Texas GOP Convention Day 1

Texas politics looks very different when you’re standing on the floor of the State Republican Convention with thousands of delegates, real arguments, and real stakes. We’re live from Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center talking to candidates and grassroots voices about what conservatives want to see between now and November and what they’re still frustrated isn’t getting done in Austin.

Brian Harrison joins me first to talk about why Texas can’t “coast” on its reputation for limited government while budgets grow and internal GOP power fights keep conservatives from getting results. We get specific about the Republican identity crisis, the battle over the Texas House, and why school choice has become the clearest line between slogans and action. I also break down the latest Texas Education Freedom Accounts update, what families can use it for, and why many parents see the current system as taxation without real educational choice.

Then Don Huffines lays out what the Texas comptroller actually controls, why audits matter, and what “Doge Texas” means in practice, from rooting out waste to enforcing guardrails on agencies. Brandon Herrera joins to talk representation in Texas District 23, codifying border wins so they can’t be undone by the next administration, and how border policy connects to problems most people don’t expect. We also talk with 15-year-old Benjamin about debate, faith, leadership, and why young people can still be serious civic players. Finally, Nate Sheets breaks down the New World Screwworm threat, why agriculture is national security, and how food policy, consolidation, and consumer health collide in Texas.

************************************************
Listen every day to our strong conservative programs on Patriot Talk 920 AM.  Tune-in on your radio in Houston to KYST 920 AM or download our app by visiting 920app.com or search for "Patriot Talk 920" from your app store!

Transcript

Live From The Texas GOP Convention

SPEAKER_09 0:00

From deep in the heart of Texas, it's Houston's God-loving patriot, the voice of reason. This is the Lone Star Conservative, Michael Wilson.

SPEAKER_27 0:11

I'm a bandit. Your bandit. Let's all get a bandage tonight.

SPEAKER_08 0:26

Welcome back, ladies and

Brian Harrison On Convention Energy

SPEAKER_08 0:28

gentlemen. I'm your host, Michael Wilson, and you're listening to the Lone Star Conservative here on Patriot 920 a.m. And I'm actually out right now coming to you live from the State Republican Convention here at the George R. Brown Convention Center. We're actually hosting a social hour at our booth right now. Cigars, bourbon tastings, all the works. It's a really good time. But we're kicking off the program with Brian Harrison coming on, talking all about the energy here at George R. Brown, everything going into November, the midterms, and from there on. Welcome to the show, Brian. Great to be with you. Thanks for having me on. Of course, I'm gonna kick it off since we are here live at the GOP convention. Um I kind of want to get from you how are things going? How are things feeling? What's the energy like? I know there's been a lot of, I mainly ask this because there's been a lot of talk of, oh man, the midterms, oh, blue wave. They say that all the time.

SPEAKER_15 1:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:10

But people start to kind of get concerned. How's the energy, at least from what we're seeing here?

SPEAKER_20 1:14

I think the energy is quite high, and I'm so excited to be here. You know, a lot of times fighting for liberty under the pink dome of the Capitol of Austin, Texas, it's gonna occasionally be a lonely endeavor. So it's really, really exciting, rejuvenating, and inspirational to get to be here at the Republican Party Convention, to get to be here with thousands and thousands of grassroots patriots who want it to mean something to be Republican, who believe in the principles of limited government and freedom and individual liberty. And so I'm just having a great time visiting with so many patriots from all across the great state of Texas.

SPEAKER_08 1:43

And I want to echo that actually. You know, you mentioned getting boring and or lonely. Maybe not boring for you. It's never boring, never boring, but a little lonely.

SPEAKER_20 1:50

Texas politics is a lot of things. Boring? Boring not on the list, not on the list.

SPEAKER_08 1:54

I uh I I have a studio where I do my show out of, and I always say, like, I know there's so many people listening, I know they're there. I'm like, but I'm sitting alone in my studio with a microphone just talking to the air in my office. And so when I come out to events like this, I could do live programs or we're just here all day, and people come up, I listen to your show, I listen to your show, and it's just it's just so cool uh to see all that energy coming out. It really is.

SPEAKER_20 2:12

And people are excited. Like, I know the midterms are coming up, and and people are excited to defeat the Democrats. You know, Texas is uh is not often talked about as a battleground state, but but I tell people, I warn people all the time Texas, make no mistake about it. Like I would argue Texas might be the ultimate battleground state. I mean, Texas is the crown jewel of the leftist in the leftist goals of the destruction of our country and the diminution of our rights and our freedoms, which come from God, and and people understand that the Democrats want to not just honor the number one role of government, which is to protect our God-given freedoms and liberties, they want to take them away. Right. And so we gotta make sure that uh even the the primaries uh sometimes are contentious, but uh, but they're over, and now we gotta make sure that we go full speed ahead. The Democrats are energized, the Democrats are organized. I'll tell you, the Democrats are more organized, organized than I've seen them in a long time. And Texas, uh, there is always this goal the Democrats wanna turn Texas blue. Now I warn people. The only way the Democrats can flip Texas is if you know God-fearing, patriotic, liberty-loving Republicans believe that the Democrats could never take. We can't rest on our laurels, we gotta be full speed ahead between now and November.

SPEAKER_08 3:15

Right, and I'm glad you brought up the Battleground State, you know, sort of situation. I say all the time, the reality is, and I know it becomes kind of a cliche, but Texas sort of leads the rest of the nation in a lot of ways. Even when we're not first, we are big and we're always in national news. We're always, you know, everybody's kind of watching what we do. And I think the reality is if we start giving any inches at all, the rest of the country is very likely not only for us to fall, but for the rest of the country to follow that.

SPEAKER_20 3:37

That's why I think it's so important for the so many of the patriots that are here as delegates of the convention, because it's we're we do have to realize the truth of the situation. That Texas has this reputation for leading and freedom and individual liberty and limited government, low taxes, and low regulations. However, in some respects, we we've been coasting on that a little bit too much. And it's one of the things I try to remind people, even though we've got all Republican rule in Texas, the reality is for far too long we've been just coasting on that. And for example, so many things that passed in the Texas government last year were actually very liberal agenda. I mean, 1.5 billion dollars for liberal Hollywood. We've passed the most biggest bloated budget in the history of Texas funding DEI and transgenerated. Oh, you don't like corporate welfare? I don't like corporate welfare for anybody, especially not, you know, d uh liberal Hollywood. So we we uh have a Republican government, but we've got to really be make sure that that uh what that means is just not is not only not Democrats, but pro-liberty, pro-freedom, pro-prosperity. You know, Ronald Reagan used to talk about painting with bold colors, no pale pastels. And so I'm trying to, you know, do do my part to remind people that being Republican is important, but that alone's not good enough. We've got to vote to shrink government and cut spending because as government grows, liberty shrinks.

SPEAKER_08 4:48

And I'm really glad you brought up a lot of the momentum and how we've had a lot of Republicans. You know, you use the word the word rhino gets thrown around all the time, but you have Republicans who have and are, but you wonder, is this conservatism? Is this what what are we conservatives?

SPEAKER_20 4:59

No, and in the Texas House, we have a bunch of Republicans, so-called Republicans, that all voted for the Democrats' choice for speaker. People don't realize this. I mean, the Democrat caucus elected the supposedly Republican speaker of the Texas House. Nobody here that I bet at convention supports that, but that's what happened. So the problem in Texas, it's not really as much a fight between Republicans and Democrats. The real battle for the future of freedom in Texas is between Republicans that believe in liberty and are willing to fight for it versus people who put the word Republican by their name, and then as soon as they get elected, they collude with Democrats to uh to bankrupt the country and and and to destroy freedom for the next generation. That's the battle. It's between pro-liberty Republicans and Republicans who'd rather be popular in the swamp. Right.

SPEAKER_08 5:42

And I I will say that's kind of the importance of a big convention like this is saying, hey, what does the future of the Republican Party look like? Exactly. And so kind of getting into that for your race specifically, I want to talk about you. Uh for listeners who may not know who you are, anything about you, Brian Harrison, from Minlothian to the Trump White House to the Texas Capitol, can you kind of walk us through your story? How did all of that go?

SPEAKER_20 6:02

Yeah, no, so I had the privilege I graduated from Texas AM, studied economics, and got into public service right away. I started out uh interning in DC. I was in the White House 20-something years ago. Um I was appointed multiple presidential positions and then worked in the Pentagon and

Texas Coasting And Austin’s “RINO” Problem

SPEAKER_20 6:15

defense intelligence and healthcare and a lot of stuff in public service, but then I came back to Texas, back to my roots, and uh was running small family businesses in in Ellis County. And uh when President Trump got elected, I was asked if I would come back, and I did one more tour of duty with President Trump. I served as his chief of staff at the biggest cabinet agency in the federal government, HHS. And I'm very proud and was honored to have a role helping the president deliver countless historic conservative victories for the American people. And uh as soon as Joe Biden, you know, took the oath of office, I ran out of U-Haul and drove right back home to Ellis County. And then there was a uh there was an open seat in the Texas legislature, and I ran for that at the encouragement of grassroots advocate uh advocates, a lot of Republican Party have Texas activists in my area, right? Said, hey, we grew up with you, we know your background, will you run? We've got a rhino problem in Austin, will you run and and make us proud down there? So I I did, and I was super excited to get elected. And, you know, I I I have this belief that every elected Republican in Texas was fighting as hard for the next generation as those of us who've been working for President Trump. And I was really shocked to learn that in far too many ways the Republicans that control Austin and the Texas House in particular, instead of fighting for the Republican values, have actually been betraying them and colluding with the Democrat Party. And that's that's why we've had the Democrats, for example, selecting our speaker for 20 years. As we speak, people don't know this. The most powerful person in the Texas House is literally a Barack Obama White House lawyer. He's our House parliamentarian. And so, you know, we're we're not we're dropping the ball there, but I I have I have taken up the challenge and was led the fight to successfully pass through some of the biggest conservative victories in the Texas legislature in the past couple years. Like, for example, when I learned that the Texas government was facilitating illegal immigration or registering illegal alien vehicles, I said, hell no, we gotta stop that. Led the charge and delivered the biggest victory for border security. Um when my my uh found out that the president of my alma mater, Texas AM, was pushing DEI and transgender indoctrination. Remember that. Led the charge to get him gone, and I'm proud to say he's now the former president of Texas AM and was able to shut down the biggest uh DEI program in the state of Texas. So we're having major conservative victories, but not from the top down in Austin. It's when grassroots, patriotic people living their lives, get involved, get educated, demand action, and that's how we're saving Texas. Right.

