In May of 2015, the Liberty Movement got word that American Phoenix Foundation had collected over 800 hours of video taken by citizen journalists (those truth-seekers armed with iPhones, undercover cameras, and gumption) . Founded by Hannah Giles, one of the journalists who helped bring down the ACORN organization, and her husband, entrepreneur Joe Basel, the organization seeks to shine the light of righteous justice upon corrupt organizations that directly affect Americans—in this instance being the Texas Legislature.
For those of you not living in Texas (I am blessed to live in Houston, where we eat liberals for breakfast), you might think that Texas is the reddest of the red states and aren’t we lucky it is so. In theory you would be correct. Out of the 150 sitting legislators in the House, 98 are Republicans and 52 are Democrat. In the Texas Senate of 31 members, there are 20 Republicans and 11 Democrats. (Those are still far too many Democrats for my taste, however.) However, once you start looking at these members’ Raging Elephants Radio Liberty Scores (compiled by using three scorecards: Texas Right to Life, Empower Texas, and Young Conservatives of Texas), an objective observer will find that instead of Texas being solid red, it’s more of a bland, pinkish hue. Probably fewer than 20% of Republicans scored 80% or higher on the Liberty Score, and those who didn’t had scores that often were almost as abysmally low as the Democrats’.
Which brings us to the first drip-drip-drip release from American Phoenix Foundation.
Last summer, Rep. Dan Huberty (R, Kingwood RER 61.7) was caught leaving a legislative session apparently already quite drunk. In fact, the session had only been over 20 minutes when the Mothers Against Drunk Driving advocate was confronted by a citizen journalist and was called an “a**hole” and a “d*ck” after asking if Huberty thought it appropriate for married state reps to date members of their staff, and other similar acts. After berating the journalist for a time, Huberty was blocked off by three DPS (Department of Public Safety) officers plus members of his put-upon staff to stop the reporter from asking Rep. Huberty questions.
What’s so fascinating about what American Phoenix has done is they’ve lifted the veil on elected officials in Austin, who, while only pulling in $7,200 in actual salary, enjoy the perks and status of being a representative in the great state of Texas. It’s been rumored that several Republicans have already announced their retirement from office in preparation for the release of the videos. Patricia Harless (R-Spring RER 51.2) and John Otto (R-Dayton RER 53.1) are two that have both announced their retirement.
When the RINOs in Austin got wind of these investigations, they went into pure panic mode, even going so far as to bring a bill to the floor that would deny Texans’ First Amendment privileges. The Senate Bill (SB 19) was originally designed to bring ethics reform to the Texas legislature, and was championed by Gov. Greg Abbott. By the time it reached the House, the squishy, corrupt wing of the Republican House led by Speaker Joe Straus (R-San Antonio) had so severely gutted it and made it essentially an anti-First Amendment bill used to stifle citizen journalists, that it was impossible to put back together in the Senate, and so it died on the vine.
The issue for these legislators is not whether they deserve a private life and to lead a normal, human existence by enjoying themselves. It’s a question of appropriateness of doing said activities on public time and on the taxpayers’ dime. So far, Dan Huberty doesn’t have a primary opponent, but I see that changing soon.
If the Liberty Movement wants to truly change Austin, it’s time to stop sitting on the sidelines and jump in the fight. Otherwise, you’re just complaining. Come on, warriors: are you listening?
Watch the video of Huberty and reporter here:
