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And More Inside 10924 Grant Road, Suite 133 • Houston, Texas 77070 • www.terrylowry.com On the web at www.TerryLowry.com Archives posted since January 1st 2005 November 2024, Volume 32, Number 10 LINKING TEXAS CONSERVATIVES SINCE 1993 WEEKDAYS 2:00-3:00PM ON KKHT 100.7FM THE WHAT’S UP Radio Program HOPE FOR THE FUTURE By: Terry Lowry, Editor Over time, America has changed. Because of change, many have lost respect for our country and its people. May we re-learn respect for our neighbors and practice civility. May we have hope for the future. Look up! God is not through with our country and He is not through using you and me. We may not be able to correct problem-areas all at once. But we can all do something to help right what’s wrong in America. Study the candidates seeking your vote. Visit their websites. Pray about your selections. It is legal to carry the tear-out Sample Ballot inside this issue to the voting booth. Another is provided for a family member or friend. Visit our website at www.TerryLowry.com to find your voting location. Be informed. Study. Pray. And GO VOTE VOTE EARLY JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN EARL Y VOTING HOURS OCTOBER SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 NOV 1 2 3 4 NOV 5 6 7 8 9 7:00am - 7:00pm 12pm - 7pm Election Day 7:00am - 8:00pm7am - 9pm7am - 7pmPRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID DALLAS, TX PERMIT # 3260 the LINK Letter 10924 Grant Road, #133 Houston, TX 77070 www.terrylowry.com HARRIS COUNTY SPECIAL EDITION FOR THE NOVEMBER 5TH GENERAL ELECTION Links to candidate websites found at www.TerryLowry.com EARL Y VOTING HOURS OCTOBER SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 NOV 1 2 3 4 NOV 5 6 7 8 9 7:00am - 7:00pm 12pm - 7pm Election Day 7:00am - 8:00pm7am - 9pm7am - 7pm Mayes Middleton John Devine Paul Bettencourt David Schenck Gina Parker Lee Finley Mike Landrum Bruce Bain Mike Knox Tom Ramsey Mark Herman For Early and Election Day Locations visit www.TerryLowry.com Charles Cunningham Briscoe Cain Tom Oliverson Mano DeAyala Lacy Hull Valoree SwansonWhat ’s Inside... IFC GEORGE SOROS CONTROLS POWERFUL TEXAS DA OFFICES In December 2021, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals incorrectly concluded that the Texas attorney general does not have the power to prosecute election... 2-3 HARRIS COUNTY HAS RAISED PROPERTY TAXES BY NEARLY 30% IN THE LAST TWO YEARS It has been widely reported by the local media that Harris County Commissioners’ Court increased taxes by 8% at their meet- ing on September 19. 4-7 FAMED CHRISTIAN PUBLICATION DELIVERS STUNNING GUIDE TO VOTERS FACING DECISIVE ELECTION A famed Christian publication, Decision Magazine, launched originally by Billy Graham, has delivered to voters a voting guide just as early voting starts... 10 MAKE PUBLIC SAFETY PRIORITY #1 GONZALEZ CUT TIES WITH ICE Democrat Ed Gonzalez is seeking a third term as Sheriff. What do we have to show for the Democrat incumbent’s tenure so far? 12 MEET TOM RAMSEY: HARRIS COUNTY COMMISSIONER, PRECINCT 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey was the lone NO vote in opposition to the recent Harris County Commissioner’s Court proposal to raise property taxes in Harris County... 16 EMERGENCY SERVICES DISTRICT 9 With a $100 Million dollar budget: who decides how to spend it? See Page 16 for more details. 1 November 2024www.TerryLowry.com MEET THE CONSERVATIVE COURT OF APPEALS CANDIDATES★ ★ David Schenk Gina Parker Lee Finley George Soros Controls Powerful Texas DA Offices GUEST EDITORIAL By Ken Paxton Texas Attorney General In December 2021, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals incorrectly concluded that the Texas attorney general does not have the power to prosecute election crimes. That ruling endangers election integrity in Texas by leaving the prosecution of election crime solely in the hands of district attorneys, some of whom prioritize leniency toward criminals over their sworn duty to enforce laws. Ignoring Laws Sworn to Enforce To understand the risks of the court’s decision to leave election crime prosecution in the hands of Soros DAs, just look at how politicized prosecutors in some Texas counties have routinely encouraged the breakdown of the rule of law: they ignore the laws they swore to enforce while innocent people suffer. Criminals Are Empowered Criminals are empowered to intimidate, rob, assault and murder. After the criminal court’s decision, Texans must ask: What happens when rogue DAs are as permissive of election crime as they are of street crime? Rogue prosecutors in Texas could decide that their citizens do not deserve free and fair elections, just as they have decided their citizens do not deserve safe streets. Rogue DAs Assist the Bad Actors A rogue DA who worsens violent crime by selectively enforcing the law may invite election crime too—because the AG’s office can no longer prosecute and bad