SPEAKER_08 8:24

Now you've been also one of the most vocal leaders for school choice here in the state.

SPEAKER_20 8:26

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_08 8:27

Um and and I think for good reason, right? I mean, bare minimum, and I said this back when the debate was all going on, I said, I I mean, really, this should be a bipartisan policy. Yeah. Uh if you believe even in capitalism, bare minimum, because we should say, well, if you want better public schools, they should have to compete to earn that money. That's how business works. That's why people succeed, is because their competitors are making good products and they want to make a better product. And so can you kind of talk to us what does that look like for families across your district, across the state? How is that? I know they just had the announcement, I think it's like 102,000 students, they just announced.

SPEAKER_20 8:55

No, so look, we have a generational and existential crisis when it comes to public education. I'm gonna shock you with these numbers. I was I served on the public education uh public education committee right after I got elected, and I was horrified to learn that only 23% of Texas eighth graders are proficient in math. Only 24% of Texas eighth graders are proficient in reading. So we have two problems at the same time. We have reading, we have we have educational attainment rates that are plummeting, and we've got liberal indoctrination on the rise. And if those trends continue, then within 18 years, every core value that we as conservatives hold dear are going to be up on the chopping block. And so we've got to stop. Even though public schools, yeah, they're serving some students really well, there are a lot of students who are trapped in failing schools, and those are, by the way, predominantly in low-income areas, low-income households. Let's be able to get it. They need it more than anybody. Absolutely. Let's be honest. If you if you're rich, you kind of have school choice already because you can afford to take your kid out if the school is not serving your needs. So no, we've got to get uh we got a little bit of school choice program off the ground. Uh, I'm not happy with the way we did it, but we at least got something off the ground. Um, it's not universal, despite what everyone says. It's only gonna help about one percent of Texas kids. And look, one percent is better than zero. Zero percent. We've got a long way to go, but no, I I don't I'm never gonna settle on this until every family can put their kid in the educational environment that's best for their individual students.

SPEAKER_08 10:10

It should be a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_20 10:11

It should be a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_08 10:12

Everybody should have the choice. You're paying taxes in, you get them back to decide where you want to educate your child.

SPEAKER_20 10:17

Absolutely. You're paying for it either way. So you should get to choose where that money goes.

SPEAKER_08 10:21

Right, absolutely. And and it's crazy because uh you mentioned 23%, 24%. Yeah. Even if it were on the opposite, if you switch that around and it was set, I would not be happy with 73%. It's like, why are one out of every four kids failing? Well, no, why are they not proficient?

SPEAKER_20 10:33

It's funny because the Democrats get really and the liberals and the anti-school choice crowd, they get very mad when I say those numbers. 23% are proficient in maths, 24% are proficient in reading. Oh, you don't like that oh, that's a national survey. Look at Texas's own star test data. That's way better. Well, you look at that data, that's 50%. I'm sorry, it is not we are your selected info is still bad. If one out of every other kid, right, you you're proud of the data that shows that only 50% of kids are proficient in reading that. I'm sorry. We're Texas, we are better than that. Our kids deserve better than that, and our taxpayers deserve better.

SPEAKER_08 11:07

What a funny retort anyway.

SPEAKER_20 11:08

Yeah, it's 23%. Well, actually, it's failing.

SPEAKER_08 11:10

Only half of the kids are failing. Actually, I'll have you know, we're doing quite well. Exactly. Absolutely insane. Now, you oft I I understand you authored something like 71 bills. I filed a lot of bills, yes. A lot of bills. Uh, can you give us a couple of highlights of kind of what you were what you were marketing?

SPEAKER_20 11:21

I'll tell you one of the biggest ones that matters to me, and it's one of the ones I hear the most concerned from as I travel the state and talk to the voters here: property taxes. Property taxes in Texas are absolutely out of control. We are not a low-tax state. It's just factually wrong. We have some of the highest property taxes in the country. And I'll tell you, uneth uh property taxes, especially never-ending property taxes, they are immoral, they're unethical, they mean nobody can ever own their home, and we need to throw property tax on the ash heap of history. So I file bills every year to make property taxes unconstitutional.

SPEAKER_08 11:51

And add in the fact, I mean, I think people even go for a cod rise of sorts where they

School Choice And Public School Outcomes

SPEAKER_08 11:55

say, hey, you know what, maybe we don't do it based on a level of valuation on unrealized gains of your supposed investment. How about instead, even if even if we just went so far as to say, when you buy your home at your purchase price, you're locked into that number.

SPEAKER_20 12:07

We can't even do that. No, there are so many things that would be better. I mean, people again, to the myth of Texas is a low-tax state. I wish it were true. I'm trying to make it true. Texas has one of the highest, in fact, there was one conservative group that did a study. Texas may well have the number one highest effective property tax rate in all of the country. So look, there are pr just about any property tax system would probably be better than the one we currently have. But I think we could get rid of it all completely, whole cloth, and allow Texans for the first time to own their home. Because the think about it, nobody owns your home. Even if you pay off your mortgage, you're responsible, maybe you inherit it, maybe if the property's been in your family for generations, you pay your b your mortgage every year, you pay your property tax. Let's say for 50 years you pay your property taxes. You miss one payment, um, the government takes your home. And I tell people, like, you you are that what that means is Texans are just renters and government is your landlord. Like you don't, there is not one homeowner in the say state of Texas, and I'm sorry, property rights are too important. We've got to eliminate property taxes. Right.

SPEAKER_08 13:00

Uh you've also pushed hard on issues of parental rights that goes back to school choices in general, but but other things as well, as well as faith in the public square. Can you kind of walk us through I I don't want to get too much into putting you on the on the spot, but sure. Kind of the faith aspect of things. Yeah.

SPEAKER_20 13:12

Well, look, I I think at the end of the day, in a lot of respects, we I'm I'm an elected official. I'm in a it's an official position on in the government, so I hold a secular role. However, I am a conservative Christian. And I and I do believe at the end of the day, a lot of these battles really are a little bit more of a spiritual battle than they manifest themselves in the political realm. And so I think we have got those of us who you know do believe in God, as by the way, did our founders, they put it into our founding documents. They understood, as by the way, unfortunately, too many politicians, including in Texas, have forgotten, our rights and our freedoms do not come from government. Our rights and our freedoms are inalienable and they are bestowed and endowed upon us from our Creator. And we shouldn't, as elected officials, shy away from the principles and the foundations of our founding. And I think far too many politicians have gotten away from that. They want everyone to believe that to be happy and prosperous, you need to depend on the government. I want people depending on God. And my metric for success is how few people depend on government. I don't I don't I want government, I tell people all the time my number one goal, I want government to be as irrelevant to our lives as possible so we can be as free as God meant for us to be.

SPEAKER_08 14:22

Now, as we watch the wrap-up here, can you let us know? So say you win in November, right? We have the midterms coming up. You win. Where the Democrats really don't like me. They want me gone. I'm sure. Where do we go from here? What is what is what is next legislative session look like?

SPEAKER_20 14:33

What are your big focuses? Well, my goal, I think I think look, our nation and our state are at a crossroads. And I tell people I I think we are in a battle in a battle, not just for the future of Texas, not even just for the future of America. I think we're in a battle for the future of Western civilization. And Texas is on the front lines of that battle because I believe as goes Texas, so goes the nation. As goes the nation, so goes the world. So I want Texas to do a better job. We're all Republicans, we got voters give Republicans the governor's mansion, Lieutenant Governor's office, huge majorities in the Texas House and the Texas Senate. Texas should be the lion in the sand. Texas should be the boldest example of limited government conservatism and the prosperity that comes from doubling down on liberty and freedom and maximizing individual liberty for our citizens. Unfortunately, we fall a little bit too short of that. We still get the Democrats way too much power in the Capitol. So I want Texas to assume its rightful place as the leader of the liberty movement, not just in Texas, uh, but in America and across the globe. I want us to be the shining city on a hill that Ronald Reagan used to talk about.

SPEAKER_08 15:33

Well, excellent. Brian Harrison, I appreciate you coming on. Thanks so much for giving us your time this afternoon. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_20 15:37

Always great to be with you. God bless you all and God bless your listeners.

SPEAKER_08 15:39

Absolutely. That means our nation. We got lots of guests coming up the rest of this show that you will not want to miss. We'll be going live live from 4 to 4 to 6 p.m. here at the GOP State Convention of the State of Texas, the George R. Brown Convention Center. It's been an absolute pleasure. Lord willing to be back right after this next break. So stick around. You're listening to the special edition of the Lone Star Conservative. And ladies and gentlemen, I'll be right back.

SPEAKER_10 16:13

This is Todd Starns, and I'm proud to be a gun totem Bible clinging flag waved patriot. Listen to my show weekdays at 11 on Patriot Talk 920. The revolution starts now.

SPEAKER_23 16:26

Craig Klein here, founder and CEO of Sales Nexus. As a Christian business owner, I know that faith and business go hand in hand. That's why I built Sales Nexus. To help fellow Christian business leaders and sales teams serve their clients with integrity and excellence. Our all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform isn't just about growing your business, it's about stewarding the opportunities God has placed in your hands. Visit salesnexus.com and start your free 30-day trial today.

SPEAKER_02 16:57

Now, time for another Otis Advisor.

SPEAKER_13 16:59

Well, Camela has finally returned from Happy Hour to make more speeches at us. She's got some more flowery new words all set for her next hot mess from the podium.

SPEAKER_03 17:10

I'll just throw in some of these 50 cent words into my nonsense blender and turn it on liquefied, thought Kamala.

SPEAKER_13 17:17

Now don't forget about the cross-dressing, Camela. You like it when you switch from Italian to Greek.

SPEAKER_12 17:23

And I ask you to remember the context in which you exist.

SPEAKER_13 17:42

They'll still climb onto that chicken neck

Property Taxes And Faith In Government

SPEAKER_13 17:45

we left hanging there like a loose tooth. This struggle is not new. No, it's not new, that's for sure. But how much more of this chin boogie can we take? You have to wonder though, back when Kamala was little, before her McDonald's gig, when she was sitting on the couch every Saturday morning, having green jellow squares and watching Cowboys and Indians, which side did she root for? Sources close to the bone report that's probably where all the funny business started.

SPEAKER_14 18:14

Mr. Uncle Otis and Ice is my favorite appetizer.

