From:: Daily Signal – Feed

To view RPT Chairman James Dickey’s weekly report to County Chairs, please click here.

The post County Chairs: Weekly Chairman’s Report (June 19-23) appeared first on Republican Party of Texas.

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From:: Texas GOP – Feed

During the Christmas season last year, the Obama administration ignored the majority of Utahns by designating a vast tract of land in southern Utah as a national monument.

Last week, the Department of the Interior took a welcome step toward reversing this executive abuse and returning to a legislative solution.

President Barack Obama used the 1906 Antiquities Act, written to protect “objects of historic or scientific interest,” to transform 1.3 million acres in San Juan County into the Bears Ears National Monument.

There is no doubt that specific sites within the new monument demonstrate historic, scientific, as well as cultural and spiritual significance. Native American tribes believe the area is sacred. And every citizen can appreciate the natural beauty of the sandstone buttes that gave the area its name.

However, the Antiquities Act is very clear that monument designations should be limited to “the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.”

Presidents have ignored this important qualifier in the past, locking up millions of acres that could be managed as multiple-use.

In most cases, these expansive monuments have drawn support not from local citizens, but from outside interest groups who may not have locals’ best interests at heart, including outdoor recreation corporations and environmental activists who oppose new development.

Unsurprisingly, these unilateral monument designations have been resented by locals who sensed they were being stripped of control over their homes.

President Bill Clinton provoked anger in 1996 when he abruptly announced the transformation of 1.9 million acres in the Grand Staircase-Escalante area into a national monument.

Obama’s designation has provoked a similar response. Public opinion polling consistently finds that a majority of Utahans oppose the monument.

These Utahans want a say in how their land is governed, and this week the Department of the Interior, led by Secretary Ryan Zinke, released a …read more

From:: Daily Signal – Feed

Earlier this week, Amor M. Ftouhi, a Canadian-Tunisian dual citizen attacked a police officer at Bishop International Airport in Flint, Michigan.

This is the 96th Islamist terror plot or attack against the U.S. homeland since 9/11.

Ftouhi, who has lived in Montreal for the past 10 years with his wife and three children, reportedly entered the U.S. legally on June 16 near Lake Champlain, New York. By June 21, he had made his way to Bishop International airport in Flint Michigan.

Once at the airport, he walked around for almost an hour before approaching a police officer, yelling “Allahu Akbar” and stabbing the police officer in the neck. The FBI report says he continued to shout and said something to the effect of, “You have killed people in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and we are all going to die.”

Thankfully, he was quickly subdued by another nearby police officer and bystanders. The wounded officer was rushed to surgery and is now listed in satisfactory condition.

Further investigation by U.S. and Canadian authorities is under way to determine various details, such as why Ftouhi chose the Flint airport, whether others helped him or knew about his plot, what the timeline of his plotting was, etc.

That said, there is enough detail to conclude that this was an Islamist attack against the U.S.

This attack is the third plot of 2017 and the 15th successful attack since 9/11. It is also the ninth terror attack against law enforcement and the seventh against commercial aviation.

It’s also the first plot since early 2013 that was not committed by homegrown terrorists. The 2013 plot, #60 on The Heritage Foundation’s timeline, was planned by a Tunisian and Palestinian living in Canada who intended to attack a train between Toronto and New York City.

The Flint attack is …read more

From:: Daily Signal – Feed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 23, 2017

“While out-of-touch California bureaucrats may not be coming to Texas as much in the near future, we will gladly continue to welcome businesses and individuals who move here to escape California’s extreme regulatory practices and sky-high taxes. We will continue to demonstrate that Texas is the best state in the country to live because of the economic growth created by our conservative policies.”

###

Background:
http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/news/2016/08/12/california-regulatory-policies-businesses-flee.html
https://www.dallasnews.com/business/economy/2017/03/15/californias-poor-flock-texas-west-coast-homes-jobs-fall-reach
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/California-AG-bans-state-travel-to-Texas-3-other-11241297.php

The post RPT Chairman James Dickey Statement on the CA Ban of State Business Travel to TX appeared first on Republican Party of Texas.

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From:: Texas GOP – Feed

In Ohio, one judge is getting creative in his efforts to cut down on drunk driving.

Municipal Court Judge Michael Cicconnetti has begun requiring drunk drivers convicted in his court to install a ridesharing app on their phones as a part of their terms of probation.

According to Cicconnetti, “It’s just common sense. It doesn’t cost anybody anything to install it and activate it, and it’s far cheaper than paying the thousands of dollars you’d have to pay for another [drunk driving conviction].”

It also just might be an idea that saves lives.

In 2015, 10,265 people were killed as a result of impaired driving—that’s nearly one out of every three traffic related deaths nationwide. According to the Ohio Highway Patrol, Cuyahoga County—home of Cleveland, and near Cicconetti’s Painesville court—has seen its share of alcohol-related fatalities.

When you consider that the average drunk driver operates a vehicle while intoxicated 80 times before his first arrest, it is a miracle that fatalities and injuries are not higher.

Governments and private groups have been trying to solve the problem of drunk driving for almost as long as the automobile has existed.

Now, technology and ingenuity have combined to create ridesharing services like Lyft and Uber that can give towns and cities a new weapon to combat the plight of intoxicated driving.

Innovation That’s Working

Consider when drunk driving most frequently occurs: at night, after a driver has imbibed at a bar or a sporting event, and needs a way to get home.

Downtown in major cities, people have access to public transit—if it isn’t closed. They also have access to taxicabs, again assuming that demand—which often spikes right as bars close—hasn’t outstripped the supply of taxis, which is usually capped by regulation.

