Issues

After returning from a number of weeks in Europe and Africa, your editor has some observations.

For a moment, forget all the politics surrounding the Houston pension crisis or who gets the credit for trying to fix it.

In a word, maybe, while the conservative Senate has passed property tax relief, the keep men out of women’s bathrooms bill, a bill requiring a vote on revision bonds, a bill on school choice and budget, and a bill prohibiting sanctuary cities (coming soon) with more to come.

Last week a column entitled “Houston, Republicans Have a Problem” appeared in The Weekly Standard by veteran conservative political columnist and commentator Fred Barnes, in which he sounded the warning about the unmitigated thrashing that Republicans took in Harris County in the 2016 General Elections.

We are about 23 months and counting before the 2018 elections. In Texas, these elections will reestablish GOP domination statewide, hopefully, but the major questions are Harris County (Houston) and to a lesser extent, Fort Bend County.

President Trump has been in office for a few days, and the difference from President Obama is remarkable.

Traditionally, major business organizations ally with conservatives on important issues like taxes, spending, and anti-over regulation.

Last year when observers urged Mayor Sylvester Turner to reduce nonessential city jobs to balance the budget, we were told it wasn’t necessary. Turns out, we should have.

No Harris County Republican needs to be reminded of the November 8th debacle where Paul Simpson led the Harris County Republican Party to the worst defeat in HCRP history in which he handed every single office on the countywide ballot to the Democrats.

Two weeks ago Donald Trump was elected the President of the United States and almost immediately the left started complaining about the policies he ran the election on, whom he might appoint, and that Clinton won the popular vote.