Good morning,

The State of California is giving cash to illegal aliens as part of its Chinese coronavirus strategy. That is truly the stupidest place in North America.

But first, here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Thursday, April 16, 2020
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• “Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has not been a leader in the coronavirus crisis.” That’s the assertion made by Dallas businessman and former Republican state senator Don Huffines, a popular conservative activist. He adds that Abbott “has not clearly communicated a plan; he relies on Washington for direction and lets local leaders walk in where his lack of leadership creates a void.”
      
• Last week Abbott suggested he would announce a plan this week. The governor’s office announced yesterday that this coming Friday he will announce efforts to allow Texans back to work. 
      
• On the latest edition of Texas Scorecard Radio, Tony McDonald visits with historian David Barton of WallBuilders about efforts to strip Texans of their right to vote for judges.
     
• Speaking of which... As elections in Texas have been shaken up due to the government-imposed restrictions in response to the Chinese coronavirus, Brandon Waltens reports Democrats are advocating for expanded access to mail-in ballots as an alternative to in-person voting. Attorney General Ken Paxton yesterday said “no” to that idea.
   
• “Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to state wide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans.” – President Donald Trump
      
• Private universities in Texas are announcing cost-savings cuts, Cary Cheshire reports. Earlier this week Baylor University announced plans to trim $65-80 million from its budget in the fiscal year that begins June 1, and St. Edward’s University in Austin revealed plans to cut six athletic programs as part of a downsizing exercise.
   
• When will the taxpayer-funded universities – like the University of Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech – start doing likewise?
     
• The Watauga City Council voted this week to make it illegal for citizens there to record interactions with city officials without permission. As Robert Montoya reports, this action puts the city in conflict with state law – which allows citizens to record any conversation of which they are a part.
   
• “Making it an ordinance where you’re going to have private citizens be guilty because they felt they needed to record a conversation because of past experience is a bit much... I think to punish citizens [with] this ordinance is just wrong on a lot of levels.” – Watauga City Councilman Scott Prescher, the only council member to vote against the ordinance
     
• At 3pm today, you can join me and Texas Right to Life’s Jim Graham for the Jim & Michael Show. It runs live on Facebook, but the recording is available very quickly after on our YouTube channel and the Texas Scorecard website.

• California is handing out $500 to each illegal alien as part of the state’s Chinese coronavirus response. Yes, seriously. Cary Cheshire has details of the state’s $75 million plan to hand cash out to 115,000 illegal aliens.
      
• Meanwhile, President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would immediately halt all funding for the World Health Organization. He accused the United Nations agency of having “put political correctness over life-saving measures” in responding to the Chinese coronavirus.
      
• In a new commentary, Rachel Bovard writes that the Chinese coronavirus is “putting America’s biggest businesses to the test.” That includes, especially, the actions of Amazon, helmed by Democrat activist Jeff Bezos.
     
• And finally... regarding yesterday’s link to John Davidson’s Federalist article, Keith M. wrote: “The governors and mayors who are blatantly violating the U.S. Constitution are not tyrants, per se, but fit the bill of being ‘domestic enemies of the United States of America.’” Excellent point.