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Volume XVIII Number 4 - March 18, 2019     RSS Feed   

A Periodic Newsletter for Committed Texas Conservatives

In This Issue

Sad Day For Democratic Party And This Nation

That Border Emergency, Guess What? It's Real

O'Rourke To Star In "The Emperor's New Clothes"

College Admissions Scam vs. Free College Scam By Bruce Bialosky, Contributing Editor

Coming in 2019 The City of Houston Election Guide

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Thoughts This Fortnight

Sad Day For Democratic Party And This Nation

It seems incredible that in 2019, 78 years after the beginning of the Holocaust which culminated in the murder of over six million Jews that the Democratic Party cannot unambiguously condemn anti-Semitism.

It causes one to wonder how we got to this point that the Democratic Party can't simply condemn anti-Semitism. The resolution started as a response to Rep. Omar's (D-MN) contemptuous anti-Semitic utterances! It took the Democrats eight days to pass a watered-down resolution that condemns all hate and even failed to mention Omar specifically. In fact, it was so weak that even the anti-Semite Omar voted for it.

So, what the weak Democratic leadership has done is mainlining anti-Semitism into American politics. By the way, Omar remains a member of the House Foreign Relations Committee. When will Nancy Pelosi stand up to hate and remove her?

That Border Emergency, Guess What? It's Real

It is often said facts are stubborn things. Last week the mainstream media (New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal) reported about the massive surge of illegal immigration at the southern border of the U.S.

In February 2019, we had 76,000 migrants cross the border illegally, which is an 11-year high, per the New York Times. Based on present trends, we are on pace to encounter close to one million illegals entering from our southern border.

This is an emergency and the Democrats in Congress can stop obstructing President Trump's ability to stop the onslaught and give our border personnel the resources they need to protect our borders now.

O'Rourke To Star In "The Emperor's New Clothes"

Remember the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, The Emperor's New Clothes? A fun story where the Emperor is fawned toward and lied to, being told what he wants to hear when it wasn't true.

So it goes with the mainstream media and its love affair with Robert Frances (Beto) O'Rourke. If they would actually look objectively, the media would discover a vapid, empty suit parading as the key to the Hispanic vote.

As long-time Hispanic syndicated columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr. recently wrote:

"My criticism of a Texas-size cultural enigma who changes his schtick like other people change cellphone companies has enraged both white liberals and Latino lefties. Beware the Beto Bots."

"The white liberals prefer that Mexican-Americans serve up chips and not options. And they're miffed that I rejected their choice for the preferred "Latino" 2020 presidential hopeful, after they went to the trouble of choosing him for me.

"The Latino lefties have such low self-esteem and deep insecurities that they're flattered that a handsome Irish-American who grew up on the soft side of town and studied in the Ivy League wants to be one of them.

"After leaving Congress and losing a Senate race, O'Rourke hit the open road in search of America. What he found was that Beto really loves Beto.

"I don't feel the love. I think the Texas Democrat is a phony, an opportunist and an underachiever whose thought process is stuck in the shallow end. And what really bothers me is how the media, liberals and the rest of the Beto Bots deify him and demonize critics."

Here are a few of the reasons why "Beto-mania" bugs him:

"O'Rourke talks about the importance of taking courageous stances. But, as the Washington Post pointed out recently after interviewing him, he avoids taking firm positions on controversial issues. That's not courage."

"When the Post asked about immigration and what to do about visa overstayers, O'Rourke said: "I don't know." He lives in El Paso, not Des Moines. He can't say: "I don't know." An actual Mexican-American would be toast if he said that.

"O'Rourke doesn't do homework. He is the Democratic Party's version of Sarah Palin, telegenic and charismatic but afraid to open a book because he thinks it might explode in his face.

"The son of a county commissioner and county judge, the Democrat is now the husband of Amy O'Rourke and the son-in-law of William D. Sanders, a realestate tycoon who has been called a billionaire but who Forbes insists is worth a measly $500 million. With an estimated net worth of $5-10 million, Beto never learned accountability. Not even after getting arrested in his 20's for drunk driving and breaking into the University of Texas in El Paso.

"O'Rourke's father, Pat, was the one who gave him the nickname "Beto". Pat told reporters he thought it would help his son if he entered politics in El Paso. But first, Beto went to Columbia University in New York, where he conveniently reverted to "Robert."

"Beto may be a serious candidate but he does not seem to be a serious person. Everything is a show, a joke, a missed test he didn't study for anyway. What do you expect when you come up short and still fall backward into an interview with Oprah?"

TCR Comment: Write it down, "Beto" peaked the day he announced last week.

College Admissions Scam vs. Free College Scam
By Bruce Bialosky, Contributing Editor

Tell the truth. After the initial shock of hearing that a group of affluent parents paid massive sums to get their progeny into elite colleges, were you really surprised this happened? It had to happen. It was destined to happen. College as a whole has become a scam.

All that was needed for this to happen was a guy like Rick Singer, the Bernie Madoff of college admissions. You look at his website and it is written all over it. "You need more than a school-appointed college counselor to help your son or daughter unlock the door to academic, social, personal and career success." The website goes on to tell how you can separate your child from the others. Singer just figured why should he be playing for $3,000 fees when he could use his talent and connections to prey on desperate parents with loose morals to extract millions from them. There were plenty of felonious individuals at major colleges who were sick of seeing fellow coaches rake in millions from the "major" sports (football and basketball programs) while they lived on Subway.

