Good morning, 

Michael Quinn Sullivan will be back at the helm on Monday. Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Morgan Williamson & Brandon Waltens

Friday, July 12, 2019
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• There's been another development in the seemingly never ending political prosecution of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Taxpayers in Collin County are calling for a refund of payments made to prosecutors in the case—an amount totaling over $370,000. 
   

• This comes after the Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that the payments and rates given to private prosecutors appointed in the case ran afoul of state law, dealing a major blow to the politically motivated attack. Metroplex Bureau Chief Erin Anderson has the details.
   

• “There has to be some kind of accountability to prevent things like this from happening in the future,” county resident Al Wirtz told commissioners. “Do everything you can to force a refund.”
   

• The University of Texas is announcing free college for students from lower-income families—including illegal aliens. Jordan Clements points out that only a small amount of UT students will benefit from this massive increase in available financial aid. All while the legislature has shirked its responsibility to control runaway tuition rates from unelected college bureaucrats.
   

• “Bad policy. The cost of tuition should not be linked to the amount of resources a student’s family has. What about the student whose family started treating them like adults at age 18 and want them to fend for themselves?” -State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R–Deer Park)
   

• Dennis Tibbs, a founding member of the Montgomery County Tea Party, writes a commentary about the many seniors who “will not see a dime of so-called tax relief passed by the state legislature earlier this year."

Friday Reflection

By Michael Quinn Sullivan

A self-governing people must be eternally vigilant. The first three words of our Constitution make it clear who is supposed to be in charge: “We the people.” Without the citizens taking an active and engaged role in civic life, the notion of self-governance collapses.

After begging for a king, the people of Israel saw their once prosperous (and self-governing) nation eventually collapse. When they recognized God as King and lived under His law, they prospered, but – just as they had been warned – the rule of man under a king didn’t work out so well. 

After a period of exile, God called the Jews back to Israel and Nehemiah was tasked with rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. (As a quick aside, the building of walls to define and secure a nation-state from invaders and evil-doers was ordained by God.)

There were any number of enemies who wanted to thwart the return of the Jews, and so in Nehemiah 4:9, we’re told that the people “prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.” Everyone prayed, everyone worked, everyone guarded the work. Everyone was responsible.

Too many of us today have forgotten that simple lesson. If this nation conceived in liberty will long endure, it will only be because we – the people – are wholly committed to being self-governing leaders actively engaged in the hard, exhausting work of practical governance, of praying for each other and countrymen, and of being actively prepared to defend our land. It is our duty, not someone else’s. 

We must with joy accept the awesome responsibility of self-governance, so that we and our children can enjoy the fruits of Liberty. So let’s pray, stay at guard, and get to work!