

We will whine in court.

Welcome to Satire Sunday.

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A deep dive: Defend Texas Liberty and the CCISD elections

June 7, 2023
From TheTexasVoice.com

This is some serious money and dirty influence.

The extreme far right Political Action Committee, Defend Texas Liberty attempted to influence voters in CCISD. CCISD voters didn’t buy it and for very good reasons. CCISD candidate Peter Lauzon accepted $5000 from this extremist organization which was the majority of his donations. Candidate Glencora Rodgers returned the $5000 they had donated. Most voters have no idea of who Defend Texas Liberty is or who funds them. Here are some details:

Defend Texas Liberty filed their first report with the Texas Ethics Committee in 2020. Since then they have raised nearly $12 Million mostly from two billionaires. Timothy Dunn donated $7.3 Million while Farris Wilks donated $3.2 million. These two individuals accounted for 88% of all the donations. Windi Grimes of Houston donated $571,000. Phillip Huffines donated $500,000, and Ken Fisher donated $100,000.

Timothy Dunn
Dunn has donated over $21 Million since 2004. His biggest donations were to Empower Texas (dissolved) for $7.7 Million, Defend Texas Liberty for $7.3 Million, Ken Paxton for $672,000, Shelley Luther for $1.7 Million, $407,000 to Tony Tinderholt and $275,000 to Bryan Slaton. Shelley Luther is known for being the hairdresser who refused to close her shop during COVID. She ended up in jail then ran for the House and then the Senate. She lost both. Tinderholt is a christian, conservative that has been married 5 times. Praise the lord. Bryan Slaton was removed from the Texas House by unanimous vote after he was found to have provided minors with alcohol and porked his 19 year old staff member. Lordy!

Farris Wilks
Wilks donated almost $15 Million since 2014. He also donated to Empower Texas for $2.4 Million, Defend Texas Liberty $3.2 Million, Ken Paxton for $776,000, and Bryan Slaton for $103,000.

Defend Texas Liberty
Defend Texas Liberty has spent $10.8 Million to various candidates and PACs including $160,000 to Representative Bryan Slaton pictured above. As I said, Slaton won his election and was recently removed from office by a unanimous vote in the Texas House for providing alcohol to minors and having unbridled sex with his christian, conservative, staff member who was 19 years old at the time.

Other notable donations:
Local State Representative Terri Leo-Wilson received $12,000 to add to her total, of which 94% came from out of district. State Representative Tony Tinderholt received $23,000.

Tim O’Hare, an extreme far right candidate, of Southlake Texas received $86,000 for his race for Tarrant County Judge in 2022. Texas Homeschool Coalition received $112,500.

Shelley Luther received $208,500 for her failed bid for Senate. Her claim to fame was.

And that is who attempted to influence the CCISD elections.

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Senator Money Mayes Middleton protecting kids from violence? (not quite)

June 7, 2023

Senator Middleton broke his arm patting himself on the back claiming he is protecting our precious children in. He isn’t.

In an email to some of his constituents Money Mayes Middleton said:

“The number 1 cause of death of children in Texas is gun violence and I am proud that I filed and passed bills that would restrict access to military style guns, ban open carry, and require common sense reforms to gun ownership.”

LOL. He didn’t say that. Instead he said:

“This session, we prioritized protecting our precious children from things they should never be exposed to. I was proud to co-sponsor legislation, House Bill 900 by Representative Patterson, that bans sexually explicit books in our schools and sets strict new library standards to make sure children aren’t exposed to sexually explicit materials. We also passed the bill to protect children from sexually oriented performances and drag shows.”

Yes. Books. The number 1 cause of death of children in Texas is books. And drag queens. I don’t remember a drag queen killing 19 children in Uvalde, or 8 high school kids in Santa Fe, or 27 christians in Sutherland. I can’t remember when a child was assaulted with a book leading to their death.

If you think your kids are any safer after Middleton’s bills, you might want to think again or better yet just think. Nothing has changed. Your kids and family has just as much chance of getting shot at schools, Walmarts, parades, concerts, clubs, restaurants, and anywhere in the public as they did before the Legislation session started. Middleton is full of crap.

And Middleton isn’t going to do a thing about it. Not even offer worthless thoughts and prayers.

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Donating Campaign Cash: Tillman Fertitta

June 6, 2023

Tilman Fertitta donates to both sides……sort of.

In a previous post I noticed billionaire Tilman Fertitta, owner of the Houston Rockets, had donated $40,000 in 2022 to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. $40,000 isn’t a lot of money compared to other one time donations Paxton has received including $200,000 from Dallas Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones, but it did catch my attention.

According to the Texas Ethics Commission Fertitta has donated over $5.2 Million to candidates/PACs in Texas since 2000. He has donated over $1.8 Million to Greg Abbott, $842,000 to Dan Patrick, $347,000 to Rick Perry, $165,000 to Ken Paxton, and $220,000 to Glen Hegar (Texas Comptroller), 145,000 to Speaker Phelan, for a total of $3,519,000 for these 5 Republicans.

But he does play both sides, sort of. Senator Alvarado received $48,000, Senator John Whitmire $195,000, Senator Zaffirini $12,500, Representative Wu $6500, Representative Walle $5000, Mayor Turner $11,800, and $116,000 to other various Democrats for a total of $394,800.

So, yes. Tilman Fertitta plays both sides.

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Raising Campaign Cash: Texas AG Ken Paxton

June 5, 2023

He doesn’t have enough campaign cash to pay the $3.3 Million dollar settlement from the whistleblower lawsuit.

Over the last two years impeached Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton raised over $14 Million, spent about $12 million and has just over $2 Million remaining. He recently settled a whistleblower lawsuit against him for retaliation against four attorneys after they contacted the FBI over allegations of illegal activity.

Needless to say Paxton doesn’t have $3.3 million to pay his debt so he asked the Texas Legislature to pay it which started an internal investigation and ended in his impeachment. It’s almost funny. Almost.

$11.3 Million of his $14 Million haul came from individuals/PACs who donated more than $10,000, or about 80%. His largest donor is the extreme far right PAC created by the two billionaires featured on CNN, Defend Texas Liberty PAC for $1,300,000. Even Jerry Jones contributed to Paxton with a $200,000 donation as well as local billionaire Tillman Fertitta for $40,000. His top donors are listed below.

Paxton also has a debt in the form of loans to Defend Texas Liberty PAC for $750,000 and someone in California for $480,000. So he has enough in his campaign account to repay his loans but will not have enough to pay his lawsuit settlement.

Defend Texas Liberty PAC$1,300,000.00PAC
Republican Attorney General Association$500,000.00PAC
Simon Hodson$480,000.00Energy
Douglas Scharbaeur$450,000.00Oil/Cattle
Kenny Troutt$400,000.00Investment firm
Javaid Anwar$375,000.00Oil and Gas
Michael Porter$275,000.00Doctor
THRC Holdings$250,000.00Investment firm
Montgomery Bennett$200,000.00Hotel and Resorts
Jerry Jones$200,000.00Dallas Cowboys
Holly Frost$200,000.00Texas Memory Systems
Dan and Farris Wilks$150,000.00Oil and Gas

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CCISD’s connection to the defense of impeached AG Ken Paxton

June 4, 2023

It’s a stretch but it show the how much money there is in republican politics.

Impeached Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will be on trial in the Senate to determine his future as Attorney General. One of Paxton’s largest donors, Defend Texas Liberty, was also involved in the latest CCISD election. As reported CCISD candidate Pete Lauzon was funded by Defend Texas Liberty with a $5000 donation. He raised $278 from his district and gave himself a $2000 loan. The voters of CCISD voted against Lauzon by a wide margin.

Defend Texas Liberty also donated $5000 to CCISD candidate Glencora Rodgers but she returned it. (good for her!!)

Defend Texas Liberty also donated $12,000 to Galveston’s State Representative Terri Leo-Wilson. Wilson raised nearly 90% of her entire campaign donations from just 3 PACs and 2 individuals.

Over the last two years Defend Texas Liberty PAC has raised $5,701,482 from 20 donations from 11 individuals. 94% of all donations came from just 4 individuals. Dunn and Wilks are billionaires spreading their money to take over school boards. They have been featured in a CNN investigation. Since 2020 Defend Texas Liberty has donated $550,000 to Paxton and has loaned his campaign another $750,000.

Top Donors:

Dunn ,Timothy2,300,000.00
Wilks ,Farris2,000,000.00
Huffines ,Phillip500,000.00
Grimes ,Windi221,500.0

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Texas Public School Finance 101.

June 2, 2023

I was going to write something about School Finance 101 but realized I knew nothing about school finance. The Friendswood Superintendent Roher gave a great 15 minute video on this subject. CCISD is mentioned with the second lowest taxes in the entire area. Take 15 minutes of your time to watch:

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