actors know they might not be held accountable. Texas election laws are meaningless if they are not enforced. Rogue DAs who have a pattern of abusing prosecutorial discretion and selectively enforcing the law can irreversibly tip the scales to alter the outcome of a national, state, or local election. The Importance of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals We need every Texan to understand just how important the Court of Criminal Appeals is. And we need to elect judges who will restore the AG’s power to prosecute election crimes. This November, turn out and vote for Republicans David Schenk, Gina Parker and Lee Finley for the Court of Criminal Appeals. Links to candidate websites found at www.TerryLowry.com Ken Paxton www.TerryLowry.com November 2024 2 Harris County has Raised Property Taxes by Nearly 30% in the Last Two Years GUEST EDITORIAL [Edited for space] By Bill King It has been widely reported by the local media that Harris County Commissioners’ Court increased taxes by 8% at their meeting on September 19. However, the County’s public tax notices clearly show that the increase for the average homeowner will be at least 15% and may be as high as 19%. While this increase is jaw-dropping, it is made even more egregious because it comes on the heels of a nearly 12% increase last year, making the increase over the last two years 29.5%. These increases will result in the County and its related entities receiving nearly $900 million more in tax revenue than just two years ago. To say this increase is unprecedented is a gross understatement. I suspect this is the largest two- year tax increase in the history of the State of Texas. The Tax Setting Process First, it is important to remember that your tax bill is a function of two factors: the tax rate and the taxable appraised value of your property. If either of those goes up or down, so will your tax bill. When elected officials set their tax rates in the fall of each year, the appraisal district has provided them with an estimate for the likely increase in the appraised values for that year. That estimated increase in the appraised value for the average taxpayer's home is included in the required tax notices. So, when elected officials set tax rates for the year, they know what the likely effect will be on their res- idents' tax bills. Officials like to talk about tax rates but ignore appraised values, which for many years have been steadily moving higher. This allows elected officials to claim that they are holding taxes steady or, in this case, mislead taxpayers that an increase is not as dramatic as it actually is. The 2024 Tax Increases The Commissioners’ Court sets the tax rates for the Harris County along with the Harris County Flood Control District, the Harris County Hospital District and the Port Authority. Because these are separate legal enti- ties, they must publish separate public notices regarding their tax rates. In both of these tax years, the Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) notified Commissioners' Court in advance of setting the tax rate, that appraised values would be increasing. The projected increase in 2023 was 9.3% and 4.48% in 2024. So, Commissioners knew that even if they did not increase the tax rate at all, property owners' tax bills would still go up by those amounts. Harris County For the County, the Commissioners’ Court approved an increase in the tax rate of just over 10%. When the 10% tax rate increase is combined with the 4.48% valuation increase, the result is that the average homeowner’s County tax bill will increase by 15%. Harris County Hospital District For the Harris County Hospital District, the Commissioners’ Court approved a 13.98% tax rate increase. When the 13.98% tax rate increase is combined with the 4.48% valuation increase, the result is that the average homeowner’s Hospital District tax bill will increase by 19.09%. Port Authority For the Port Authority, the Commissioners’ Court approved a 7.14% increase in the tax rate. When the 7.14% tax rate increase is combined with the 4.48% valu- ation increase, the result is that the average homeowner’s Port Authority tax bill will increase by 11.96%. ■ Also, the Commissioners’ Court has asked voters to approve a massive 65% increase in the property taxes for the Flood Control District. ■ If voters approve the increase for the Flood Control District, the total tax bill for all four entities for the average homeowner will jump from $1,159 last year to $1,379 this year, a 19% increase. The 2023 Tax Increase This increase comes on top of another large increase in the tax bills last year. However, the math last year was different. Last year, there were small increases in the tax rates for the County and the Flood Control District with small Bill King Continued on Page 33 November 2024www.TerryLowry.com offsetting reductions in the tax rates for the Hospital District and the Port Authority. But HCAD projected at the time that the value of the average home would increase by 9.3%. As a result, the Commissioners’ Court knew that if they held the tax rate close to even, taxpayers would be paying about 9% more. The end result was an overall 9.7% increase last year. ■ When added together, the taxes for the average homeowner will increase in just two years by 29.5%. