< Previous www.TerryLowry.com February 201828Property Tax Creep is Now a GallopBy State Senator Paul Bettencourt FACT:The averagepropertytax bill in theHouston area is up 37.4%in just four years.Explanation: From 2013-2017, an average of $1400 moredollars has left the taxpayer’s pocketbook and gone direct-ly into Government coffers. This rate of increase is aston-ishing to me, a former Tax Assessor-Collect that served inHarris County last decade. As property tax appraised values increase dramatically,property tax bills obviously go through the roof. HarrisCounty is now receiving roughly a half billion dollarsmore every year in additional property tax revenues.Thisfigure does not include taxes from the Port, Flood ControlDistrict, or the Hospital District; those rates never change.As a result, appraisal “creep” has turned into a “gallop”It’s the Same Old Problembut on Steroids The question is this: “What can we do about it?” Toomany elected officials in Austin ignore the problembecause they don’t technically raise the tax rate. But it’s thesame old issue: the taxable value of your property – timesthe tax rate – equals your property tax bill which is goingthrough the roof.As the State Senator for District 7, I have helped pioneerseveral solutionsdebated in theStateLegislature.However, membersof the Texas Houserefuse to negotiate and a Property Tax ReformBill never gets passed.Good News on the Horizon In the last session, my bill, SB1, was strongly supportedby Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and 95% of the RepublicanSenate Caucus. SB1 would have applied to City, County,Mud, and Special District tax rates as well as to propertytaxes.The Texas Senate has passed this bill multiple times.However, during the most recent Special Session, theHouse only offered a 6% rollback, which only affectedfour counties in the entire state. This was unacceptable. Lt Governor Dan Patrick has publicly announced that hewill reintroduce SB1 during the next Legislative Session.Governor Abbott has also offered a proposal to place a2.5% per year property tax revenue cap on all taxing juris-dictions across the state of Texas.Research. Vote. Tell Others. Please join Governor Abbott, Lt Governor Patrick,myself, and others in this fight against ever-increasingproperty taxes. First, be informed. Research the issue and determinethe best course of action. Secondly, vote for Conservative Republicans whosupport property tax relief. We cannot win withoutyour support. Spread the word.This is a vital issuewhich affectseveryone.With all the censorshipfrom the MainStream Media and Social Mediaorganizations, it’s important thatpublications like the Link Letterand Terry Lowry’s What’s UpRadio Program continue to be available. Remember:Every Vote CountsPaul Bettencourt29February 2018 www.TerryLowry.comWeekdays 2:00 to 3:00 PM on FM 100.7 The Word. Visit www.TerryLowry.com“Such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.”(1 Peter 2:15)Political ConvictionsWeekdays during the What’s UP Radio Program, listen to the daily devotion by our friends at CrownMinistry. This devotion is by the late, great Larry Burkett, founder of Crown Ministries.by Larry BurkettWhen I first became a Christian, it was my conviction that politics was a corrupting influence and thatChristianity and politics didn’t mix.However, as I look back over history, especially reading the early history of America, it’s clear thatChristianity and politics were intricately entwined—they were one and the same—and the religious convictionsof our Founding Fathers are clear in everything they wrote: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution,and the Bill of Rights.So, now I’m more convinced that Christians must be involved in politics. I believe we have the responsibilityto make our positions well known. We have the right to vote for the candidates of our choice and to speak outagainst the candidates who don’t stand for the value systems we hold dear.If we don’t get involved in politics, we will end up with exactly what we have today: a secular society. Myspirit is grieved when I think of what we are leaving the generation of Americans who will follow us. Withoutthe Christian foundation that was established in this country, we can easily become an evil society.With a Christian foundation, we are God’s unique creation and subject to God’s unique blessings. So I wouldimplore you to get involved. Pray about it and spend your money supporting candidates that best reflect yourvalue system. www.TerryLowry.com February 201830Time To Turn Around: “Do a 180” Guest Editorial bySteven F. Hotze, M.D.C.E.O., Conservative Republicans of Harris CountyPaul Simpsonis a RINOPaul Simpson abandoned the principled stands on the moralissues which has grown theRepublican Party. Under PaulSimpson’s leadership Hillary Clinton overwhelmingly carried Harris County by 162,000 votes. Every Republicanin countywide races was defeated by the Democrats. Simpson was 0 for 43Meanwhile, Trump