SPEAKER_13 18:17

Remember to send in for your Uncle Otis' secret decoder ring so you can get all the hidden messages in this stupid bit. And I'll see you at the Peace March.

SPEAKER_24 18:26

Here's Jim Dotton, host of Texas Home Improvement, and owner of Dew West Foundation Repair.

SPEAKER_26 18:32

It's no secret, this year has brought us a lot of rain. And that means your foundation is about as good as it's gonna get. So if you're still noticing cracks in your walls and doors that are sticking, call us today so we can help correct the problem before it gets out of hand and more expensive. Call the pest. Call Dew West Foundation Repair 713-473-7156 online at du-west.com.

SPEAKER_05 18:57

Are pests creeping into your home? ProMax Pest Control is here to help. ProMax Pest Control tackles everything from roaches to ropes, keeping your home safe and pest free with fast, reliable service you can count on. Take back your space today. Call ProMax Pest Control at 832-283-0741 to schedule your service. That's 832-283-0741. ProMax Pest Control. Keeping pests out so you can rest easy.

Education Freedom Accounts Explained

SPEAKER_08 19:53

We have a short little segment up ahead right before we hop back to the next break, and then we're gonna have Don Huffeins running for Comptroller of the State of Texas on at 4 30. In the meantime, let's quickly talk, and I kind of mentioned it briefly with Brian Harrison in the last segment, but I want to talk about the newest announcement, which just came out yesterday, by the way, that the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program has now officially granted 102,000 accounts to students for the upcoming 2026 to 2027 school year. The the Text Education Freedom Accounts, for those who are not aware, that is uh it's it's commonly known as the school choice bill, uh called Text Education Freedom Accounts. That provides a little or around ten thousand dollars per student to qualifying families, uh, to pay for private education or homeschool education or to move your children to a different district. Uh, they may also grant a $2,000 stipend to to any of their choosing. The the number goes up, of course, for disability as well. But the reality is that we were fighting for this, and and again, I think Brian Harrison said it very well. If we don't have to agree with every single facet of the way the bill was passed or every single way the bill is implemented. But the reality is that when we talk about school choice and the background behind them, the intent and the foundational reality behind them, we have to reckon with the fact that for decades you have been paying into a tax system that does not best benefit your children. The reality is that when we talk about school choice, the reason why, despite all of the issues and concerns of government involvement and things like private schooling and homeschooling, despite all of those, regardless of your opinions on them, the the real reality and the real facts that we have to face about the situation when it comes to your property taxes being used for education, are frankly that you have been paying into a system that does not grant you the rights you pay into. Every single dollar you spend should be benefiting you, right? And we talk about that all the time. Your taxes go to pay for roads, government infrastructure, research, water, right? The trash fee that was just announced, all of your taxes go to benefit you at the local, state, and federal level. Federal government, we deal with immigration and those sorts of issues. But when you're paying property taxes into a public education system where you get, frankly, no choice over how your child is educated. It's not only horrendous, it's not only applied unequally, it's not only applied horribly, but the very concept of it is actually very wrong. That you're being required to pay taxes into a system that you don't want to use. And that doesn't just come from somebody that was homeschooled, that doesn't just come from somebody that wants to homeschool his own kids. That comes from someone who understands the basic role of government. The government's job is to provide those services in exchange for the social contract that we all sign by being Americans. So when you pay taxes, that money should automatically benefit you. And when you look at the situation that we've had in Texas and across the country, when it comes to the public school, the public education system, the unfortunate reality that we have to deal with is it has not been benefiting you. It has been benefiting the government school system, which has been used to indoctrinate your children, which has been used to give them an education that, as Brian mentioned, has been lackluster at best and failing at worst. And when you have no choice in that, there's no competition for the school system. There's no opportunity for your children. And the end goal of that ultimately is that all children are indoctrinated into whatever the government tells them to be. And we've seen that over and over and over, especially now that we're in June Pride Month. We've seen it on display at public schools and school libraries. There's a reason there's always a fight for, hey, what are we going to have in our school libraries? Why is it a fight to keep sexually explicit content out of those libraries? Because they know that most families feel like they have no alternative. And so whatever they do, ultimately to them is irrelevant because you can't take your money elsewhere. If a company that you support, that you spend money with, a company that you buy their products, does something that you don't like, you know what you can do? Not buy their product and go somewhere else. But imagine if I told you that you don't have to take the product, but you still have to spend a fee with me because I gave you that product in the first place. Because the option of the product exists, you have to stay subscribed. That is what property taxes have become all across the country. And it's absolutely insane. When you pay for these services, you should expect something out of them. And the reality is that school choice is finally granting a lot more of those opportunities. With that being said, that'll do it for this segment. When we come back from the break at the at the bottom of the first hour, we're gonna have Don Huffhein's running for com trolller, uh, won his election, and is now moving on to the midterms, running against, of course, a Democrat in November. We'll talk all about his campaign, what we see coming out, what he's running on, his platform, his background, you know, all all the all the good details that we always go over with any of our elected officials. We'll talk all about it with Don Huffein's in the next segment. As always, if you'd like to text in, the number is 713-779-5978. You're listening to the special GOP Convention edition of the Lone Star Conservative. I'm your host, Michael Wilson, and Lord willing, I'll be right back in just a few minutes with Don Huffeines running for com troller here in the state of Texas. So stick around, and I'll be right back.

SPEAKER_10 24:49

Patriot Talk 920 is your Houston base camp for the America first movement. I'm Todd Starns, and join me weekdays at 11 on Patriot Talk 920 and online at PatriotTalk920.com.

SPEAKER_04 25:04

And now another segment from the Dave Ramsey Show here on Patriot Talk 920. I'm thinking about selling my house.

SPEAKER_18 25:10

My son's father and I live together, and it's not the best situation.

SPEAKER_11 25:15

You own it. Yeah, he's actually standing next to me because he can't go inside. I can hear it in your voice. You sound really afraid to me. When is he leaving?

SPEAKER_16 25:22

Uh great question.

SPEAKER_11 25:24

Do you have family in the area? You need to get in the car and go to your dad's house when you hang up the phone. I'm trying to read. Do I need to call the police for you?

SPEAKER_18 25:32

We've already gone through that. Where's your son? And uh his father's home in front of my car.

SPEAKER_11 25:37

You and your son are in danger.

SPEAKER_18 25:38

I want to fix it.

SPEAKER_17 25:38

That's why I want this at my home and I just want to be honest.

SPEAKER_11 25:41

No, no, honey. We don't need to call a realtor. You and the baby need to get out of there. You need to call the police, you need to call your father. You hold on a second. Kelly is gonna make sure that law enforcement gets over there, okay?

SPEAKER_04 25:50

Thank you, sir.

SPEAKER_11 25:51

And we're gonna make sure you get taken care of.

SPEAKER_04 25:53

Take control of your money and get ready for a life of financial freedom. Tune in to the Dave Ramsey Show weekdays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. here on Patriot Talk920 and at PatriotTalk920.com.

SPEAKER_28 26:04

Need to make a big impression? At Bullshirts, we've been Houston's go-to for custom screen printing, embroidery, and promo items for over 40 years. Want teas, polos, hats, or giveaways that fit your brand and your budget? We've got you covered. Stop by our showroom at 5485 West and Houston Parkway North or call 713-983-8080. Bullshirts, the trusted printer of Patriot Talk 920.

SPEAKER_09 26:35

Texellent AC service isn't your average HVAC company. We're high performance comfort engineers. We don't guess, we test. We design full system solutions for airflow, humidity, and air quality issues that others overlook. Whether it's one hot room, high bills, or Houston humidity, we deliver real comfort. Call 281-402-5100. Texellent AC service, where custom air service is our specialty.

SPEAKER_22 27:06

Hey guys, it's Mike here, co-owner of Aegis Arms Indoor Gun Range, located on 288 M Bellway 8. I wanted to personally invite you guys out to check out our firearms store. We have a huge collection of firearms you can purchase right there. Meet some of our certified instructors. They can do one-on-one classes. We can even get a group together and do classes with your group. And if you want to go down range, guess what? We can do that too. Just check us out at aegisarms.com. That's a G I Sarms.com.

SPEAKER_24 27:35

Here's Jim Dotton, host of Texas Home Improvement and owner of Dew West Foundation Repair.

SPEAKER_26 27:40

It's no secret, this year has brought us a lot of rain. And that means your foundation is about as good as it's gonna get. So if you're still noticing cracks in your walls and doors that are sticking, call us today so we can help correct the problem before it gets out of hand and more expensive. Call the best. Call Dew West Foundation Repair 713-473-7156 online at du-west.com.

Don Huffines On The Comptroller’s Power

SPEAKER_08 28:26

Joining me for this 430 segment is none other than running for comptroller Don Huffeins. Welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_21 28:31

Thank you, Michael. It's great to be on your shows. It's a great convention here.

SPEAKER_08 28:38

You already beat me to the punch. We are on the floor of the Texas GOP convention, and I know I've heard a lot of people talking about how the Republican momentum is down. There's so much going on. Can you walk us through the energy here at the convention, what you're seeing from the grassroots?

SPEAKER_21 28:52

Well, this is the grassroots.

SPEAKER_08 28:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_21 28:54

This is where it starts and ends, right here practically. I mean, it is this is the largest convention in the United States, and I've read that it's the second largest in the world, bigger than the Republican National Convention. It's only a little smaller than the Chinese Communist Party convention. And they shoot you over the world. I was gonna say there you gotta go to that.

SPEAKER_08 29:16

That's a required death sentence if you don't show up. This is not a death sentence, this is just having an impact.

SPEAKER_21 29:26

We are the Republican Party when we're here. We set the party platform, we set our legislative priorities, and and and we're all been frustrated for decades. It's one reason I ran for office a long time ago. Uh because the legislators in Ulster don't pay enough attention to what our priorities really are. Right.

SPEAKER_08 29:43

And I want to talk a little bit about that. So you've had a lot of of movement over the years, right? We know you ran for governor a few years ago, and now we're transitioning into comptroller. What does that move look like? What did you see in the comptroller's office that drove you to say that's where that's where God's place, that's where I need to be?

SPEAKER_21 29:57

Well, I appreciate that. Look, I'm a business guy. I'm a successful businessman, I love numbers, and I know how important it is when the state of Texas is as big financially as it really is. I mean, most people really under don't know what first most people don't know what the comptroller does. Right. Right. But uh and but it is an extremely important elected office statewide. I don't report to the legislature, I don't report to the governor's office, I report to the people.

SPEAKER_15 30:24

Right.

