What Matters Most
Education
Texas ranks in the lower percentile in the United States in education. Children are the foundation of the future. Education reform is a must. Teachers must be paid a higher salary.
Health Care
Access to competent mental (healthcare) is almost impossible in Texas. I serve the County of Wise in the mental committment process for those people that have issues that need to be addressed. While the intentions are well meant, state-wide the mental health system is broken. The Wise County Behavorial Unit actually has one of the best facilities and staff that I have ever dealt with in helping people get help. Other counties are not so fortunate.
Oil & Gas Industry
We need to bring back any and all oil/gas jobs to Texas.
Farming & Ranching
Growing up as a dairy farmers son, I know first hand the importance of farming and ranching to our economy. As Texans, we must preserve this way of life for our future generations.
THC
I support the legalization of thc and I am a criminal defense attorney! The benefits clearly outweigh the risks in my humble opinion. In other states that are ahead of us in this area: they are reaping millions of dollars from heavy taxation that can be used for a variety of funding, i.e., cutting property taxes. Noone will force you to use the product, however, it may help keep the millions of tax dollars from going to Oklahoma, New Mexico and the list goes on. I do, however, put the brakes on the support for the legalization until forensic scientists formulate a standard for which one can be driving while intoxiocated with thc in their blood and thus be prosecuted. For alcohol it is .08, however, thc would need a different analysis and standard for law enforcement because after all we want the safe use of these products including alcohol. This could be achieved rather quickly in my opinion.
Expand Gambling & Casinos
It is insane how much revenue in taxation to other states we lose through their legalization of gaming. I travel to the casino 45 minutes from my house and I sometimes give the state of Oklahoma my hard earned money. Why? Because in Texas it is illegal.
Property Taxes
Property taxes in Texas definitely need to be lowered. The only realistic policy to bring property taxes down without cutting spending, is to gain revenue through other taxation like the taxing of legalized thc and gaming.
Criminal Justice Reform
As a criminal defense attorney, I have first hand knowledge of the inner workings of the criminal justice system. It is arbitrary and capricious. Justice tends to be whatever each District Attorney and/or County Attorney says it is. The parole system has no uniformity. Medical care, including mental health, in the prison system is simply not up to standards. True, the incentive for proper medical care it not to be in prison, but that is the sytem we live in.
Border Security
Our border security has been an issue since our existence. Realistically there is no immigration only naturalization. There is a legal process for that. Illegal immigration, in my opinion, cannot be solved merely by putting up a wall. Logistically illegal immigration calls for stiffer penalties for offenders and tougher enforcement. Again to fund this we need huge amounts of revenue that could be generated by the legalization of the topics discussed above. Private entities contracted by Texas might be useful, however, if we rely upon the Federal Government to help us with this issue, we are doomed for failure. We must stand up and make Texas great again. I am not unsympathetic to people in need, however, the rule of law exists for a reason. It is what law abiding citizens do. Illegal immigration is just that, namely illegal.
Abortion
As to abortion, the only situation that I could support abortion would be in the case that the mother's life is in jeopardy. That would be an issue for the medical team. I have been asked about in the instance of when the mother is raped. As a criminal defense attorney I have seen many instances where someone has consensual sex, becomes pregnant and then reports a rape. Because of the possibility of innocence, I would not support abortion in this circumstance. Adoption could be an alternative. Many childless families that for whatever reason cannot have children of their own would love to adopt a child.
VOTER INTEGRITY
It simply cannot be that difficult to secure our elections. It takes effort and the banding together as Texans to secure voter integrity. We can complain all we want, however, what we need is action!