Tag Archives: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

So What Do We Do Now?

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The courts seem to move slowly. Most of the time that’s not an issue, but we have a court case right now where the timing matters. It will be interesting to see what the next step is. Also, at what point is Congress required to follow the U.S. Constitution and what are the consequences when they don’t?

On Tuesday, Just the News reported:

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday secured a major victory in his challenge to the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package passed in 2022, with a court declaring that the bill was approved unconstitutionally.

President Joe Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 in December of the prior year. The measure effectively set the federal budget for the year by wrapping the 12 annual appropriations bills into a single piece of legislation. Paxton, however, had argued that the House’s passage of the measure was unconstitutional as less than half of the lower chamber’s members were physically present to vote on it. Many lawmakers who were not present voted by proxy. Paxton had specifically challenged stipulations in the bill that affect his state.

“Like many constitutional challenges, Texas asserts that this provision is unenforceable against it because Congress violated the Constitution in passing the law. In response, the defendants claim, among other things, that this Court has no power to address the issue because it cannot look to extrinsic evidence to question whether a bill became law,” the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Lubbock Division wrote. “But because the Court is interpreting and enforcing the Constitution—rather than second-guessing a vote count—the Court disagrees. The Court concludes that, by including members who were indisputably absent in the quorum count, the Act at issue passed in violation of the Constitution’s Quorum Clause.”

So what happens now? Does this matter?

The article concludes:

The Texas Public Policy Foundation served as co-counsel in the case.

“The Court correctly concluded that the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 violated the Quorum Clause of the U.S. Constitution because a majority of House members was not physically present when the $1.7 trillion spending bill was passed. Proxy voting is unconstitutional,” TPPF senior attorney Matt Miller said.

Ken Paxton Has Been Acquitted

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Ken Paxton’s actual crime was defeating a Bush in a primary election; however, that was not listed among the crimes he was charged with.

According to a National Pulse article posted September 16th:

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been acquitted of all 16 charges against him, following an impeachment campaign leveled against him by establishment Republicans who partnered with left-wing “impeachment managers” to try and remove the pro-Trump figure.

Texas state senators voted Saturday morning to acquit Paxton on 16 articles, including “disregard of official duty”, as well as “misapplication of public resources”, “constitutional bribery”, “false statements in official records”, “conspiracy and attempted conspiracy”, “dereliction of duty”, “unfitness for office”, and “abuse of public trust”. 

Paxton was not present for the verdict, and his wife, Senator Angela Paxton, was prohibited from voting.

Four original articles were held in abeyance, with the Senate dismissing them in a vote conducted after the acquittal.

The National Pulse previously reported on how impeachment managers had tried to hide evidence from Paxton, so as to stymie his defense. After our report, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick imposed a discovery order on the state’s House of Representatives, demanding they reveal they basis for the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton.

This is Attorney General Paxton’s statement about the acquittal:

Your Tax Dollars At Work

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On Saturday, Townhall reported that the Biden administration has spent millions of taxpayer dollars on dental and healthcare for illegal immigrants.

The article reports:

In an annual report released by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Biden Administration spent hundreds of millions of dollars to ensure illegal immigrants were well taken care of. 

The ICE Health Service Corps’ budget was about $324 million, which was an $8 million increase from the year prior. 

According to the report, the money was spent on providing “direct care – including medical and dental health services – to over 118,000 non-citizens housed at 19 IHSC-operated facilities throughout the United States, which exceeded 1.1 million visits over the course of the fiscal year.”

At taxpayers’ expense, illegal migrants are treated to “an initial medical screening, including for mental health needs, as well as all necessary follow-up care” once they have illegally entered the U.S. 

Even migrants flagged as “public safety” are still given these cushy services. 

Last month, the Biden Administration approved Washington state’s request to offer health care insurance to undocumented immigrants, thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The state will expand access to qualified health plans as well as dental care regardless of immigration status. 

No wonder illegals are forcing their way into our country when Biden gives out cushy incentives. 

The Federation for American Immigration Reform published a study that shows that for the U.S. to provide the so-called “necessary” needs for illegal migrants, American citizens must burden an additional $20.4 billion every year.

This comes as Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, announced he was suing the Biden Administration over a rule that punishes taxpayers to pay for the cost of illegal immigration. 

How many Americans are foregoing dental care because they cannot afford it? At some point, we need to stop the gravy trail for illegals and begin taking care of American citizens. How many veterans are living on the streets of America? Where is the help that they need?

Making Progress Two Weeks At A Time

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Yesterday The Epoch Times reported:

A federal judge in Texas extended the suspension of President Joe Biden’s 100-day moratorium on deportations until Feb. 23.

U.S. District Court Judge Drew Tipton in the Southern District of Texas on Tuesday ruled that the federal government cannot make immigration enforcement changes without consulting Texas. As a result, he extended the temporary restraining order by another 14 days, asserting that the state of Texas would face more harm than the federal government if the extension wasn’t granted.

”The irreparable harm that would accrue to Texas if an extension of the [temporary restraining order] is not granted before consideration of its motion for a preliminary injunction is more substantial than any harm incurred by the defendants,” wrote Tipton in his ruling, adding that his ruling will give parties more time to “provide for a more fulsome record” to assist the court in “adjudicating Texas’s motion for a preliminary injunction.”