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from the beginning of 2023 through the first quarter of 2024 (their last published data), average wages for Harris County were only up by 3.9%. So, Harris County taxes over the last two years have grown more than the rate seven times higher than Harris County’s residents’ wages. Five Times Rate of Inflation The increase in Harris County taxes is five times the rate of inflation for our region over the last two years. Of course, homeowners are only one piece of the prop- erty tax pie. The increases in the total tax levy by the County provides a more macro view of the magnitude of the increases over the last two years. Again, according to the County’s tax notices, the total levy for all four entities has gone from slightly under $3.1 billion in 2022 to nearly $4 billion for this year, a staggering 28.7% increase in the overall tax burden from the County in just two years. Frankly, I have never heard of a property tax increase even close to this magnitude before. Historic Increases And keep in mind that is on top of historic increases in the amount that County has siphoned from the Harris County Toll Road Authority. This tax increase will be felt by every person and business across the county. The cost of everything will be higher as result of it and that will be on top of the current inflation we are already dealing with. I am not sure when, or perhaps, if ever, these elected offi- cials will come to comprehend that people to do not have to live here. Ultimately, they will vote with their feet. Indeed, they have already begun to do so. In the last decade, Harris County’s net domestic migration has been a negative 200,000. I suspect these massive tax increases will send more running for the exits. Continued from Page 2 Brother Paul Bettencourt Recommends a NO VOTE By Senator Paul Bettencourt Senator Paul Bettencourt recommends a NO VOTE on the Harris County Commissioner Court request to raise your property taxes. [Editor’s Note: make note of the detailed explanation by Bill King on this page and the facing page to the left.] Senator Bettencourt states: “The leftist progressive majority at Harris Commissioner’s Court wants your raise their property tax revenue by a whopping 14.65% in just one year! For an average home that’s a huge hike on your county tax bill of $257/yr, and they want you to approve $63/yr of it on a public vote in November… [Editor’s Note: see the ballot wording below.} I don’t have to tell you to vote NO on a tax increase of 65% for just one county department in just one year! It is literally an 87% increase in the County Flood Control Maintenance and Operating property tax rate, and that means all of us will be paying more year after year after year. It’s a smash and grab on the Taxpayers, so vote NO!” Senator Paul Bettencourt Harris County Flood Control District, Election to Approve Tax Rate HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT, PROPOSITION A APPROVING THE AD VALOREM TAX RATE OF $0.04897 PER $100 VALUATION IN HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT FOR THE CURRENT YEAR, A RATE THAT IS $0.01581 HIGHER PER $100 VALUATION THAN THE VOTER APPROVAL TAX RATE OF HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT, FOR THE PURPOSE OF OPERATING AND MAINTAINING THE DISTRICT’S FLOOD RISK REDUCTION INFRASTRUCTURE. LAST YEAR, THE AD VALOREM TAX RATE IN HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT WAS $0.03105 PER $100 VALUATION. FOR o ✔AGAINSTwww.TerryLowry.com November 2024 4 Famed Christian Publication Delivers Stunning Guide to Voters Facing Decisive Election GUEST EDITORIAL By Bob Unruh Used with Permission (Edited for Space) A famed Christian publica- tion, Decision Magazine, launched originally by Billy Graham, has delivered to voters a voting guide just as early voting starts for the 2024 presidential race. Socialism vs. Freedom It portrays this year’s contest as a fight between “social- ism” and “freedom,” and it explains that the war is not just over politics this year; it’s over the values on which the nation will move forward, the moral choices now being made over atrocities like transgenderism, abortion, and more. Issues on which the Bible clearly states a position. And the nation may, or may not, choose. Attacked Immediately The simple advocacy by a Christian organization for Christian principles, of course, immediately drew an attack from an organization called the Freedom From Religion Foundation. It boasted that it is asking the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s tax-exempt status over its “illegal campaign intervention.” It claims that CEO