SPEAKER_21 30:25

The people elect me. They're my boss. And that's how the founders of our state really wanted this thing set up. They didn't want the other groups handling the money. Yeah, exactly. They wanted to be responsible to the people. Let me just give you a quick summary on the on the position. Absolutely. It collects all the money for the state of Texas brings in. Every dollar, every dime, every dollar the state gets has to come through the comptrollers' office from my team members that would be collecting it, all taxes, fines, fees, et cetera. I manage all that money. Uh I tell the legislature how much they can spend, how much money we have for them to spend every session, and I also handle all the spending. There's over 200 state agencies. They all have to spend their money through the comptroller's office. I'm the procurement officer. There's many other tasks for the comptroller we have to do. I'm in charge of the school choice program and so much other things. Have 3,000 employees, 600 otters, my own law firm, my own police force. It's it's a big job.

SPEAKER_08 31:21

Right. And I think that the kind of the summary of that, I think would be fair to say uh that your position is the position of comptroller is one of the most important in the state. I know I've talked I talked before about a lot of positions. People hear, uh I said the thing about railroad commissioner, they look at it and go, oh, is that really that big a deal? I mean, it's just the comptroller. And you have to remind people, you have to understand this is the the the this is this is everything to Texas. Every dime we spend, everything we're doing, you need someone in that position who not only knows what they're doing but wants to do it for the people. And so to kind of understand that, I want to get to know you a little bit more. Okay. One of the things, of course, on top of being a businessman and already having a lot of experience, which you kind of talked about a little bit, on top of that, you were also, I think, the only elected official in Texas history, correct me if I'm wrong, to refuse a salary in one of those positions.

SPEAKER_21 32:04

Well, it wasn't just the salary at the time when I did it and was in the Texas Senate, it was any money from the state of Texas, which includes the per diem, the pension, the health care, uh, travel vouchers, you name it. If it came from the state, it's not hitting my account. And then, you know, and I I worked really hard to make that happen because the government didn't hire me. The people hired me. Right. I work for the people. I will never work for the government. There's not a problem working for the government. But as an elected official, I think that's very important. And I'm gonna do the same thing as com trolling. Right. I'm not gonna take a salary or any money for the state of Texas.

SPEAKER_08 32:39

Right, and I think it's very important because a lot of people will hear that and think, is that just a kind of a gambling bit? Is that a bluff? I think the reality is that it paints a very important picture of why you're doing the job you're doing. Is that fair to say that it kind of paints a picture of, hey, I'm not coming in here, and you made the distinction between working for the government and working for the people. I think that plays right into it because I think the reality that you're grappling with is why would I be taking money from the people that I don't need when I can just do the job?

SPEAKER_21 33:03

Well, that that's a very good point. Look, uh I my goal is to change the culture in Austin. Right. To change it completely. And the culture in Austin and in every government, Washington DC is no different, is that the money is just like manna from heaven. It doesn't really belong to anybody, and we can just spend as much of it as we want. And look, Texas is very susceptible to the bureaucrats because the legislature only meets every other year for 140 days. And so who runs Texas? Ask that question. Who really runs Texas? Bureaucrats. Yeah. That's who runs Texas. They got free reign to basically do anything they want. We've had very poor oversight, not only in the comptroller's office, but just across the state in general. But I've got eyes and ears on all the spending, I've got eyes and ears on all the revenue. I have 600 auditors on staff. I'm gonna turn half those auditors loose to audit government. Because everybody, like everyone in Texas, knows that a dollar we don't spend is a dollar we earn. Right. And I know that people are stealing our money. I know they're wasting our money. And so I want to put people in jail and hold them accountable for misusing and malfeasance of our revenue, our money.

SPEAKER_08 34:18

And I've said, you know, being a Houston native and running a Houston show, we of course cover all the state news. We also cover local corruption and and whatnot here in the Houston area. And I've said, it seems like, and this is of course extends out to the state and the federal government, it seems like to me that when I look at a lot of these problems, they spend, and we have Dave Ramsey on the show, so I always use him as an example kind of of this. Whenever you have somebody who says, Hey, I don't know what's going on, I'm spending all my money, I don't know what to do, he always says, the issue is almost never income. It's almost always your inability to budget. And the reality is that over and over and over, we're told it's the opposite. The government says, No, we just we need a little more, right? We need more of your tax dollars, we gotta up that price, we gotta get

Audits, Waste, And Doge Texas

SPEAKER_08 34:55

we have to spend this stuff. Instead of saying, hey, how about we focus on where the money's going and if it actually needs to be going there?

SPEAKER_21 35:00

That's a very good insight. I'll tell you this. We don't have in Texas, we don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem. Yeah, we have a lot more revenue. Uh, and that revenue is our money. I mean, that's our vacation money. You can uh work in man can and family can can say, okay, we're gonna go to Disney this year or we're gonna go to Galveston, you know, with the family. Well, that extra thousand bucks matters.

SPEAKER_08 35:25

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely it does. And and a lot of the problem also has been, and I want to get your thoughts on this, uh even if you're not necessarily a supporter, even if someone's not a supporter of school choice, I think the reality is this is another example, and it applies across the board in a lot of other ways. But we see, you know, the purpose of taxes originally was supposed to be a benefit that you're paying into, right? So your roads, your water, your trash, all these sorts of fees at the local level. But when you look at things like property taxes and the way they're applied, so many times we see I'm paying into a system that doesn't necessarily benefit me. And I think that's also been another massive problem on top of the malfeasance and mispending.

SPEAKER_21 35:56

Right. And it is the number one thing the state of Texas spends money on is education. And so people say, hey Fonds, what are you gonna look at first? You know, I say, well, probably where we're spending the most money. Right. That's where you can get the most scale when you save money. If you save five percent of the education budget, it's billions of dollars we can save. Just say cutting the budget five percent. I'm not saying we're gonna cut schools or cut the budget, but I'm looking for waste. Right. I'm a business guy, and I'm here to do with a huge sense of urgency to bring the best practices to government. G uh you know, the private sector practices to government. And that's hard to do. But that's what doging's about. That's what I want to get to. That's what it's about. It's about bringing private sector mindset to the government sector. It's about rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse, and really just asking simple questions like uh into government agencies, for instance, or these sub-agencies. Uh, why do you exist? What's your purpose? Where's your enabling legislation? Do you have mission creep? Who is your customer? The customer is always the taxpayer, and we're the and we're funding that. So that is just a whole different mindset. We have this whole culture and government and government bureaucrats that okay, you know, like I said earlier, you know, about the money, but we need to change it. We need to make sure everyone understands that uh how precious the money really is. And look, with AI coming, I'm gonna uh modernize the programs, I'm gonna modernize my own office. We're gonna really set it up so it can be as efficient and lean as possible in every state agency. And uh, you know, that that that's our job. Right.

SPEAKER_08 37:37

I'm gonna talk a little bit more about that because I think one of your biggest campaign points has been to Doge, Texas. Yeah. Uh of course we've seen that at the at the national level. We've seen a lot of audits coming out. I think people want even more of that from every level of government. Can you walk us through on the ground what that sort of looks like? What does doge actually mean? What is that, how does that apply? How are you gonna do it?

SPEAKER_21 37:55

Well, sure, of course. First, you get all your team members together in any pre uh specific uh agency they're working, like my age, first thing I do is get my arms around my own agency. But what what do you what do you do every day? Why are you here? You know, how are you satisfying the customer? What'd you do this week for the taxpayer? Are you helping to to are you helping with the mission of the agency? Are you providing a service that's worth the money that's being paid for that service? Absolutely. Make them fill it out and every week. What is well, you know, what does limited government mean to you? Let me tell you this. As you probably know, government never has enough of our money. Of course. And it never will.

SPEAKER_08 38:35

No.

SPEAKER_21 38:35

And guess what? The more they have, the less liberty we have. This is a revolution, not just of finding where about our where our money's going, this is a revolution of really limiting government. And the power of the purse is the best way to do it.

SPEAKER_08 38:49

Right. That's where that's where all the power comes from ultimately. Of course. And so uh I also want to kind of talk about DEI for just a minute, because I think that's a really big thing people have been struggling with. I've talked before about college stories from a variety of people my age who I know who had issues with college because of DEI applied, that would be uh, you know, these race-based admissions. Can you kind of walk us through? You've kind of mentioned dealing with that from the comptroller level as well. What does that look like?

SPEAKER_21 39:10

Well, I can tell you exactly what it means. If the state legislature is spoken, the governor is spoken, these are the rules, these are the guardrails, this is the law, my job is to enforce that. I don't want to be an accomplice to a crime because I'm funding a government agency, a university, or something. I'm giving them the money and I know they're breaking the law. I mean, that you know, if you drive the getaway car of a bank robbery, you're just as guilty as the guys who went inside. And I'm not gonna be that. And so I'm gonna use the power of the purse to make sure that everyone's following the actual law and not what the bureaucrats think the law is.

SPEAKER_08 39:46

Right, and we kind of touched on it, but I want to give it a the ability to kind of wrap all of this up in a nice little bow. Uh, you've kind of called yourself the MAGA candidate. You know, you've associated yourself with a lot of that. I think that's very, very positive for a lot of people. And and so we have, of course, a massive grassroots audience here at the GOP convention. We've got this is where the grassroots is. This this is the grassroots. These are the people that care about being involved. You mentioned the Chinese Communist Party. I'm glad you did because that's something that's forced, and this isn't. And so, what would your, as somebody who is kind of coming from that perspective of doging government, what would your kind of words of wisdom be? What is your message kind of about shaping the future of the party to the grassroots activists?

SPEAKER_21 40:23

Well, I just uh encur uh hope and pray and encourage all the legislators who are in power and and anybody running for office uh that this is where they need to be. Right. This is who they need to be listening to. We are your boots on the ground, and if you don't have the grassroots support, uh you know, you're not gonna be successful long term. And I told I tell everybody this often, it's just remember the fundamental role of government, and they ask this rhetorically, but what is the fundamental role of government? And it's always to defend our God-given liberties. Our liberties come from. Yes, it is it's to defend our our liberties. Government is the biggest threat to our liberty. There's no other threat we have to our liberty except the very government we're creating. And then when you when these legislators would come here and they get that information and they and and they understand that, I think our whole state will be so prosperous, we'll be so rich, so rich with with prosperity and liberty and freedom. Uh, and it but we have to have a virtuous society to do that. Uh, but I think it's I mean our greatest days are yet to dawn.

