There is much to be thankful for this year. A conservative resurgence is occurring in the land as citizens are waking up to the false promises of liberalism. Here at TCR, we wish all of you a great new year and join you in hoping our leaders stand true to our commonsense conservative principles.

Your editor just finished reading The Hyperinflation Report by the website Shadow Government Statistics (www.shadowstats.com) and it is an eye opener. Essentially, with all the stimulus and loose money policy by the Federal government and the Federal Reserve we now face the possible destruction of the value of the dollar. "The U.S. government already has condemned the US dollar to a hyperinflationary grave by taking on debt and obligations that can never be covered through raising taxes and/or by severely slashing government spending that had become politically untouchable... bankrupt sovereign states most commonly use the currency printing press as a solution to not having enough money to cover obligations." TCR recommends you study this report and act to protect yourself.

So TCR suggests that our team needs to try to get control of federal spending, the runaway Federal Reserve and no more stimulus type deals with Obama and the Democrats.

With January comes a new session of the Texas Legislature. This time conservatives are in a majority in the House and are a big part, but not a majority of the Senate.

It's clear that Speaker Straus will be reelected this time with substantial GOP and conservative support. And unlike two years ago, the conservative agenda will advance in the House primarily because the votes are there.

The State will have to trim the budget due to the ramifications stemming from the "Obama" economy. TCR is confident that conservatives can eliminate unnecessary state spending, particularly the funding of programs originating in cities or counties. TCR suggests eliminating state mandates and stop paying the bill for city and county programs that are the responsibility for city and counties. We need to restore state government to its core functions. We need to also consider a state hiring freeze and a new look at our tax system, ensuring it is equitable and allows for economic growth in a 21st century economy. We also need to look at the great work by Mark Levin at the Texas Public Policy Foundation on criminal justice reform, which can also save considerable dollars in our budget.

Red, White & Blue (now Emmy nominated), featuring TCR Editor Gary Polland and liberal commentator David Jones is on hiatus for the PBS pledge drive. Coming soon: January 7, 2011 at 7:30 pm, Legislative Preview with Representative Larry Taylor (R) and Garnet Coleman (D). On January 14, 2011 Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst (R), and on January 21, 2011, Political Roundtable on What to Expect in 2011 with Dr. Richard Murray and Professor Robert Stein. Red, White and Blue reruns Sunday at 5 pm. For a fun feature go to www.houstonpbs.org and under Red White and Blue, you can see commentary about the show and its guests by Gary and David each week. Past shows are also available on YouTube.

Gary Polland is a long-time conservative and Republican spokesman, fund-raiser, and leader who completed three terms as the Harris County Republican Chairman. During his three terms, Gary was described as the most successful county Chairman in America by Human Events - The National Conservative Weekly. He is in his thirteenth year of editing a newsletter dealing with key conservative and Republican issues. The last nine years he has edited Texas Conservative Review. Gary is a practicing attorney and strategic consultant. He can be reached at (713) 621-6335.