Franklin Graham denigrates the Democrat Party’s platform. In fact, he says, “Progressive, liberal thought and activism have so contaminated the mainstream of American life and culture that once-unthinkable abomina- tions such as same-sex marriage, abortion on demand and transgender advocacy have become dogma in one major party’s platform.” Tax-exempt Organizations Can Opine Those issues have become part of the political war being waged in America, but the fact that politicians have demanded to have their way on those points doesn’t make them any less an issue of faith, on which tax-exempt organizations have a right to opine. The FFRF claims that the publication encourages voters to choose Donald Trump, quoting Trump’s statement at a Moms for Liberty event where he said, ■ “Our enemies are waging a war on freedom and faith, on science and religion, on history and tradition, on law and democracy, on the family, on children, on America itself.” The FFRF claims the only reason to use that quote is to “encourage readers to vote for Donald Trump.” Its staff lawyer, Chris Line, claimed to the IRS the BGEA “has breached the responsibilities of its tax-exempt status by publishing an election guide that gives the clear impression that it favors one candidate over the other.” Focuses on Moral and Faith Issues However, the publication clearly focuses on moral and faith issues, topics on which religious organizations not only are allowed, but expected, to comment. Franklin Graham, in fact, points out, ■ “America has drifted far from the Biblical values that once stood as our rock-solid foundation. In so many ways, we have turned our back on God, and the results have been devastating. Progressive, liberal thought and activism have so contaminated the mainstream of American life and culture that once-unthinkable abominations such as same-sex marriage, abortion on demand and transgender advocacy have become dogma in one major party’s platform. Our dangerous plight reminds me of Isaiah’s warning to apostate Israel, Bob Unruh Continued on Page 55 November 2024 www.TerryLowry.com which had abandoned allegiance to Almighty God and instead adopted the godless culture of surrounding nations.” That warning, he quotes from Isaiah, was, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put dark- ness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Examines Party Stands on Key Moral Issues He said the magazine has “carefully examined and outlined the positions of the presidential candidates and their parties on key moral issues. We also highlight the difference in the platforms of both political parties. Additionally, we examine the critical congressional and gubernatorial races, along with pivotal state contests.” He continues, “The Bible clearly teaches that govern- ments are ordained by God to restrain evil and enable righteousness to flourish (Romans 13:3-4). That’s why Christians should carefully pray and vote for candidates who best align with and stand for Biblical principles.” Sections of the publication simply recite the facts. For example, Kamala Harris ■ has attacked the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, ■ has lobbied to make criminal those who hold Biblical views on sexuality, ■ wanted government to be able to order businesses to pay for abortions, and ■ pushed federal cash to colleges “that violate the religious liberties of students.” On the other side, Donald Trump ■ protected religious nonprofits from Barack Obama’s contraceptive mandate agenda, ■ integrated religious freedom into America’s foreign diplomacy, and ■ held a conference calling for an end to religious persecution. On the issue of free speech, Harris demanded informa- tion from nonprofits about their donors, “which was widely seen as having a chilling effect on free speech,” and criticized conservatives who objected to pornography online and in libraries for “banning books.” Trump “signed executive orders withholding federal funds from colleges that don’t protect free speech on campus” and “filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in support of Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop, who had declined to use his artistic talents to create a custom cake that would celebrate a same-sex wedding.” Truthful Party Positions on Abortion On abortion, Harris has tried to change the law to use tax dollars to pay for the wanton destruction of the unborn, tried to demand that pro-life centers promote abortion, and twice voted against protecting babies who survive abortion. Trump defunded Planned Parenthood, appointed Supreme Court justices who overturned the faulty Roe v. Wade abortion precedent and cut U.S. funding for the United Nation’s abortion agenda. Border Security, Education, Parental Rights Further comparisons followed, regarding border security, education, parental rights, and more, explaining the positions Harris and Trump have adopted. Billy Graham Continued on Page 6 Continued from Page 4Next >