SPEAKER_08 41:27

Right. I'm glad you mentioned God given, because I think that's another fundamental misunderstanding from government is that they think the government gives us our rights, and it's like, no, actually, God gives us our rights, but they are enshrined in our constitution, in our laws. That's the point of those things. That's the point of government in the first place. So to wrap up here, this is kind of my final question. You kind of you kind of made it your career, right, in general, especially these days, to fight for the taxpayer, even when that can land you in trouble, even when that can be difficult, uh, especially when it means refusing a salary, refusing to take money from the taxpayer. Why does that matter so much to you? Uh that say to to do what now against to make sure that you defend the taxpayer at all costs.

SPEAKER_21 42:04

Oh, because when I defend the taxpayer, I'm I'm cutting the chains of government. I really am. I mean, we're we're the we don't want to be slaves to the government.

SPEAKER_06 42:16

Right.

SPEAKER_21 42:17

We're and people don't realize that, but basically we are, we got to be very careful.

SPEAKER_15 42:22

Right.

SPEAKER_21 42:22

And so I'm I'm fending the people that have got the slaves heavy on their back. Right. I mean the chains, excuse me, the chains heavy on our backs. Right. And if I can loosen that up a little bit, I'm happy to do it.

SPEAKER_08 42:32

Right, and of course, as I've said before, Texas leads the nation in a lot of ways. And if we can if we can get real movement here to say, hey, here's what government's supposed to look like, here's how it's supposed to operate. We have a chance at saving our country, our nation, and a future for for our pro for the rest of our lives and the lives of our children, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren. So I appreciate Don you coming on and giving us your time this afternoon. As always, it's been an absolute pleasure. Uh, I hope you'll keep us updated with everything going on in the Comptrollers race. Come November, big dates coming up. So I'm sure you're gonna be a busy man, but I appreciate you giving us your time this afternoon.

SPEAKER_21 43:02

Yeah, well, it's uh we've got to make sure everybody gets out there and helps out because it is a team sport, and the Democrats will never give up.

SPEAKER_08 43:09

Right. Well, of course, I appreciate it very much.

Doctors, CPS Reports, And Parental Rights

SPEAKER_21 43:11

Thank you.

SPEAKER_08 43:11

With that being said, ladies and gentlemen, when we get back from the break in the final segment of the hour, we're gonna do a short little segment here, kind of talking about doctors referring patients to CPS, no consequences, again, kind of going into the medical establishment. And we'll talk about that to wrap up the first hour of the show. But we have we do have two hours, so stick around through the this break and the next. And Lord willing, I'll be back right after this break. You're listening to the Lone Star Conservative Special Edition live here at the Texas GOP convention. I'll be right back to wrap up the first hour of the show. So don't go anywhere. Hang tight, and we'll be right back very soon.

SPEAKER_05 44:00

Control is here to help. ProMax Pest Control tackles everything from roaches to ropes, keeping your home safe and pest free with fast, reliable service you can count on. Take back your space today. Call ProMax Pest Control at 832-283-0741 to schedule your service. That's 832-283-0741. ProMax Pest Control. Keeping pests out so you can rest easy.

SPEAKER_04 44:26

And now another segment from the Dave Ramsey Show here on Patriot Talk 920.

SPEAKER_19 44:32

Over the last five years, I lost my job. I've also had a failing business. My wife and I, we make about $115,000 a year. So we have $110,000 in credit card debt between the business and ourselves and contemplating bankruptcy, looking at all of our options and doing what we can do with the budget. And just looking for some older 52 years old.

SPEAKER_11 44:54

What kind of business was it? The good news is you're not bankrupt. So me, I'm gonna work like a maniac for the next three years, and then I'm gonna tear into these credit cards, working the debt snowball, smallest to largest. That's my plan. You're not bankrupt. You just got a sucky two and a half years coming up to put this crap in your rearview mirror, and you can do it.

SPEAKER_04 45:15

Take control of your money and get ready for a life of financial freedom. Tune into the Dave Ramsey Show weekdays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. here on Patriot Talk920 and at Patriot Talk920.com.

SPEAKER_09 45:27

Texellent AC Service isn't your average HVAC company. We don't just fix AC, we engineer comfort. Call TexLent AC Service today at 281-402-5100. That's 281-402-5100.

SPEAKER_22 45:44

Hey guys, it's Mike here from Aegis Arms. Indoor Gun Range located right there off of 288 and Way. We have one of the cleanest indoor gun ranges that Houston has to offer, and we have a great array of rentals. Come by and check them out anytime. We're open seven days a week. If you want, give us a call at 713-503-7645. You can check us out online at agearms.com. That's AGISARMS.com.

SPEAKER_03 46:14

My doctor won't take my plan anymore.

SPEAKER_06 46:17

Why is my Medicare supplement so expensive?

SPEAKER_03 46:20

My prescription drug plan sucks. When you need some help with Medicare, go to senior health services.com.

SPEAKER_01 46:30

In all seriousness, we know you're frustrated, but if you'll call 281-894-7540, we'll help you with your Medicare and we'll do it for free. Plus, we're not with the government and we are fully licensed to help.

SPEAKER_08 47:05

I guess they're all live. Maybe I should add live to the GOP convention broadcast. All of my shows are technically live, but uh we will be going, we are going live right now from the Texas State GOP convention. If you are out here and you're you're kind of tuning into the show or you're driving around and you're like, I don't know what to do with the rest of my day, come on over. We'd love to see you. I'll also be here tomorrow, all day. I'll be doing a live broadcast from 4 to 6 p.m. tomorrow as well. If you're catching the tail end of this program and you're interested in hearing more, feel free to come on out tomorrow. I'll be doing it live from 4 to 6 p.m. tomorrow. We still have another hour left to go. We have great guests coming out in the next segment. In the meantime, to wrap up this first hour, I want to put this story that kind of goes down into the crux of the parental rights debate and the right of the medical establishment, so-called, which has taken over the state and a lot of the country. I think a lot of people woke up to that during COVID. They kind of realized, oh, maybe the medical establishment is not so much a supporter of the people as we hoped and expected they were. That's why when you ever see the commercials recommended by nine out of ten doctors, now after COVID, people start thinking maybe that last doctor, maybe that guy had a point. Maybe there's something to be said about the one doctor out of ten that disagrees with everybody else. Nevertheless, over in Brown County, and this is gonna have you know ramifications all across the state, uh, but over in Brown County had a district judge who has ruled that doctors have immunity to report parents to CPS based on the doctor's perception that the parents might have autism. The perception of that thing is enough for this to happen. So the legal arguments advanced the case have raised concerns, of course, about parental rights, disability, discrimination, which is exactly what this is, and the growing power of institutions to separate children from their families with very little to dare I say no accountability. It's okay off back in December of 2023, so it's been a few years coming. And uh parents, Joel and Danielle, brought their daughter Rose to the hospital because her weight gain was slow. They were just a little concerned, the kind of thing you say, I just want to talk to my family doctors, kind of get to know what's going on. Uh, she was subsequently diagnosed with failure to thrive. Doctors from Hendricks Medical Center and Pediatrics of Brownwood made the assumption, and again, it was merely an assumption, there was no testing, there was no sort of any sort of scale used here. It was a perception, it was an assumption that the parents, Joel and Donnell, were autistic. Repeatedly claiming in medical records that they were incapable of raising their daughter, despite neither parent being diagnosed, and even if they were, despite the fact that that's automatic and very clear case of discrimination. And so the doctors, of course, reported Joel and Donnell to child protective services on the basis and were accused of effectively running the investigation in significant part. And so Joel and Donnell contended that Rose's slow weight game was actually genetic, a theory that, by the way, turned out to be true. Turns out parents know what they're talking about. They should have just trusted their own instinct instead of going to the medical establishment and trusting the doctors to tell them what they already knew. And so, nonetheless, the grand jury sided with CPS, removing Rose from her parents' custody for two and a half years they lost their daughter. Now, I don't want to get emotional on you, but if any of you have had kids, could you imagine your daughter being taken away for two and a half years? Even if it even if it ultimately gets rectified, could you imagine losing your child for two and a half years over not only something that is a clear violation of your rights, even if they were right, but over something they weren't even correct on. And so now finally, District Judge Mike Smith reportedly issued an order agreeing with the doctor's argument, granting them immunity from the claims related to the reporting of the parents' CPS based on perceived autism. And so now we're concerned, as we should be, that that decision could have incredibly far-reaching consequences for parental rights. Family Freedom Project, for instance, has been working to defend Joel and Donnell in their CPS case as well as supporting the family and parental family in their civil rights case case against the doctors and the CPS. And so Jeremy Newman, he's the vice president of Family Freedom Project, said the idea that doctors have immunity to report parents to CPS and break up families based on perceived disability should offend the conscience of every person in Texas, and it should terrify all of us. It should terrify every parent or person who wants to be a parent or people with friends who are parents. It should terrify everybody. The destruction of a family is among one of the most grave, heinous issues that a government can pursue. And it's it's a shocking level and egotistical, dare I say selfish, egotistical, arrogant, for a doctor to think they can inflict this on a family, destroy really a family based on a perceived disability, blame parents for health issues, and then walk away, shrug, say, oops, our bad, but we're immune from any repercussions for our actions. Oops, our bad. If that's not the claim of the medical establishment, I don't know what it is, oops, our bad, but you can't punish us. That was the claim of Anthony Fauci during COVID. That's been the claim of doctors across, and I'm not going after every individual doctor, but I am saying that is the medical establishment that has consistently said, oops, our bad. And the people are fed up with it. That'll do it for the first hour of the show. We have lots more news and interviews coming up in the next hour. I would encourage you to hang tight, stick around, text in 713-779-5978. I'm your host, Michael Wilson, the special edition of the Lone Star Conservative, and I'll be back at the top of the next hour.

SPEAKER_09 52:36

From deep in

Brandon Herrera On Running For Congress

SPEAKER_09 52:37

the heart of Texas, it's Houston's God-loving patriot, the voice of reason. This is the Lone Star Conservative, Michael Wilson.

SPEAKER_27 52:48

I'm a bandit. Let's all get a band aid tonight. I'll order us a beer. We can sit down right here and scream and get a custom customer.

SPEAKER_08 53:02

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. I'm your host, Michael Wilson, and you're listening to the Lone Star Conservative. As I mentioned, we're gonna have Brandon Herrera coming on here at the top of the second hour, live by the way, at the GOP State Convention for Texas, at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Welcome to the show, Brandon.

