Author Archive: parkercountyblog

After the Supreme Court Said Unions Can’t Force Non-Members to Pay Dues, Almost All of Them Stopped

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After the Janus ruling, AFSCME lost 98 percent of its agency fee-paying members, while the SEIU lost 94 percent.

Reason.com, |

Jeff Malet Photography/Newscom

Given the choice of no longer paying to support unions they didn’t want to join in the first place, lots of public sector workers took it.

Two of the largest public sector unions in the country lost more than 210,000 so-called “agency fee members” in the wake of last year’s Supreme Court ruling that said unions could no longer force non-members to pay partial dues. That case, Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, effectively freed public workers from having to make “fair share” payments—usually totaling about 70 to 80 percent of full union dues—in lieu of joining a union as a full-fledged member.

Now, annual reports filed with the federal Department of Labor show that the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) lost 98 percent of it’s agency fee-paying members during the past year. Another large public sector union, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), lost 94 percent of their agency fee-paying members.

Posted in: National Issues, Texas Issues

Energy News In Another Reversal, Apple Allows App Countering Climate Alarmism

By parkercountyblog on

THE DAILY SIGNAL, Kevin Mooney / /

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Apple’s on-again, off-again relationship with an online smartphone application that challenges global warming alarmism is back on.

The app, Inconvenient Facts, is available again in Apple’s App Store, much to the delight of the geologist who inspired it.

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Posted in: National Issues

Equality Act Could Impose Left-Wing LGBT Curriculum on Whole Nation

By parkercountyblog on | 1 Comment

The Daily Signal, Jarrett Stepman /  May 11, 2019

If Democrats’ priority legislation becomes law, public schools could be forced to include discussions about transgenderism in math and history classes for elementary school students.

The Equality Act, if passed and signed into law, would add gender identity and sexual orientation to the list of classes—race, color, religion, sex, and national origin–protected in the Civil Rights Act.

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Posted in: National Issues

The Real Reason Democrats Hate William Barr

By parkercountyblog on | 1 Comment

The Daily Signal, David Harsanyi / /

U.S. Attorney General William Barr testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee May 1, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The customary histrionics followed. Posturing Democrats on the judicial committee gave long soliloquies on Barr’s treacherous behavior. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, accused the attorney general of abusing his office and lying to Congress, and many others demanded his resignation. The usual suspects called for impeachment.

Barr had apparently masterminded the most inept cover-up in history, first by accurately laying out the outcome of the special counsel’s investigation. Then, after some light redactions (none instigated by the president), by releasing the report to the public so the entire world could read it.

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Posted in: National Issues

Another One Bites The Dust: House Version Of GOP Priorities Being Killed

By parkercountyblog on

Texas Sscorecard, By |April 30, 2019

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Speaker Bonnen’s leadership team appears be reneging on a deal to advance legislation banning taxpayer funded lobbying.

While legislation dealing with the issue passed the Texas Senate weeks ago, lawmakers in the Texas House are signaling the death of a measure banning taxpayer-funded lobbying. This would be the fourth of five priorities of the Republican Party of Texas to be dealt a potential death blow by House Speaker Dennis Bonnen’s leadership team.

A constituent of State Rep. Will Metcalf (R-Conroe) was told by his staff that Mayes Middleton’s House Bill 281 is “dead.” The legislation would ban local governments from using taxpayer resources to hire lobbyists.

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Posted in: Parker County Issues, Texas Issues

In the Company of Soldiers: The U.S. M17 & M18 Modular Handgun Systems

By parkercountyblog on

NRA, by Mark A. Keefe, Editor in Chief – Tuesday, April 23, 2019

In the Company of Soldiers: The U.S. M17 & M18 Modular Handgun Systems

Soldiers, including Army 1st Lt. Spencer Ellis of the 10th Mountain Division, are being issued M17s. This early-production U.S. M17—denoted by its flat dark earth controls—is fitted with a 21-round-capacity magazine (l.). The Army has since agreed to black controls to speed delivery of the guns.

In the words of Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez in the cult classic film “Highlander,” “There can be only one.” On Jan. 28, 2017, we learned the identity of the “one” when the U.S. Army’s Project Executive Office (PEO) Soldier announced the selection of the Modular Handgun System (MHS). The winner of the long and somewhat convoluted trial was SIG Sauer—with a pair of guns based upon its striker-fired P320, the 4.7″-barreled XM17 and the compact, 3.9″-barreled XM18. Those designations have since changed to the U.S. M17 and M18, respectively. The plan is to procure 421,000 guns, with the Army taking 195,000, the Marines 35,000, the Air Force 130,000 and the Navy 61,000.

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Posted in: National Issues

State Rep Phil King’s Legislative Update

By parkercountyblog on

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Facts About Texas Property Tax Appraisal Process

Many of you have called our office to share your frustrations about your recent appraisal.  I completely understand and share your frustrations.  My appraisal for a home I have owned for over 25 years also skyrocketed.  Appraisals are managed and set at the city and county level. Tax rates are set at the city and county level. The state does not impose a property tax.  I strongly encourage you to file a protest. I am. We still have 5 weeks of the legislative session left and providing property tax relief to constituents is my number one priority.  I have several amendments prepared to try to freeze appraisals and slow down the growth and provide targeted tax relief.

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Posted in: Parker County Issues, Texas Issues

Watauga woman killed 5 days after getting protective order against suspect

By parkercountyblog on

The article below clearly shows the absurdity in passing another gun law that if in effect at the time of this murder, would not have changed the outcome. If the victim however, had been armed and trained, she most likely would still be alive. I believe more guns, not less, is the solution!

More of our Constitutionally protected freedom is surrendered each time another law is passed.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, By Mitch Mitchell

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Police shot and killed a man who was served with a protective order restricting him from being at the house. Officers shot and killed the man after he grabbed a shotgun, police said. SWAT officers saw a dead woman in the house during a search. By Mitch Mitchell

A woman who received an emergency protective order prohibiting a man from approaching her house was found dead by SWAT officers who searched that home on Monday.

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Posted in: Parker County Issues

3 of the Most Telling Failures of Socialism

By parkercountyblog on

The Daily Signal, Lee Edwards /

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Some conservatives may be discouraged by the latest surveys confirming that nearly one-half of millennials are receptive to living under socialism and regard capitalism as a captive of greed. In fact, they present us with a golden opportunity to educate all Americans about the manifold failures of socialism and the miraculous advances the world has made under free enterprise.

For example, the Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson revealed at a Heritage Foundation event that between 2000 and 2012, “the rate of absolute poverty in the world fell by 50%.” That is, “the poor in the world are getting rich at a rate that is absolutely unparalleled in all of human history.”

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Posted in: National Issues

Problems With Senate Bill 11

By parkercountyblog on

Texas Eagle Forum, Trayce Bradford, April 21, 2019

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 Senate Bill 11, which mixes needed school safety provisions with non-physician mental health professionals and intrusive Threat Assessment Teams that ask highly personal and incriminating questions, is headed for the Senate floor, likely this week. Although the bill isn’t currently on the Intent Calendar we see on the internet, the bill could hit the floor as early as tomorrow.

SB11, as you remember, came out of the blue, was filed one day, and then the very next day it was heard in committee. This meant that hardly anybody had time to study the bill.

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Posted in: Texas Issues