Sen. Cruz says Antifa is a terrorist organization, and should be treated as such.

Good morning,

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

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Republican U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (TX) and Bill Cassidy (LA) have introduced legislation designed to label and combat violent left-wing extremism. Sam Samson has the details [[link removed]].

Most notable has been the frightening rise – and increasing violence – of Antifa, an anti-capitalist, anti-conservative, anti-American group known for the legion of masked cowards threatening law-abiding citizens with physical violence.

“Antifa is a terrorist organization composed of hateful, intolerant radicals who pursue their extreme agenda through aggressive violence.” – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz [[link removed]]

“States must end the practice of excessive licensure. In 1950 less than 5% of occupations were licensed. Today it is closer to 30%. The Americans hurt the most by this overreaching regulatory regime are those living on the margins, including returning citizens.” – Ivanka Trump [[link removed]]

Ms. Trump’s comments could not be more appropriate. Over the years, Texas legislators adopted policies making it harder [[link removed]] for people to start new careers [[link removed]]. It’s been nutty – yes, literally [[link removed]]. While proponents will claim licenses are done to protect consumers, in fact they serve most notably to protect incumbent business interests from competition.

To their credit, GOP lawmakers have been trying recently to address this problem. Unfortunately, Greg Abbott took unilateral action [[link removed]] this summer to keep an unnecessary licensing agency alive despite it failing to be renewed by lawmakers. Hopefully the Trump Administration’s push to raise awareness about the economic problems associated with excessive occupational licensing will shame Abbott and other Republicans into living up to their free market rhetoric. ​

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​ Later today, the “autopsy” series of the legislative session will continue with a special report on election integrity issues from Daniel Greer, the executive director of Direct Action Texas [[link removed]]. You’ll find the analysis featured at TexasScorecard.com [[link removed]] later today

From our bureau in the Rio Grande Valley, David Vasquez looks at [[link removed]] the performance of Hildalgo County’s delegation to the Texas House on the 2019 Fiscal Responsibility Index. Of their performance he writes, “it’s a race to the bottom.”

Been thinking about this week’s release of the Lone Star Agenda [[link removed]], put together by grassroots leaders from around the state. In my experience, when the grassroots do something politicians generally go through six stages of acceptance: They see it. They curse it. They deny when asked having seen it. They hope it goes away. They scheme to co-opt it. They declare it their own.

“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” – Harry S Truman

Number of the Day

98%

Ninety-eight percent of all donations made to Texas candidates and PACs so far for the 2020 election cycle were for $1,000 or less.

[Source: Transparency Texas]

Today in History

Happy birthday to Kyle, Texas! On July 24, 1895, 200 acres in Hays County were deeded over for the creation of a township halfway between the cities of Austin and San Marcos.

Quote-Unquote

“I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph.”

– Margaret Thatcher​

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Texas Scorecard & Texans for Fiscal Responsibility

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PO Box 36875 | Houston, TX 77236 The Texas Minute is a quick look at the news and info of the day that we find interesting, and hope you do as well. It is produced on week days and distributed at 6 a.m. (though I'll probably take the occasional break for holidays and whatnot). Like [link removed] Tweet [link removed] Forward [link removed] Unsubscribe [link removed]