It was a near perfect crime. Who would have thought that parents would want to pay bundles of cash just for the right to pay even more than the outrageous fees being charged by these schools for the mediocre education they are delivering. Everyone involved had an interest in keeping the scheme going to hide the lie that these opulent folks had dumb-as-a-rock offspring. Unfortunately for them, there is always one blabbermouth and this one came out of the blue in an unrelated case.

Don't believe the lie that the children did not participate in this. They knew. They may not have known how much their parents paid, but they knew they were gaming the system. What a terrible example for your children. Just think what these young people are going to use as a moral compass moving forward.

There are a lot of people tarnished here. One can see a person of lesser means feeling cheated out of a rightful spot rowing for a college. A huge aspect that is overlooked is all the people of means who properly raised their kids to work hard and play by the rules in an attempt to get into one of these elite colleges and to make something of themselves. To point the finger at people like that and say they take advantage when only a score of people decided to go another route makes no sense.

What likewise makes no sense is the perverse emphasis on getting your child into the 'right' college. This affliction is what provided the opportunity for Singer in the first place. Kids are often driven to get into a college when that is not the right school for them educationally or psychologically. They enter a class as a "small fish in a big pond" instead of taking a different route and being a big fish in a smaller pond. I have said this for years: There are over 5,000 colleges in the United States and one can get a fine education at them all with proper effort and (self) direction.

What makes little sense is that the children of these parents, for the most part, needed college the least. Some could go into their parent's business. Others already have like Lori Loughlin's. This proves how perverse the entire process has become.

Instead, some young adults end up going to a college because the 'industry' drives them there and easy loans will allow them the funds to do so. They end up with a questionable degree and a mound of debt. No responsible adult stopped them to question "Do you understand what you are doing here and does this investment make sense for your future? Do you realize the amount of debt you are taking on?" That is why we have so many college-educated bartenders with a useless degree in some random major on the road to nowhere with bills as far as the eye can see.

You hear about "Big Pharma" or "Big Tech" or "Big Oil," but you never hear about "Big Education." Those other industries never drove a group of customers into over a trillion dollars in debt. Those other industries aren't protected by a government that deems them non-profit while they pile billions of dollars into 'endowments' that are barely used to reduce the cost to their customers. Try to do something about that and you will feel the wrath of Big Education that will come down on you like a load of bricks.

Big Education now has some politicians running around the country telling Americans that their government should pay 100% for everyone to get a college education. We already underwrite this scam with billions of tax dollars either spent or lost by the lie that these schools are non-profit. You are not non-profit when your employees are being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars and your administrators millions of dollars.

We are moving toward the biggest scam of all – "free college." Of course, we all know nothing is free and this one is particularly expensive. Forty percent of students don't finish college now. What percentage will that become when they don't have to pay a dime to go. More people will be drawn into the scam that college is the way to a better future when today it is more an indoctrination than an education. Two and one-half million well-paid manufacturing jobs are going unfilled in the next five years while more young Americans will be drawn into the scam of Big Education.

No, it is not surprising to have a group of morally-depraved individuals soaked in by a charlatan like Rick Singer on the promise that their little darlings will get into the "right" school. We have been fed this load of malarkey for so long it was bound to happen. Don't let Uncle Bernie make it worse by making government pay for all of it.

If you think college is expensive now, wait until it is "free." Then this scam will really explode in cost when no one pays.


Bruce Bialosky is the founder of the Republican Jewish Coalition of California and a former Presidential appointee. You can follow Bruce on Twitter @brucebialosky.

Coming in 2019
The City of Houston Election Guide


TCR on the Air

Red, White, and Blue featuring TCR Editor Gary Polland on Fridays at 7:30 pm on Houston Public Media TV 8, replaying Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on Channel 8, Monday at 11:30 pm on Channel 8.2 and on the web at www.houstonpublicmedia.org.

Upcoming shows:
03-29-19 - 86th Texas Legislature with guests: Renée Cross (Senior Director, Hobby School of Public Affairs) and Keir Murray (Founder and President, KLM Public Affairs).

04-12-19 - Houston's Growth with guests: Dr. Bruce Race, (Professor of Architecture, Director for the Center of Sustainability and Resilience, Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, University of Houston) and Chris Brown (City of Houston Controller).

04-19-19 - 2020 US Census with guest: Jeff Reichman (Principal of January Advisors).

About Your Editor

Gary Polland is a long-time conservative and Republican spokesman, fund-raiser, and leader who completed three terms as the Harris County Republican Chairman. During his three terms, Gary was described as the most successful county Chairman in America by Human Events - The National Conservative Weekly. He is in his twenty-first year of editing a newsletter dealing with key conservative and Republican issues. The last eighteen years he has edited Texas Conservative Review. As a public service for the last 16 years, Gary has published election guides for the GOP primary, general elections and city elections, all with the purpose of assisting conservative candidates. Gary is also in his 17th year of co-hosting Red, White and Blue on Houston Public Media TV 8 PBS Houston, longest running political talk show in Texas history. Gary serves on the Board of Directors of American Values, a national pro-family, pro-faith, conservative organization supporting the unity of the American people around the vision of our founding fathers and dedicated to reminding the public of the conservative principles fundamental to the survival of our nation. Gary is a practicing attorney and strategic consultant. He can be reached at (713) 621-6335.

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