This is the information on the lawsuit that has resulted in the suspension:

Last month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, sued the Biden administration over its order to pause some deportations, asserting that the White House would violate its agreement with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S.-Mexico border security, and instead requires 180 days’ notice to change immigration policy.

“On its first day in office, the Biden Administration cast aside congressionally enacted immigration laws and suspended the removal of illegal aliens whose removal is compelled by those very laws. In doing so, it ignored basic constitutional principles and violated its written pledge to work cooperatively with the State of Texas to address shared immigration enforcement concerns,” Paxton’s lawsuit said. “This unlawful reversal will cause Texas immediate and irreparable harm if it is not enjoined.”

So why is a secure border important? Well, Mexico has a high rate of the coronavirus–if Americans are being told to wear masks, socially distance, and get the vaccine, why are we letting unmasked, unvaccinated groups of illegals potentially create a ‘super-spreader’ event? Why are we letting the cartels bring drugs and human trafficking victims across the border unchecked? Why are we allowing potential terrorists into the country without being screened? The Biden administration’s immigration policy is not only a threat to the safety and security of Americans, it will also result in higher unemployment for Americans. We need more states to sue and more judges to stand up for the rule of law.

What Do We Do Now?

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Voter and election fraud have been with us for a while. For the most part Americans simply ignored it, and cities like Chicago and Philadelphia simply continued doing what they were doing. I am sure other cities routinely practiced voter or election fraud, but those are two of the more obvious one. Because the fraud was ignored and allowed to continue, it spread. And that is one of the major reasons we are at the place we currently find ourselves. It is similar to the broken windows theory of law enforcement–if you prosecute the lesser crimes, eventually the number of crimes decreases. If you allow the lesser crimes to continue, crime increases.

Yesterday The Daily Wire reported the following:

Texas state officials announced late on Friday afternoon that they have charged a social worker with 134 felony counts of election fraud and other related charges.

“Attorney General Ken Paxton today announced that his Election Fraud Unit assisted the Limestone County Sheriff and District Attorney in charging Kelly Reagan Brunner, a social worker in the Mexia State Supported Living Center (SSLC), with 134 felony counts of purportedly acting as an agent and of election fraud,” the state said in a statement. “State Supported Living Centers serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Brunner submitted voter registration applications for 67 residents without their signature or effective consent, while purporting to act as their agent.”

The article concludes:

In September, Paxton announced that law enforcement officials had arrested several individuals for their alleged involvement in an illegal ballot harvesting scheme in Texas’ 2018 Democrat primary.

“The four individuals—Charlie Burns, Dewayne Ward, Marlena Jackson and Jackson’s husband Shannon Brown, a Democrat who was serving as Gregg County’s Precinct 4 commissioner—collectively stand accused of 134 different felony charges of election fraud and ballot tampering,” Newsweek reported. “If found guilty, each individual could face six months in jail to 99 years in prison.”

And that, my friends, is how you deal with voter fraud or election fraud.

The Push Toward Mail-In Voting

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As has been said multiple times before, mail-in voting is different from absentee voting. Mail-in voting generally does not have the controls that absentee voting has to prevent voter fraud. There are court cases in various states right now to push for mail-in voting. One of those states is Texas.

On Friday, Hot Air reported the following:

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against a lower court’s preliminary ruling that would have required the State of Texas to expand mail-in voting to all eligible registered voters. The Texas Democrat Party claimed that denying universal mail-in voting in Texas is age discrimination.

Texas allows mail-in voting for voters who are age 65 or older, voters who will be out of the county during the voting period, disabled or ill voters, and people incarcerated but eligible to vote. Absentee voting is allowed, as in other states. For absentee voting, a voter has to request a ballot. Democrats want to move to universal voting by mail, with registered voters receiving a ballot by mail automatically, without the step of requesting one.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court didn’t agree with the Democrats:

The 5th Circuit’s majority said the state’s law did not violate the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on age discrimination because it merely conferred an extra benefit on older residents, rather than limiting the right to vote for younger Texans.

“A law that makes it easier for others to vote does not abridge any person’s right to vote,” the majority wrote.

The article concludes:

The age discrimination part of this lawsuit is clearly malarkey. Democrats are just throwing everything against the wall in hopes that something will stick so that universal mail-in voting will come into play in Texas. The court rightly points out that no such argument can be made. If people can go shop at Walmart or a grocery store, they can go vote in person.

The lawsuit now goes back to the court of U.S. District Judge Fred Biery. In May, he ruled that all Texans can vote by mail because of the coronavirus pandemic. In June, however, the 5th Circuit blasted his ruling and blocked it. Biery is a Clinton appointee. It will fall upon Biery now to rule on the remaining issues in the lawsuit, including whether or not the Texas restrictions on mail-in voting violate equal protection guarantees.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released a brief statement – “I am pleased that the 5th Circuit correctly upheld Texas’s vote-by-mail laws, and I commend the court for concluding that Texas’s decision to allow elderly voters to vote by mail does not violate the 26th Amendment.”

Stay tuned. This fight is ongoing in many states.