SPEAKER_07 53:18

Well, it's a pleasure to be here, brother. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_08 53:20

Absolutely. Now, obviously, we have a lot going on right now with the midterms coming up. I'm sure you're very busy, so we appreciate you giving us your time. I want to kick it off talking about you, your background, and and how you kind of get to be the man you are. I know that's a very open question, but you know, you're a politician now, so I'm sure you can you can win.

SPEAKER_07 53:35

I know, I know. No, I uh well I started as uh you know just a business owner, I started in the firearm manufacturing uh side of things, uh, ventured out into social media, built a lot of different businesses, and realistically just I I I got my background in like entrepreneurship. Right. And that's where I learned to cut my teeth, I learned how to run teams of people, I learned how to build organizations, and then I ended up just getting frustrated with the actions and the votes of my my congressman, Tony Gonzalez. And so I ran against him last time, took him to a runoff successfully, um, and then we lost by 407 votes. Wow. And then this cycle uh And we have open primaries in Texas, right? We do. Oh, just checking. Yeah, that that is something that definitely needs to change at some point. Um but I I wasn't sure if I was gonna run again. Something told me I should, and honestly, like his actions and behavior didn't change. And so I I jumped back into the race. Uh this time we we beat him in the primary, he then dropped before the runoff, and uh now I am the Republican nominee for Texas District 23.

SPEAKER_08 54:30

Right. Now, one thing that I do kind of want to harp on for a moment, because you mentioned you got frustrated, and that's a big leap to go from entrepreneurship, building your own businesses, kind of being in the ring, to having an influence on those things, being able to say things about that uh and have that level of of I don't want to say power because that's another P word I don't like a lot in referring to politicians. It's not power, it's granted as representative of the real power of the people. I see it as responsibility. Responsibility. Can you kind of describe to us, because that's a big jump to make, and I think there's got to be something there. What drove you to say, I'm an entrepreneur, I gotta, I gotta get in there though.

SPEAKER_07 55:03

I think I think it is the entrepreneurship side, like being a business owner and knowing how to run things properly, right? Learning how to take things from zero and then build them up into a successful uh venture. Uh you you have this thing inside of you that just hates to see something done poorly. Especially like in my case, the thing that got me interested in Tony Gonzalez was his vote uh uh in favor of the quote unquote bipartisan Safer Communities Act. It was a Biden gun control bill. Right. And then that got me looking into his other votes. And the more I looked into his record, the more it really ticked me off.

SPEAKER_08 55:33

And so um he's running as a Republican?

SPEAKER_07 55:36

Yeah, right. You're like you're a Republican in Texas, you're you're representing the biggest border district in the entire country, and you're soft on the border, and you vote for gun control. You side with Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden on gun control. And so I I looked into the rest of the guy's record and just really the more I looked into it, the the more I got ticked off, and then I decided, you know, I've I've got some political connections, I've got a following. I I think I might be able to make an honest run at that. And I I took one of the best funded Republican incumbents in the state of Texas to a runoff and lost by 400 votes. Right. Which is it's where it would have stayed if, you know, if if he had gotten better, but it just didn't happen. So I against my better judgment, I jumped back into the race this cycle and now I'm the nominee.

SPEAKER_08 56:13

Turns out it wasn't against your better judgment because now you are the nominee. Um and I kind of want to talk a little bit about what that looks like. Obviously, there are a lot of those issues, right? Things like gun control, uh, the border. I know people have been saying, well, right now the people are without representation, but I guess from our perspective, it looks like they really were the whole time without real representation. And so I want to talk about what real representation looks like for your district, going and taking those bills up, saying, hey, here's what needs to get done. Say you win in November as the Republican nominee, you go in, you win, you beat the Democrat. What do your plans look like moving forward? What are you what are you kind of focused on? I know one of the big things right now for a lot of people is agriculture because of the New World Screwworm making a massive impact and a lot of concern there that I think is being uh downplayed a little bit more than it needs to be. What are those big issues for you that you look at and you say, I I gotta get in there and do this?

SPEAKER_07 56:56

Well, so there's the like the big, I I I jokingly call them the big sexy issues like that everybody talks about on the federal level. Right. You know, the the big the big fights that are happening, whether it's immigration or uh, you know, foreign policy or you know, things like that are the the big social issues. But realistically for my district, Texas District 23, uh it's essentially all of West Texas. You know, it's west side of San Antonio all the way to the east side of El Paso and everything in between, and most of the the Mexican border uh uh that we have with uh uh at least in the state of Texas. So that is a large swath of land, and we have so many issues that are remarkably bipartisan. So it's it we have issues like uh things with the Big Ben border wall. We have things like the Howard Solstice power lines that are cutting through the the West Texas, we have the AI data centers that are coming in, right? The the screw worm. These are issues that really aren't partisan. It's not a Republican-Democrat issue, and especially in a district like mine, people are used to being forgotten. I mean, there's 27 counties now in the district uh after redistricting, and most of our vote comes from Bear County, it comes from San Antonio. So you have 26 counties that are used to just being completely forgotten. And so, like being able to reach out to them and be able to bring this voice that I am going to DC on their behalf. I mean, yesterday I was in DC meeting with the EPA, meeting with USDA, meeting with Congressman Chiproy from Texas 21 about the screw worm issue. Because right now we don't have representation. And so we need so I'm not waiting until November. I'm not waiting to win the seat. We need somebody up there now that's advocating for the people who currently don't have a voice in DC, and that's exactly what I've been trying to do.

SPEAKER_08 58:25

Right, absolutely. Now, one thing that I do want to harp on, because you mentioned immigration, uh, we've gotten new reports from the Customs and Border Patrol Agency that have kind of come out and said, hey, we we're building six miles, I believe it's a week, it might be a month, I think it's a week. Six miles a week on the border wall. One of the really big complaints I have, and I don't mean to put you on the spot, but I want to give your your position on it the Trump administration has done phenomenally on the border. That I think that's undebatable, even if you want it done more. I think it's still safe to say there's been a phenomenal job.

SPEAKER_07 58:49

At least in my district, it's night and day, right? I campaigned here two years ago during the Biden border crisis. It is a night and day difference. Are there things we can improve? Absolutely, but I mean it's undeniable that it is better.

SPEAKER_08 58:59

And so that's what I want to ask about. So a lot of the concern from myself and from others has been that a lot of this has been done only from the executive branch. And that's great because we have a great executive branch doing that. But my question would be, okay, so 2028, God forbid we get someone like Gavin Newsom or AOC in. We need codification to a lot of these things to make sure, hey, that's not changing in four years. Hey, that's not changing in eight years. What do you say and and what are your plans to make sure that the things that are happening that everyone's so excited about, the night and day you're mentioning, stays day and doesn't go back to the night?

SPEAKER_07 59:31

I talked about this a lot on the campaign trail because it is so crucially important. Uh you need codification because if we do not put into law what the current uh, you know, what the current rules are, basically allowing Border Patrol to do their job, right? Allowing us to enforce our immigration laws. If we don't get that it written into law, the next time we have a Democrat president, and don't get me wrong, I hope we have four years of JD Vance or Marco Rubio or whoever comes next, right? Um I I hope we get four, eight years. I hope we get, you know, in person. It'd be great. It would be great. That that won't happen realistically. We we have to prepare for a scenario where Democrats will eventually come back into some sort of authority, and we have to make sure that they cannot undo all of the progress that we've done so far with the stroke of a pen. It's just too important to be left up to chance.

SPEAKER_08 1:00:18

Right, especially given that and I'm sure you already know all of this as somebody that's running on the border, right? But but the reality is that when you talk about you mentioned the new, you know, we mentioned the New World screw worm, and you have Brooke Rollins saying, hey, let's be honest, this is open border policy that caused this in the first place. Right? We talk about how the cartels are deploying drones to scout out how they can keep their smuggling operations alive by looking at where law enforcement presences are. All of those things are still going on right now. And so even though we've done a great job, there's still so much more to do. And one of the biggest things that I've seen as a problem in the Republican Party, on top of, of course, people that aren't really Republican but are running as Republicans, on top of that is a sense of complacency where we calm down and we say, Well, we gotta win. We're building border wall, we've got defensive drones, we're good. And I think there needs to be so much more action that you you mentioned you don't want to wait till November because you see that sense of urgency and say, no, we don't have time to stop and relax and celebrate. We have fights.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:09

Yeah, and it that doesn't mean we can't like you know give

Codifying Border Wins For The Future

SPEAKER_07 1:01:12

flowers to the people who deserve it. Like, thank you for doing all the time. Exactly. Now, what will you do next week? You know, we have to keep moving on this stuff while we have the ability. And you brought up the screw worm. I I see so much, it's so irritating to see the narrative starting to shift now. Because uh, for the first time the media is actually paying attention to it, and they immediately went to Chat GPT to figure out how do we blame this on Republicans, and they pointed it at Doge Cuts. Doge cuts that happened in 2025. The new uh the the new world screw worm jumped the uh the Darien gap in Panama uh for the first time in 50, 60 years in 2023 under the Biden administration.

SPEAKER_27 1:01:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:47

That was and it kept moving. Yeah, and it kept moving through there. Mexico did a terrible job of containing it. That a lot of failures all the way down, but this happened three years ago. And we did nothing. The Biden administration did nothing about it. The Trump administration finally signed an order when they got into power uh to authorize the building of a sterilized fly facility. Right. Which thankfully, you know, it's it's gonna come online, but it's gonna take a while. And we we need to figure out what we can do in the meantime to mitigate the spread, keep keep it contained, and utilize the resources that we do have available uh right now to make sure that when that facility comes online, we can get this knocked out.

SPEAKER_08 1:02:22

And of course, making sure that all of those plans that we have are not just coming from the executive branch, but are coming from the legislature, are saying, hey, we shouldn't have to have the president saying we gotta do this. We should be doing that job, right? That's that's the job. And so, Brandon, I appreciate you giving us your time this afternoon. I know you're busy with everything going on here at the convention and with the midterms coming up, so I appreciate you taking time out of your day to come on.

SPEAKER_07 1:02:42

No, I appreciate it, brother. If I can give you one last thought. Of course. The uh man, you you hit the nail on the head that at the very end. We have right now the Republican executive branch, we have a conservative Supreme Court, we have a Republican House of Representatives, we have a Republican Senate. What are we doing? The vast majority of governors across the country are Republican. What are we doing now that we have complete control over all branches of government? What are we doing with it? Right. And I think that's what's going to lead to low Republican turnout in in November if if we're not careful. People are are we're looking for the wins. The people are looking for the wins. Exactly. And and that's and man, I I've I've preached it to everybody who will listen in leadership, and uh I'm really hoping we see a big focus on domestic policy and domestic wins that we promised people we would uh we would deliver on. Absolutely. Um that's that's what's gonna save us in the midterms. I know. Well, Brandon, we appreciate your time. Thank you, sir.

SPEAKER_08 1:03:34

Of course. With that being said, ladies and gentlemen, when we get back from the break, we have Benjamin coming on, one of the pagers here at the GOP State Convention for Texas, where we're reporting live, by the way. Ran into this kid. We're excited to get him on the show in the next segment. As always, you're listening to the Low Star Conservative. Text in at 713-779-5978. I'm your host, Michael Wilson, and Lord willing, we'll be right back with a very exciting guest in the next segment as well. So hang tight. We'll be right back.

SPEAKER_10 1:04:09

This is Todd Starns, and I'm proud to be a Gun Toten, Bible, clinging, flag, waving patriot. Listen to my show weekdays at 11 on Patriot Talk 920. The revolution starts now.

SPEAKER_23 1:04:23

Craig Klein here, founder and CEO of Sales Nexus. As a Christian business owner, I know that faith and business go hand in hand. That's why I built Sales Nexus to help fellow Christian business leaders and sales teams serve their clients with integrity and excellence. Our all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform isn't just about growing your business, it's about stewarding the opportunities God has placed in your hands. Visit salesnexus.com and start your free 30-day trial today.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:54

Now, time for another Otus Advisory.

SPEAKER_13 1:04:56

Well, Camela has finally returned from Happy Hour to make more speeches at us. She's got some more flowery new words all set for her next hot mess from the podium.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:07

I'll just throw in some of these 50 cent words into my nonsense blender and turn it on Liquify, thought Kamala.

SPEAKER_13 1:05:14

Now don't forget about the cross-dressing, Camela. You like it when you switch from Italian to Greek.

SPEAKER_12 1:05:20

And I ask you to remember the context in which you exist.

SPEAKER_13 1:05:29

She's giving the great unwashed one more go at it before giving up and heading to the bait camp for more crab welfare. You see, crabs don't know when they've been liberated. They'll still climb onto that chicken neck we left hanging there like a loose tooth. This struggle is not new. No, it's not new, that's for sure. But how much more of this chin boogie can we take? You have to wonder though, back when Kamala was little, before her McDonald's gig, when she was sitting on the couch every Saturday morning. Having green jelly squares and watching cowboys and Indians. Which side did she root for? Sources close to the bone report that's probably where all the funny business started. So you can get all the hidden messages and these stupid bits.

SPEAKER_24 1:06:21

And I'll see you at the Peace Mark. Here's Jim Dotton, host of Texas Home Improvement and owner of Dew West Foundation Repair.

SPEAKER_26 1:06:29

It's no secret, this year has brought us a lot of rain. And that means your foundation is about as good as it's going to get. So if you're still noticing cracks in your walls and doors that are sticking, call us today so we can help correct the problem before it gets out of hand and more expensive. Call the pest. Call Dew West Foundation Repair 713-473-7156 online at du-west.com.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:54

Are pests creeping into your home? ProMax Pest Control is here to help. ProMax Pest Control tackles everything from roaches to ropes, keeping your home safe and pest free with fast, reliable service you can count on. Take back your space today. Call ProMax Pest Control at 832-283-0741 to schedule your service. That's 832-283-0741. ProMax Pest Control. Keeping pests out so you can rest easy.

Benjamin On Debate And Youth Leadership

SPEAKER_08 1:08:06

So, Benjamin, we appreciate you coming on, buddy.

SPEAKER_25 1:08:08

Hey, thank you. It's lovely to be here.

SPEAKER_08 1:08:10

And if you can't hear from his voice, I want to tell everybody he's 15 years old. So for a 15-year-old to walk, I don't know what I was doing at 15, but to walk up to a booth of conservative talk and say, hey, I I need a turn, is absolutely incredible. So I want to talk a little bit about it. Uh who is Benjamin? Can you walk us through you?

SPEAKER_25 1:08:25

Um so I'm a fiscal faith and faith and flag conservative. I'm uh I'm a speech and debater at my high school. I go through congressional debate, policy debate, I'm a all that fun stuff.

SPEAKER_08 1:08:36

Right.

SPEAKER_25 1:08:36

Um I'm running for class president at my school. Um I mean, I'm 15, as you previously stated. Um I'm I'm a very high extrovert. I love to talk to people. Right. I love to talk to people, I love meeting people. It's yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:08:56

Absolutely. And I'm really glad we ran into you. I want to talk a little bit about it because I think a lot of people, and this happens with every generation, but I think it's especially becoming more common with the advent of AI and the access to information, is that people get very concerned that young people can't think, that they're not critical thinkers, especially, that they can't debate, they can't reason, they can't analytically see anything. And I think there's a lot of and I think some of it's reasonable, but there's a lot of concern, especially with young people, and I get this a lot too. Where are they going? What are they doing? For you, I I think this offers a lot of hope to our listeners to say, hey, actually, young people, they might be all right.

SPEAKER_25 1:09:27

Yeah. Um uh so like, yeah, I agree with you absolutely. Like, there are definitely some c concerns with the older generation. Of course. They're definitely like saying, Hey, I don't know if these guys can do it, but that happens with every generation, frankly.

SPEAKER_08 1:09:43

Absolutely. Now, I I do want to talk about something else. So obviously, you're in this position, you're willing to come on a radio show, which I takes a lot of guts. I'll hand it to you. Um, and we're very excited to have you. One thing that I want to know about, because you're you're 15 years old, already coming on a on a broadcast. You're obviously already involved in the conservative movement, you're doing all these debates, you're critically thinking through things. I have two kind of questions harping on that. The first, where do you go from here? What is what is Benjamin's adult life look like? Where do you want to go with your life?

SPEAKER_25 1:10:09

Um, so I either want to go to the University of Texas at Austin, I'm gonna study, I'm uh business and I will study law. I'm uh or I want to go to AM, same thing, business or law.

SPEAKER_15 1:10:22

Right.

SPEAKER_25 1:10:22

And I'm uh I want to become a politician. And I'm uh yeah, that's pretty much what I want to do. I want to become a politician, live out my life like that, uh, because um I would just want to help the American people.

SPEAKER_08 1:10:34

Right, and they're they need a lot of it. And I'm I'm it's it's so crazy to me because again, you know, there are so many 22-year-olds who are coming out of college who you ask them that question and they treat it like you just dropped a bomb on their life. They're like, Why are you I'm partying, I'm having a good time, I have no idea. And so for a 15-year-old to even attempt to answer that question is astounding. The other thing that I wanted to talk about for a moment, because I think there are a lot of young people that are, I don't say in the same boat as you, but wish they could be. Uh 15-year-olds who are like, I I don't have a plan for my life. I I don't know where I'm going. Where would you credit a lot of that coming from? Uh, whether that be God, your parents, both, uh, maybe from your school, your friend. Where do you see a lot of that coming from for you?

SPEAKER_25 1:11:14

A lot of it is coming from my faith in God, and I'm uh a lot of faith for my church. They've um uh inspired me to help speak. They've helped me come on the worship team. So I come on the worship team now. I'm uh every Wednesday night. Um yeah, so um it is also coming from my speech and debate coach. I'm uh Miss Boyce. She's inspired me to public speak everywhere. She inspired me to so I'm uh before this, so I'm uh before this upcoming school year, we didn't have a debate class. We had a club, and I'm uh they've always wanted a class. So I went down to my school board on December 15th and I gave a public forum response to the entire school board, and I was like, this is what we need, and we need a debate class. While we may have FFA and Skills USA, we need a debate class and we need it now. And with all that stuff and me setting up a meeting with the principal and the vice principal, we got that debate class. Um, so a lot of that comes from my debate coach, Miss Boyce, and a lot of it does come from my parents. My dad is uh an extrovert, he loves talking to people, he plays golf.

SPEAKER_08 1:12:25

Maybe that's where you get it from.

SPEAKER_25 1:12:26

Maybe. Um, but my mom, she's an ex she's an introvert, but she's an extrovert with people that she knows.

SPEAKER_08 1:12:33

Right.

SPEAKER_25 1:12:34

Um uh so a lot of her is from her.

SPEAKER_08 1:12:37

Right, absolutely. And and I'm glad you brought all that up because the reality is I think a lot of the reason that we see a lot of young people who aren't critical thinkers uh is because we've we've highlighted and focused so deeply on test taking ability, which is a very different ability than the ability to analytically reason. Anyone that's willing to put the time in can memorize things. Uh, but so many young people are coming out of public school or homeschooling or private schooling that just can't think. Uh would you say that the it's fair that the debate class has given you a lot of opportunity to kind of, I don't know, take it out of your comfort zone, but put you in a place where it's, hey, I actually want to think and reason and analyze. I don't just want to memorize school facts.

SPEAKER_25 1:13:10

Absolutely. Um, yeah, it's helped me really to critically think. I've always done my own research. I've taken a look at all news sources. I've taken a look at Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, NBC. I've taken a look at all of them. I've gathered all my information, looked at all the facts, checked all the stuff that's come out from Congress about it. If it's a legislative action, if it's an executive decision, I've taken a look at a look at the bill. Um I've done all of that research and I've weighed it all in, I've decided what I think on that.

SPEAKER_08 1:13:44

So to wrap up here, as we're getting kind of close to the break, yeah, I have a really big question. This might be this might be a tough one. All right. And that is so at 15 years old, you have all these things driving you, you have all these things that are encouraging you and building you up and growing you. And we kind of touched on it when I asked you what gave you that position, where does that come from? And that would be to all of your peers, right? Because there's a lot of kids all across the state of Texas, all across the Greater Houston area, all across the US. And I mentioned that a lot of them are fearful, they don't know where they're going. What would your advice be to people your age to say, you gotta focus on this, you gotta do this, we gotta build, we gotta move, we have to mobilize. What would you say to your peers?

SPEAKER_25 1:14:22

I'd say to my peers that we need to wake up, we need to stop doing these drugs because they're obviously doing it. Right, say new drugs. Yeah. We need to stop doing those, we need to stop drinking, we need to focus on our minds on critical thinking. We need to fix our mindset that this is all okay. We need to start listening, we need to mobilize, we need to get out there, and we need to start talking to people. We need to get this all through everybody's head.

