Texas GOP Vote

AUSTIN — Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Attorneys General from 11 other states on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the legality of the Obama Administration’s unprecedented and overreaching greenhouse gas environmental regulatory scheme. In a petition for writ of certiorari filed Friday, the States explain that the EPA violated the U.S. Constitution as well as the federal Clean Air Act by concocting its greenhouse gas regulations without Congressional authorization. The States explain that the EPA ignored Congress’ law-making role by re-writing federal laws through administrative rule-making. The States urge the Supreme Court to overturn the Obama Administration’s “attempts to unilaterally implement policies in the absence

JD Salinger’s classic, Catcher in the Rye, and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird are now on the path to extinction in many American classrooms to be replaced with informational texts featuring heart pounding readings like Recommended Levels of Insulation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Invasive Plant Inventory.

Are you kidding me? Really, and this is not some Onion satire we are witnessing?

On Friday, the House passed H.R. 3409, the Stop the War on Coal Act, which is a common-sense package of proposals aimed at putting an end to the Administration’s war on coal that is harming our already weak economy. The EPA's costly regulatory assault on our nation’s energy producers threatens American jobs and drives up energy costs for North Texas families and small businesses.

With chronic unemployment plaguing our nation under the President’s failed policies, it is imperative that we stop excessive red-tape that is forcing layoffs in the coal industry. Just this week, coal producer

National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is a political committee devoted to maintaining and increasing the 239-member Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms what too many already know firsthand—that the Obama economy has been terrible for job creators, and particularly bad for small businesses:   Read more »

America is now governed by an individual whose pathological contempt for the energy sector promises to destroy American economic strength for future generations. President Obama has openly pursued policies that accurately can be described as suicidal in their economic consequences.   Read more »

All Rise… This Court of Law for the Law West of the Pecos is now in session…The Honorable Judge Billy Bob Bean.

Presiding…all those wishing justice come forward and be heard!     Good day to all of you. I am Judge Billy Bob Bean, the younger, smarter, and, ahem, better looking brother of Judge Roy Bean, who, God rest his soul, presided over this court for so many years.

Today, I issued this statement ahead of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Director Dan Ashe’s visit to Midland as the Administration considers whether or not to list the dunes sagebrush lizard as endangered:

I’m hopeful that after visiting the Permian Basin Secretary Salazar will see firsthand the insurmountable cost that listing this species will mean for West Texans.   Read more »

"The Texas Democratic Party is no longer the party of Texas," according to Texas State Rep. J.M. Lozano. "They are the party of San Francisco." These are comments from Texas' newest Republican state legislator during an interview with TexasGOPVote about the changing politics of South Texas.

During the past couple of years, South Texas has been moving more and more to the Republican party as its residents begin to understand the Democrat

I released the following statement responding to statements made by EPA Region Six Administrator Al Armendariz:

The comments made by Administrator Armendariz back in 2010 confirm what we’ve known all along: the EPA’s crusade to destroy the oil and gas industry is a politically premeditated effort, not one meant to protect the environment. Administrator Armendariz’s words reflect his disdain for the oil and gas industry and make clear that his decisions are made without an ounce of impartiality. He should be fired.   Read more »

The EPA has launched a fear-inciting, "crucify them" strategy to force companies to comply with their incessantly burdensome and malignant regulations. In a recently posted video from 2010, a top EPA Region IV (which covers TX as well as AR, OK, LA, and NM) Administrator Al Armendariz touts to Texas colleagues his methods of EPA enforcement.

"I was in a meeting once and I gave an analogy to my staff about my philosophy of enforcement, and I think it was probably a little crude and maybe not appropriate for the meeting, but I'll go ahead and tell you what I said. It was kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean. They'd go into a little Turkish town somewhere, they'd find the first five guys they saw and they would crucify them. And then you know that town was really easy to manage for the next few years. And so you make examples out of people who are in this case not compliant with the law. Find people who are not compliant with the law, and you hit them as hard as you can and you make examples out of them, and there is a deterrent effect there."