Outside of the core of major cities or hot nightlife locales, the availability of public …read more

From:: Daily Signal – Feed

Four conservative senators promptly said they can’t support the draft of a health care bill released Thursday by the Senate’s Republican leadership as a cure for Obamacare.

“Currently, for a variety of reasons, we are not ready to vote for this bill, but we are open to negotiation and obtaining more information before it is brought to the floor,” Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, and Mike Lee of Utah wrote in a formal statement.

Today I join senators Lee, Johnson, and Cruz in opposition to the #HealthcareBill. Read here: https://t.co/vo6lvirree pic.twitter.com/FF9ChIBaBA

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) June 22, 2017

The four Republicans said they oppose the Senate leadership plan, called the ‘‘Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017,” because it does not fully repeal and replace Obamacare.

I am one of four Republicans not ready to vote for #HealthcareBill: https://t.co/Iys8FFFq7a @SenTedCruz @SenRonJohnson @SenRandPauI

— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) June 22, 2017

“There are provisions in this draft that represent an improvement to our current health care system, but it does not appear this draft as written will accomplish the most important promise that we made to Americans: to repeal Obamacare and lower their health care costs,” the four senators wrote.

The Senate plan would end mandates for health insurance, including the Obamacare mandate forcing consumers to buy insurance or pay a penalty. It also would phase out the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare over three years, Axios reported.

>>> Commentary: The Senate Bill Misses a Key Opportunity. Here’s What Should Be Done.

The eventual support of Cruz, Johnson, Lee, and Paul is crucial because Republicans have a 52-46 majority over Democrats in the Senate. Two Independents caucus with the Democrats.

Republicans will …read more

From:: Daily Signal – Feed

Dear Fellow Texas Republican,

The liberal left is doing everything they can to bring sanctuary cities back to Texas, and we need your help to fight back.

The Republican Party has been steadfast in its opposition to sanctuary city policies. We demanded that state and federal officers enforce the nation’s immigration laws, and the Texas Legislature listened. Now that state law promises to withhold funding, the fight to end sanctuary cities has just begun. Democrats across Texas are smearing Texas Republicans for upholding the rule of law, and the Republican Party of Texas will not back down.

Show us that you’re all in on banning sanctuary cities

If the Democrats get their way, your tax dollars will support those who wish to ignore our laws. We cannot let that happen.

Will you do everything you can to help us keep sanctuary cities out of Texas?

With your support we will be able to take the fight to the Democrats, and government will follow the law.

Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

The Republican Party of Texas

P.S.- Can you chip in $10 right now so that we can fight back against lawless liberals who want to bring sanctuary cities back to Texas?

The post Email: Keep Sanctuary Cities Out of Texas for Good appeared first on Republican Party of Texas.

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From:: Texas GOP – Feed

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously on Thursday that a Mississippi law that protects religious liberty and the rights of conscience in light of the redefinition of marriage may go into effect.

In the decision, the circuit court overruled a previous judgment from a district court judge who had declared the Mississippi law unconstitutional for violating the Establishment Clause and the Equal Protection Clause.

But as the circuit court pointed out, the challengers to Mississippi’s law lack standing because they “have not clearly shown injury-in-fact.” In other words, they did not show how the Mississippi law protecting liberty for people who hold to the pre-Obergefell v. Hodges definition of marriage harmed them.

The court explained that the “failure” of the “plaintiffs to assert anything more than a general stigmatic injury dooms their claim.”

While the ruling focused on the lack of standing of the plaintiffs, there are plenty of reasons to rule in favor of the constitutionality of laws like Mississippi’s on the merits.

As Sherif Girgis and I explain in our new book, “Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination,” there is nothing scandalous about protections for particular views that are at odds with those on which the government acts.

When the government takes Americans to war, exceptions cover pacifists. When the government guarantees abortion, exceptions cover pro-lifers. These exemptions don’t amount to establishments of any religion, and neither do laws protecting dissenters after Obergefell.

Indeed, as law professor Richard Epstein explains, the Establishment Clause—meant to “knock down state coercion for religion”—can’t be used to invalidate “a statute whose whole purpose was to insulate private parties from any form of coercion.”

So, what does the Mississippi law do? As previously explained at The Daily Signal:

• Religious organizations, like churches, cannot be forced to use their facilities to celebrate or solemnize weddings that violate …read more

  From:: Daily Signal – Feed

An illegal immigrant beat a teen-age girl with a metal baseball bat before dawn on Father’s Day and dumped her body in a pond in a suburb of Washington, police say.

Authorities said a man they identified as Darwin Martinez Torres, 22, attacked Nabra Hassanen, 17, after getting into an argument with a group of about 15 young Muslims on their way to a nearby mosque in Sterling, Virginia.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials confirmed to The Daily Caller and other news outlets that Torres is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who was living in Sterling.

Family and friends mourned Nabra at a funeral service Wednesday before her burial.

“There is nothing like losing a child, especially in the way that we lost Nabra,” Imam Mohamed Magid of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society mosque told mourners, the Associated Press reported.

Fairfax County police arrested and charged Torres with second-degree murder after finding Nabra’s body in a pond about 3 p.m. Sunday.

Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal that the killing should highlight the dangerous nature of sanctuary cities, which don’t cooperate in enforcing immigration law, as well as inconsistent immigration policies under the Obama administration:

This is just more evidence of how many American families are being victimized by criminal illegal aliens—this crime would not have happened if this murderer had been stopped when he broke into the country, or if he had been picked up and deported by ICE [Immigrations and Customs Enforcement]. Yet these are the types of aliens that sanctuary cities want to protect.

Nabra lived with her family in Reston, in Fairfax County, a sanctuary county, but Sterling is in Loudoun County, which is not.

Police described …read more

From:: Daily Signal – Feed