Pratt on Texas

The news of Texas covered today includes:Our Lone Star story of the day: The Texas House met today, finally, to handle special session items and there is not much new: Democrats are against border security and RINOs still prefer the big government socialist model of public education over freedom and parental choice.Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.Jury finds Baylor university was negligent in its handling of ex-student’s domestic violence case, awards $270K in damages.U.S. House: Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson wins Speaker job with full backing of the GOP caucus. To all the “embarrassed” hand-wringers: This is how it is supposed to work, in public view with votes and debate. Our country is NOT supposed to be governed through backroom deals kept from public view and I find it troubling that so many think such is the better, less “clownish” or “embarrassing” method. Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates.www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:Our Lone Star story of the day: Is there hope to be found in the pro-terrorist Hamas protests here and abroad? Are latent Nazis identifying themselves? We have a culture that has defined goodness as hate and sin as good; that includes many of our stalwart institutions. Today I share, and comment upon, Robert Zimmerman’s essay: “Formerly clandestine Nazis will continue protesting, sometimes violently”Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.Attorney General Ken Paxton Sues Biden Administration Over Destruction of Texas Border Barrier.Yesterday, as covered on the program, over the non-cooperation of County Judge Curtis Parrish and Precinct 3 Commissioner Gilbert Flores, Lubbock County’s Commissioners’ Court passed an ordinance to allow private enforcement through the courts to stop abortion trafficking in Lubbock County. Commissioners Corley, Rackler, and Kovar supported Corley’s resolution which enhances the City of Lubbock’s Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance. And by the way, despite media reporting, it is NOT a “travel ban” or anything like such. If you missed my interview with Mark Lee Dickson, it is in the 2nd segment of yesterday’s show.Planned Parenthood Must Face Trial Over Texas Medicaid Fraud Claims.Texas House to finally debate some of the special session agenda items tomorrow.Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates.www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:Our Lone Star story of the day: Over the non-cooperation of County Judge Curtis Parrish and Precinct 3 Commissioner Gilbert Flores, Lubbock County’s Commissioners’ Court passed an ordinance to allow private enforcement through the courts to stop abortion trafficking in Lubbock County. Commissioners Corley, Rackler, and Kovar supported Corley’s resolution which enhances the City of Lubbock’s Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance. And by the way, despite media reporting, it is NOT a “travel ban” or anything like such.I interview the man working full-time to save the lives of the innocent: Mark Lee Dickson in the second segment.Reuters: Fight Over Texas Anti-Abortion Transport Bans Reaches Biggest Battlegrounds Yet.Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.First day of Early Voting in the November 7th Texas constitutional amendment election begins today. I review my recommendations.The Texas House’s public education committee and its Phelan-appointed chairman make a mockery of school choice with HB1.Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates.www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:Our Lone Star story of the day: A state preliminary audit of Harris County’s running of the November 2022 shows that it was as bad as we thought. Officials ignored state law on ballot supply provisioning, election judges didn’t record critical information, and much more. And, when it came to voter registration numbers and ballot by mail numbers, Harris County had very different numbers in their records than it reported to the state. Worse, even its own numbers did not match up. Read the report here.Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.The Texas House is doing nothing on school choice and there is a reason why: Many incumbents want their vote hidden – either from voters so they get reelected or from major donors so they money keeps coming. This is part of the perversion that needs change in the Texas House as it lends to the problem of the a Speaker’s job being to protect members from having to cast votes on controversial issues.Rig count rises in Texas.Texas employment numbers continue to set records.DC: Report says TX 19’s Jodey Arrington “praying” over whether to enter the race for U.S. House Speaker. TX 17′ Pete Sessions announces he’s running. More: Texas Reps. Jodey Arrington, Pete Sessions and Roger Williams are making moves to become U.S. House speaker.Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates. www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:Our Lone Star story of the day: Texas’ school choice plan is being called “racist” by Democrats; “too broad” by newspaper editors, as well as a host of other ridiculous things that are demonstrably false. The real question is: Why are Leftist front groups and the government school lobby so afraid that parents will pull their children out of public schools if given a choice? Is not that a tacit admission that something is deeply wrong in the current system these folks are fighting so hard to preserve?And, even though school finance is not on the special session call, Democrats have introduced a whole new school finance scheme. Do you honestly believe that if we funded public education to their standard of “fully funded,” that next year and the next these same people would agree that schools are fully funded? Heck no, they’ll make the claim of financial penury forever because they are paying off a political constituency with your money and that never ends.Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.Chicago delegation comes to Texas and begs El Paso and others to curtail sending illegals to their great “sanctuary city.”Homeland Security puts immigration official who worked for Palestinian Liberation Organization (the PLO!) on leave. Why was this person ever allowed to work for, of all things, Homeland Security!?Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates.www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:Our Lone Star story of the day: HD83’s Rep. Dustin Burrows gets a primary challenger: Wade Cowan of Brownfield. Cowan is a former Terry Co. Republican Party chairman and served as chairman of the American Soybean Association.From Cowan’s press release about incumbent Burrows:“I don’t like Austin, but someone has got to go up there and represent our interests. Our current representative is just another self-dealing lawyer pushing a personal agenda. Power has become more important to him than serving the people he represents. I’ve had enough of it. It’s about time to send a farmer to fight for our interests in the state capitol.”Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.Three Texas Congressional Republicans vote against conservative U.S. House leadership, oppose Jim Jordan for Speaker.Whistleblower Says Texas Department of Transportation is still pushing radical Leftist DEI on employees, provides evidence of a full-out DEI discrimination program at TxDOT.30+-year veteran police officer in San Benito murdered, suspects captured.Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates.www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:Our Lone Star story of the day: On school choice: Is the purpose of “public education” to fund and support a government-run school system or, is the purpose to provide education to students?Here’s a good piece on the matter: Protect Texas children, not school systems.Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.HD83’s Rep. Dustin Burrows gets a primary challenger: Wade Cowan of Brownfield. Cowan is a former Terry Co. GOP chairman and served as chairman of the American Soybean Association. Mr. Cowan will appear on Pratt on Texas tomorrow.Another odd choice by Governor Abbott with Operation Lone Star: Stringing razor wire between Texas and the State of New Mexico!RIP: Ed Auler, a pioneer in the Texas wine industry.Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates. www.PrattonTexas.com

Author and local historian Matthew Day joined me for a Pratt on Texas Podcast Extra focusing on the mid-20th Century oil business around the Lubbock area.Matthew Day podcasts: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/officialmatthewmdaybookspodcastLinks to books featured on this Pratt on Texas Podcast Extra (truncated titles listed):Fueling Victory at Home https://www.amazon.com/dp/1695719247Local Roots, Global Prospects  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096CKK93YThe Oil Empire That Wasn't Book I https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CC49LJPVThe Oil Empire That Wasn't Book II https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CC4LDW5KA Cattle King on the Move https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGNF1HPNAccidental Resurgence? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087LFRVJZThe Sale https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJBNRGJ4A Last Hurrah in Texas? https://www.amazon.com/dp/1695692144The Other Mastersons https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CC4LDW5LOther books not featured in this interview:Unknown Quantity https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096CNPFMR  (the story of Abilene oilman Vincent Perini, Jr., and how his interest in uranium mining in the 1950s helped move the nuclear industry from a single-use industry (weapons of war) to a broadbased industry that includes microwave ovens and X-ray machines)The following venues do carry or have carried one or more of the 25 books at any point since the summer of 2022 (links to museum included, websites include contact info--call ahead to see if they have any of the books in stock):Pueblo Heritage Museum, Pueblo, COHistory Nebraska, Lincoln, NEMineral Museum, Socorro, NMScurry County Museum, Snyder, TXMuseum of the Big Bend, Alpine, TXCarlsbad Museum, Carlsbad, NMWestern Heritage Museum and Lea County Cowboy Hall of Fame, Hobbs, NMPermian Basin Petroleum Museum, Midland, TX www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:Our Lone Star story of the day: Is a Texas House parliamentarian part of a “secret” fix by anti-conservative agenda House speakers to hamper conservative legislation? It sure looks that way but, much worse is the financial conflict of interest that appears to surround Speaker Phelan’s parliamentarian, Hugh Brady, who was an Obama White House lawyer.Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.While the NAACP of Texas and other Leftist Democrat Party front groups call school choice for minority children “racist,” others are standing for the truth and calling such pronouncements “vile.”Abilene’s Rep. Stan Lambert (HD 71) wants no choice for parents and students in education AND wants to keep school performance ratings from the eyes of those locked-in parents.“Rep. Stan Lambert, R-Abilene, supports many of Abbott’s priorities, but he said school choice proposals aren’t good for the families in his district. … Lambert, the state representative from Abilene, said he appreciates the governor’s interest in education, though he recommends the state invest more money in public education, more meaningful assessments of students and pausing the release of A-F scores, a system used to rank school districts.” – Austin American-Statesman report.A good write-up on Proposition 7 from the Dallas Morning News: Proposition 7 would create taxpayer-funded loan program for fossil fuel power plants. What is left out of most reporting is that Republicans, yes Republicans, in Texas are responsible in-part for this because they jumped on the wind and solar bandwagon allowing such non-dispatchable power generation to make up too large of a percentage of ERCOT generation grid resources. A policy change is needed which greatly limits wind and solar on the grid as a part of the proven supply of power.Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates. www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:Our Lone Star story of the day: Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick crows loudly that the Senate has handled almost all of the Special Session call agenda in the first week – and rightly points out that the House has done nothing.Lot’s of the Senate crowing is over passing a so-called school choice bill that effectively would apply to only about one-percent of Texas public school children!Governor Abbott is saying the school choice bill must apply to all Texas school children and that he will only put teacher pay on the call if the House passes the school choice bill. Will Abbott go along with the ruse that a bill that only works for one-percent, or heck even twenty-percent, of Texas school children is actually school choice?If it stays as is, with the funding that has been passed in the Regular Session, of courses the House can pass a bill but it won’t be an effective, authentic school choice bill. Government schools need to earn their way in society as does every other sector.Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.House Speaker Dade Phelan Bans Lawmaker From Asking Question.Judge rules Galveston County violated Voting Rights Act in redistricting – more perpetuation of a soft bigotry that certain minorities are not able to play in the same sandbox as everyone else! The very idea that a black community cannot be adequately represented by a non-black person is little different than a Democrat-KKK argument that whites cannot be represented well by a black person – a pernicious way of thinking.Oil and gas drilling rig count rises.San Antonio lands another big manufacturing plant: JBC of Great Britain. 1,500 jobs expected over next few years. Meanwhile, “Texas employers are cutting over 1,400 jobs, with the ax falling heavily in D-FW.”Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates. www.PrattonTexas.com