was winning solidDemocrat states like Pennsylvania,Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. This wasthe worst defeat in 40 years for theRepublicans in Harris County. Simpson and his “Never Trump” alliesinstructed Republicans that they could skipover Trump and vote for other Republicans.This caused us to lose the straight partyRepublican vote, leading to our disas-trous defeat at the polls in 2016.When Simpson campaigned againstthen County Party Chairman JaredWoodfill in the 2016 RepublicanPrimary, Simpson attacked Woodfill forlosing some countywide seats in the2012 Obama wave. During his 12 yearsas Chairman of the Harris CountyRepublican Party, Jared Woodfill had a90% win record for Harris CountyRepublicans.Conservatives MustRegain Harris CountyHarris County was the only major urban county in Texas and nationwide that the Republicans controlled. Fast forward to today: Simpson is batting ZERO (0).Despite his devastating losses Simpson blamed every-thing except for the true culprit—his lack of leadershipand principles. If Simpson stays in control, then we are looking at completely losing Harris County and all the local judges would be liberal Democrats. Conservatives need a Republican County Chairman who will fight forConstitutional and Biblical principles.Good News:Chris Carmona Steps UPThe good news is that conservative Republicans have a terrific alternative - Chris Carmona. Chris forcefullyadvocates conservative principles on fiscal and moralissues. His vision and leadership will yield good fruits forthe Republican Party and all of us who stand on Christianvalues.Chris Carmona can reach out to theHispanic community, that supports ourvalues, and expand our party base. Chrishas been doing this already and asChairman his opportunities will dramat-ically increase. We know Paul Simpsonby his fruits. Now is thetime to cut down hisineffective and bank-rupt administrationand establish newleadership foundedon conservative andBiblical principlesthat will lead us to victory. It’s time for conserva-tive Republicans to “Do a180” and elect a conser-vative leader, ChrisCarmona, to be Chairmanof the Harris CountyRepublican Party.Steven F. Hotze, M.D.31February 2018 www.TerryLowry.comWeekdays 2:00 to 3:00 PM on FM 100.7 The Word. Visit www.TerryLowry.comThe Favor FactorCAGW Disagrees With Trump on Earmarks Guest Editorial byTom Schatz President,Citizens Against Government WasteEditor’s Note:Do we want to‘Build a Bridge to Nowhere’ andother such wasteful projects?Why bring back the corruptinginfluence of the “Favor Factory”?John Culbersonis leading thecharge to bring back the corruptinginfluence of Earmarks.Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW)President Tom Schatzrecently stated:“Earmarks are the antithesis of the ‘drain the swamp’ election that sent President Trump to the White House.They are corrupt, inequitable, and wasteful. We urgePresident Trump to reconsider and withdraw his recommendation upon consideration of the sordid historyof earmarks.“Since 1991, according to CAGW’s Congressional PigBook, there have been 110,605 earmarks costing taxpayers$329.9 billion. Members of Congress and lobbyists wentto jail due to earmarks, including Reps. Randy “Duke”Cunningham (R-Calif.) and Bob Ney (R-Ohio).Fifteen Percent Received Fifty-One Percentof the Dollars“The distribution of funds for earmarks skews heavilytoward those in power. In the 111th Congress, when thenames of members who requested earmarks were includedin the appropriations bills, the 81 appropriators who constituted 15 percent of the 535 members of Congresspurloined 61 percent of the earmarks and 51 percent of themoney for earmarks. “The claim that earmarks are necessary to help pass billshas been debunked by the passage in the House of all 12 appropriations bills for fiscal year 2018. It was not necessary to resort to the prior practice of ‘legalizedbribery’ under which a few million dollars in earmarkswere traded for votes in favor of hundreds of billions ofdollars in spending bills.Earmarks: Become the Favor Factory“Earmarks are a lazy, unfair and corrupt way to circum-vent the authorization and appropriations process. Theyhave been roundly excoriated by the conservative move-ment upon which Republicans depend for their politicallives. “The American people have made it clear that they wantan end to business as usual in Washington. Earmarks forteapot museums, indoor rainforests, and bridges tonowhere should not be restored; they should be perma-nently banned. We hope that President Trump agrees.”Citizens Against Government Wasteis the nation'slargest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated toeliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement ingovernment. And can be found at www.CAGW.orgTom Schatz www.TerryLowry.com February 20183233February 2018 www.TerryLowry.com www.TerryLowry.com February 20183435February 2018 www.TerryLowry.com www.TerryLowry.com February 20183637February 2018 www.TerryLowry.comNext >