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Volume XIV Number 8 - May 13, 2015     RSS Feed   

A Periodic Newsletter for Committed Texas Conservatives

In This Issue

Iran Threat Worsening, Obama Playing With Fire And Our Future

Hitler Said He Would Destroy The Jewish People, Now Iran Wants To Do It Too

Lessons To Conservatives From England

Texas Legislative Update: Bettencourt Leads On Limits To Property Tax Growth

Former Harris County GOP Leader Appointed To District Court

Houston Mayor's Race Shifts Again: Garcia In, Pennington Out

A Different Take on Baltimore By Bruce Bialosky, Contributing Editor

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Gary Polland
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Thoughts This Fortnight

Iran Threat Worsening,
Obama Playing With Fire And Our Future

The latest word on the Iran nuclear deal, according to reliable sources - sanctions relief for the most pro-terrorist Revolutionary Guard, so they will drop their internal opposition to the deal.

The deal, as noted in TCR and most honest media and internet sources, was already essentially worthless, unless your goal is to fund Iranian adventurism and ensure they will have nuclear weapons. Both are bad for the U.S. and the free world.

Kudos to Senators Cotton, Cruz and Rubio for calling out President Obama and their fellow Senators for the weak Iranian resolution regarding a review of the alleged treaty. They are right, the vote required should be a 2/3rd majority in the Senate to approve and nothing more. The Corker-Cardin bill seems to TCR to be serving as an escort for the Obama sellout.

The deal needs to be flushed.

Hitler Said He Would Destroy The Jewish People,
Now Iran Wants To Do It Too

How many times has Iran called for death to Israel and the U.S.? We should believe them.

As said by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his address to Congress earlier this year, "Iran's regime is not merely a Jewish problem, any more than the Nazi regime was merely a Jewish problem. The six million Jews murdered by the Nazis were but a fraction of the 60 million people killed in World War II. So, too, Iran's regime poses a grave threat, not only to Israel, but also the peace of the entire world."

What is to stop Iran from following the path of the Nazi regime - establish its empire in the region first, and then expand its war for domination to the U.S. and on to the rest of the world?

Does this seem like a regime we ought to be making bargains with, much less a nuclear deal? TCR thinks not. Failed attempts to negotiate with the Nazi's in the 1930's only served to incite the regime toward greater greed for domination and unrestrained brutality. We should learn from history and guard ourselves from the danger that is imminent from a nuclear-armed Iran.

Lessons To Conservatives From England

Remember the pick 'em election in England per the liberal media, the wrong conservatives were polled.

Why? From our friend Gary Bauer, www.cwfpac.com:

"Conservatives should run as conservatives. David Cameron realized months ago, as voters and office holders were switching to the more conservative United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) that he and the Tories were in real danger of imploding."

"So he went on to a nationwide tour and apologized for pushing same-sex marriage, admitting he totally underestimated the degree of anger. He also co-opted much of UKIP's rhetoric and agenda.

"Cameron promised a referendum on Britain's membership in the European Union. He pledged to 'make it much tougher for illegal immigrants' to remain in England. He promised to require a new citizenship test 'with British values at its heart'."

Yes, conservative positions are winners.

Texas Legislative Update: Bettencourt Leads
On Limits To Property Tax Growth

In Senate Bill 182, Senator Bettencourt seeks to limit property tax growth when property tax revenue rises more than 6%. Seems fair to us, but you have some big spenders now complaining.

The protection here is that the people get to vote to roll back rates when the increase is more than 6%, thus controlling taxes paid out of pocket.

Former Harris County GOP Leader
Appointed To District Court

Debra Ibarra Mayfield, current County Civil Court Judge in Harris County and a former leader at the Harris County Republican Party (HCRP) while your Editor was Chairman, is the newest appointee of Governor Abbott to the 165th Judicial District Court.

Debra is a fine lawyer and a great Republican.

Houston Mayor's Race Shifts Again:
Garcia In, Pennington Out

The dynamics of the Houston Mayoral race shift again as Oliver Pennington, who was running strong, drops out due to a family illness and former Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia jumps in.

Garcia hopes to have both Democrat and GOP support due to his law enforcement record. He is also the major Hispanic candidate in the race.

It will be interesting to see how this one works out.

A Different Take on Baltimore
By Bruce Bialosky, Contributing Editor

An American disaster almost always happens when my wife and I are on our post-tax season vacation. Just to name a few, we have Columbine, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma City. The only good thing that happened while we were out of the country was we were in Capri when Bin Laden was killed. Having what happened in Baltimore unfortunately fits into our travel experience.

When one is out of the country, there is a different view of whatever is going on back in the States. First, this is because you are on foreign soil and you interact with people differently. Second, on vacation you have more time to ponder things when not confronted with life's normal day-to-day challenges. Therefore, one might experience more clarity than at home in America.

My first thought was – Not again. Really? Does someone really think that burning and looting your local neighborhood is going to get you somewhere? It might have had some benefit in the 60's, but don't you think it has become a little passé and counterproductive? As Rodney King said "Can't we all just get along?" To think that because of a potential injustice done to one black man that the vast majority of these rioters even have a clue is clueless unto itself.

At least this time President Obama made some strong comments condemning the actions of these hooligans. But that was counterbalanced by him lurching into ad hominem utterances about how we as a society need to come up with solutions. At least he was vastly superior to the idiot mayor of Baltimore who stated the rioters should be given space to destroy.

Here is a news flash. I cannot do anything about the plight of Black Americans. And I take no responsibility. And neither should most of you reading this column.

That is despite a deep passion for Blacks and the challenges they have faced. And that is despite a significant affection for most Black people I encounter. They are great Americans.

Here is why I can take the stand I do. It is because not only am I white; I am a Republican. I have many close relations with Blacks and may have excellent rapport with them, but leaders of the Black Community don't want to hear my solutions. My solutions are the same ones every other thoughtful Republican has offered for the last 30-50 years. They don't want to listen to us. The only thing I can affect is getting them better schools, but the Black leaders are in bed with the teachers' unions that continue to control school districts that offer them horrible education alternatives – so strike that as something I can change. And throwing more money at the schools will not help. The Baltimore schools already receive near the highest level of funding in the country.

These self-anointed Black leaders just want us to make money, turn it over to the government, and have them turn it over to Black communities to accomplish exactly what they have been accomplishing since MLK died – destruction of the community.

It is not as if the Blacks have not had a chance to change things. The number of Black elected officials and members of the power structure has grown exponentially. There is one uniting thing between them other than being Black. They are liberal Democrats. That is the problem – not that they are Black. Judging by the ludicrous statements that come out of their mouths, they are mostly far to the left. Yet, they keep on getting elected. President Obama has stated that we tried the same strategy for 50 years with Cuba and it has not worked so he suggested we should try something different. Well, doesn't that apply to the Blacks electing these inept liberals to run the cities they live in?

The disconnect of the Left runs so deep yet they cannot see it. After the riots began, the New York Times ran a long editorial detailing the travails of Blacks regarding the job market. The editorial was factual and comprehensive. Except they left out the fact that their open border immigration policy has so hampered the ability of Blacks to obtain low-level jobs from which they can move up the financial ladder in America and build a future for their children that the unemployment rate for Black youth has become perpetually outsized. The Left wants to continue allowing illegals to take job opportunities from Blacks and then plead that it is the humane thing to do. Even the Black Caucus of Congress and President Obama display this huge disconnect. The Left wants it both ways, but they cannot have it.

I find the entire situation demoralizing and disgusting. Most Americans are delighted to help someone who is willing to help themselves but from my vantage point the Black Community appears to have very little interest in helping themselves. They need more people like that woman who slapped her son up alongside the head and told him to get home and stop doing what he was doing. They need to stop blaming other people for their problems and stop accusing the police of always being out to get them. They could collectively use some time reading a few Thomas Sowell books if so many were not functionally illiterate due to union run schools.

Now that the officers have been charged what happens if they are not convicted? Do we have more riots?

Eldridge Cleaver said "You either have to be part of the solution, or you're going to be part of the problem." They will not allow me to be part of the solution, so this is not my problem. My advice to the Black community is get it together -- you are embarrassing our country and doing yourselves a great disservice.


Bruce Bialosky is the founder of the Republican Jewish Coalition of California and a former Presidential appointee. You can contact Bruce at bruce@bialosky.biz.


TCR on the Air

Red, White & Blue featuring TCR Editor Gary Polland, liberal commentator David Jones and moderator Linda Lorelle on Fridays at 7:30 pm on PBS Houston Channel 8.1, replaying Saturdays at 6:30 p.m. on Channel 8.1, Mondays at 11:30 pm on Channel 8.2 and on the web at www.houstonpublicmedia.org.

Upcoming shows:
05-15-15 - Mayor Annise Parker, State of the City and a scoop on her possible political plans.
05-22-15 - Lisa Falkenberg, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist with the Houston Chronicle.
05-29-15 - Bret Stephens, Author and Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the Wall Street Journal.
07-03-15 - U.S. Supreme Court Rulings, a panel of experts on what is coming and why.

The current show as well as past shows are available on YouTube.

About Your Editor

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 sixteenth year of editing a newsletter dealing with key conservative and Republican issues. The last fourteen years he has edited Texas Conservative Review. As a public service for the last 12 years, Gary has published election guides for the GOP primary, general elections and city elections, all with the purpose of assisting conservative candidates. Gary is also in his 13th year of co-hosting Red, White and Blue on PBS Houston, longest running political talk show in Texas history. Gary is a practicing attorney and strategic consultant. He can be reached at (713) 621-6335.

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