MON brief 10.25.21
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Today’s Stories
The TEXAS TRIBUNE is running interference for and promoting establishment Republicans. That’s never a good sign, but it’s always revealing.
First, the Tribune is helping with a coordinated effort to spin last-minute property tax legislation passed during the third special session, calling the posturing bill part of a “long game,” more like a long con.
Sen. Paul Bettencourt, perhaps unwittingly, admitted as much over the weekend. In a WFAA appearance, Bettancourt deployed the “we will do more next time” line. There was a time that promise contained a kernel of truth, but it rings hollow in 2021.
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and Sen. Bettencourt could have closed loopholes and meaningfully eliminated the M&O school tax all year. Instead, they chose to increase homestead exemptions at the last possible minute.
The benefit of this bill, less than $200 annually for most Texans, will be eclipsed by skyrocketing appraisals in no time. Beyond that, the claim that increased homestead exemptions are helpful to the long-term goal of property tax elimination is a lie.
Homestead exemptions are a tax carve-out. While they’re hardly the worst form (they benefit upper-middle-class homeowners rather than corporate lobbyists), they nevertheless narrow the tax base. A narrower tax base almost always means higher tax rates. Lt. Gov. Patrick and Sen. Bettencourt know this.
In addition to spinning the property tax, the Tribune GOP is placing a thumb on the scale for an otherwise irrelevant Attorney General candidate favored by no one except Governor Greg Abbott and the Austin lobby.
The editorial decisions of the left-wing media are informative, if nothing else.
JAMES WHITE did a thing; just in case, you forgot he’s running for Agriculture Commissioner.
That thing is laughable as it relates to White’s campaign, but for him to perceive that thing as being in his political interest speaks to positive trends in the macro.
Specifically, White sent a request to AG Ken Paxton to affirm marriage is between a man and a woman (current state law). This is hollow posturing coming from someone who has been in the legislature since Obergefell yet has done nothing on the matter.
Hollow or not, White’s action work to shift the Overton window. Keeping traditional marriage (which the ruling class wants you to believe is “settled”) alive as an issue forces everyone to respond.
Expect to see similar activity, across an array of topics, for the foreseeable future.
The TEXAS HEARTBEAT ACT will be up at SCOTUS sooner rather than later.
In the meantime, the law will remain in effect. Regardless of the long-term outcome of litigation, for the law to remain in effect in the interim places immense financial pressure on the abortion industry.
This is a form of economic warfare conservatives should weaponize across more issues.
ROUND ROCK ISD parents are building momentum against the AWOL district. This fight remains in its early rounds, but the educrats old playbook continues not to work as well as it once did.
Hit the Links
Project Lincoln files complaint against Abbott
Austin business owner told to collect evidence after a burglary
Thanks for reading
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