Access To Our Tax $'s Not Contingent On Giving Up Rights-Leadership Is Up To Us

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​State Representative Armando Walle spoke at Houston City Council today, 1/14, about funding for parks and other things obtained from the State of Texas. (There was also discussion of city/county partnerships for parks. That is good and something Mayor Whitmire deserves credit for helping make happen.)  

The long, self-congratulatory and often redundant conversation begins at the 35 minute point of the HTV broadcast of the meeting and ends at the 1 hour 48 minute point.  Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia also spoke at Council. 

The upshot from Rep. Walle and Mayor Whitmire was that if we look the other way at Republicans seeking to:

1. Subjugate the Western Hemisphere from Latin America to the Arctic Circle for white supremacy
2. Ethnically cleanse the nation with ICE 
3. Kill protestors in cold blood 
4. Take over Harris County elections in order to rig the outcome,

then we can get back from Austin some of the tax dollars we send the state.

Above you see Mayor Whitmire talking about dealing with both parties. We get it. There are two parties and Republicans are in power in Austin. He tells us that over and over. We know. 

It is not sustainable to ignore what is taking place in the Texas and the nation. It is not pragmatic, safe or wise. Our civil liberties are not a luxury. 

Reliance on the systems bringing the authoritarianism are not going to stop the authoritarianism. We can't be asked to ignore ICE and everything going on to get back tax dollars we are owed in the first place.  

It is more certain every day that the networks of opposition and protection needed to survive Trumpism must come from us. Elected officials want us dependent on them. We have to break free of that dependence. Access to our tax dollars is not contingent to giving up on our rights. I don't want elected officials making that bargain for us. They can't make that bargain for us. We can make the decision ourselves to resist. 

Here is an article from the Guardian from 1/13 about locally-organized protests on highway overpasses. Here is a bridge protest in Conroe this Sunday, 1/18 about the ICE murder of Keith Porter. Here are my comments from the October 18 No Kings protest in Downtown Houston. I spoke about our own power. 

There is a lot of trouble on the way. We must show up for ourselves. The next action is when you organize it. The First Amendment is your permit. The only credential needed is your presence. 

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