SPEAKER_08 1:14:50

Right, and I think it's is it fair to kind of sum that up and say that what we really need is a return to when young people felt a sense of responsibility.

SPEAKER_25 1:14:57

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_08 1:14:58

We become inundated in modern American culture that you're young, just enjoy your young years, and we've thrown away any influence we could have when what we should be focused on is saying, I may be young, but this is my chance that God's given me to be responsible, young, and to make influence from a young age. I mean, Paul wrote to Timothy in the Bible and said, Don't let them look down on you because of your age. Instead, be a shining example to everybody else. Is that kind of driving you? Is it fair to say that that's also kind of something that you're that you're kind of thinking about?

SPEAKER_25 1:15:22

Scripture is definitely always driving me. Philippians 4 13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Uh scripture drives me a lot, especially that story right there.

SPEAKER_08 1:15:32

Of course. Well, Benjamin, I greatly appreciate you coming on. I I again I applaud your bravery. I I really couldn't tell you. I was in speech and debate from a young age. I could not imagine having walked up to a radio booth and said, Hey, let me get on the show. So I'm very proud of you. I want to let you know that you have a radio host, very proud of you. Uh, and and from all of our listeners, we greatly appreciate your time and for coming on this afternoon.

SPEAKER_25 1:15:50

Yeah, of course. Thank you for letting me come on.

SPEAKER_08 1:15:52

Of course, of course. With that being said, ladies and gentlemen, when we get back, Nate Sheet's coming on. We have lots of exciting stuff throughout the rest of the hour that I promise you you won't want to miss. If you want to engage in the show, feel free to text in at 713-779-5978. I'm your host, Michael Wilson. You're listening to the Lone Star Conservative, and Lord willing, I'll be right back after this break. We're here live at the GOP State Convention. Lots of stuff coming up. So stick around. Hang tight. And we'll be right back.

SPEAKER_10 1:16:32

Patriot Talk 920 is your Houston base camp for the America first movement. I'm Todd Starns, and join me weekdays at 11 on Patriot Talk 920 and online at Patriot Talk920.com.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:45

And now another segment from the Dave Ramsey Show here on Patriot Talk 920. I'm thinking about selling my house.

SPEAKER_18 1:16:52

My son's father and I live together, and it it's not the best situation.

SPEAKER_11 1:16:56

You own it. Yeah, he's actually standing next to me because she can't go inside. I can hear it in your voice. You sound really afraid to me. When is he leaving?

SPEAKER_16 1:17:03

Uh, it's a great question.

SPEAKER_11 1:17:05

Okay, do you have family in the area? You need to get in the car and go to your dad's house when you hang up the phone. I've tried that already. Do I need to call the police for you?

SPEAKER_18 1:17:13

We've already gone through that. Where's your son in uh his father's home in front of my car?

SPEAKER_11 1:17:17

You and your son are in danger.

SPEAKER_18 1:17:19

I want to fix it.

SPEAKER_17 1:17:19

That's why I want this at my home and I just want to be honest.

SPEAKER_11 1:17:22

No, no, honey. We don't need to call a realtor. You and the baby need to get out of there. You need to call the police, and you need to call your father. You hold on a second. Kelly is gonna make sure that law enforcement gets over there, okay?

SPEAKER_04 1:17:31

Thank you, sir.

SPEAKER_11 1:17:32

And we're gonna make sure you get taken care of.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:34

Take control of your money and get ready for a life of financial freedom. Tune into the Dave Ramsey Show weekdays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. here on Patriot Talk920 and at PatriotTalk920.com.

SPEAKER_28 1:17:45

Need to make a big impression? At Bullshirts, we've been Houston's go-to for custom screen printing, embroidery, and promo items for over 40 years. Want teas, polos, hats, or giveaways that fit your brand and your budget? We've got you covered. Stop by our showroom at 5485 West and Houston Parkway North or call 713-983-8080. Bullshirts, the trusted printer of Patriot Talk 920.

SPEAKER_09 1:18:16

Texellent AC service isn't your average HVAC company. We're high performance comfort engineers. We don't guess, we test. We design full system solutions for airflow, humidity, and air quality issues that others overlook. Whether it's one hot room, high bills, or Houston humidity, we deliver real comfort. Call 281-402-5100. Texellent AC service, where custom air service is our specialty.

SPEAKER_22 1:18:47

Hey guys, it's Mike here, co-owner of Aegis Arms Indoor Gun Range, located on 288 and Bellway 8. I wanted to personally invite you guys out to check out our firearms store. We have a huge collection of firearms you can purchase right there. Meet some of our certified instructors. They can do one-on-one classes. We can even get a group together and do classes with your group. And if you want to go down range, guess what? We can do that too. Just check us out at aegisarms.com. That's a G I Sarms.com.

SPEAKER_24 1:19:15

Here's Jim Dotton, host of Texas Home Improvement and owner of Dew West Foundation Repair.

SPEAKER_26 1:19:21

It's no secret, this year has brought us a lot of rain. And that means your foundation is about as good as it's gonna get. So if you're still noticing cracks in your walls and doors that are sticking, call us today so we can help correct the problem before it gets out of hand and more expensive. Call the best. Call Dew West Foundation Repair 713-473-7156 online at du-west.com.

Nate Sheets On New World Screwworm

SPEAKER_06 1:20:18

Michael, thank you for having me, man. It's great to be here with you today.

SPEAKER_08 1:20:21

Thank you for having me, man. I'm sure you're busy. You got the midterms coming up. You got you got a lot going on right now.

SPEAKER_24 1:20:26

We do.

SPEAKER_08 1:20:26

Um, I want to kick it off, actually. Before we dive into everything about you, I wanted to kick it off with kind of breaking news. Yeah. Uh, which is everything that's coming out right now with the new world screw worm, some true, some false. Um, I kind of want to talk about this what the screw worm. Can you kind of give us a background on the screw worm? Let's talk about it. What I've heard we pushed it back past the Darien Gap. Now it's here. What's going on?

SPEAKER_06 1:20:45

Well, I think for everybody that's not actually in the cattle business, right? You know, people in Houston, Dallas, Austin, they're like, what is the screw worm? Right. It's just a fly. You know, and so all flies lay maggots, and so most flies lay maggots on dead things, right? Right. Um, but the New World Screwworm lays her eggs on living things, and they find like an open wound, lay an egg, within seven hours that egg hatches, and the screw worm is screws itself into that living host, eating the living flesh from the inside out. So we've had in America 40s, 50s, 60s, I mean, it's been around for a long time. The way we beat it back all the way down in South America is by using sterile male flies to outpopulate fertile male flies because the females only mate once. And so the goal is to have such a density in an area of male flies that they just unpopulate themselves by having um by copulating with sterile flies. So we got all the way back down into South America, and the dairying gap is like the thinnest part uh in Panama. And so they built a uh USDA sterilization fly center there, and we've been holding it back, and but with all the migration the Biden administration that's what we're gonna talk about, with all of the cartels getting into the agriculture business, and they were circumventing uh infected cattle to bring them up because the best thing for the cartels is to get the borders closed and to bring disruption to the U.S. cattle industry so they can profit off of it and take all those cattle that normally would have come into America, and they get to sell them, butcher them down to Mexico.

SPEAKER_08 1:22:24

Right. And so I'm glad you brought that up because Brooke Rollins has also come out and talked about how this was the Biden administration's problem. And I see a lot of people say that's just propaganda. There's no evidence of that. And everything I've looked at says there's quite a bit of evidence of that. I think that's in fact the entirety of all the evidence there is. Absolutely. They tried to I was talking about Brandon Herrera earlier, and he said they were trying to blame it on Biden or on Trump because, well, uh some of the Doge cuts actually cut some of our research facilities. He said it crossed the Darien Gap in 2023. You know who was president in 2023? Because it wasn't Trump. Trump wasn't president till 2025. A little bit of math there, a little bit of history for you.

SPEAKER_24 1:22:55

Yep, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:22:56

And so we beat it back before. We're trying to kind of beat it back the same way again. I think there's a lot of work that needs to happen. But I think again, highlights a lot of people hear, you know, of border crises, and a lot of what they think of is either smuggling of people, uh, which is the illegal immigrant crossers, uh, and they hear about a lot of the drug trafficking that comes across. Fentanyl deaths have been very high. But I think one thing that's often left untouched, that's specifically your specialty, is the agriculture department and how even that is impacted by immigration and and the illegal stuff that's going on.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:24

Yeah, I mean, actually the cartels have realized that agriculture is a great way to launder money and to distribute drugs. So this summer, uh actually about four months ago, there was a bust in Atlanta. Um, a giant, you know, a bunch of pallets of blackberries coming out of South America filled with fentanyl and cocaine. Just recently they had a bust of fruit down in Galveston. Same thing. A bunch of fentanyl and cocaine in the middle of these pallets, but the same thing they've been doing with cattle, um, because they can actually distribute, you know, animals to be able to be mules, cows being mules. That's kind of a weird concept. Yeah, um, uh, for drugs. And so, but it's a great way for them to be able to launder money. And we continue to have them um intersect even with agriculture on the U.S. side. I had a letter that was being sent to Brooke Rollins from two county commissioners in New Mexico about cartels uh members that showed up on these American farms, showed them pictures of their uh grandkids, and said, This is our farm now. So it's not limited to just Mexico. Um, but all this has come about, you know, by that massive migration of people that were coming up, and they were paying all the coyotes, you know, that were part of the cartel to bring them up here into America. So there's there's just so much intentional disruption. Um, you know, George Soros made his money by going around and bringing disruption around the world, right? And profiteering off it. Cartel's doing the same thing here in America, and I believe China is also.

SPEAKER_08 1:24:51

Right. Now, I kind of want to transition that. Uh, before we talk about you, I still have one more kind of question on this that's kind of a transitionary question, uh, which is so this has happened. We heard about the one case, and now it's there's five confirmed cattle cases. There's like a dog out in New Mexico. It's it's clearly not limited to one case. I know originally they were like, well, it's only one cow, we're good, but it's already starting to spread, so we know it's a problem. The dog's an outrider, um, outlier.

SPEAKER_06 1:25:14

He was down in Mexico, got away. Fair. He was down there for a week. The owner found him, brought him home, and he had it. Right. So that's you know, if you were going into mapping them all, you go, oh my gosh, look, it made this big jump. Right. That's the only reason why. Right, fair. So so, but where do we go from here?

SPEAKER_08 1:25:28

What's the what's the plan? Because I know they talked about the facilities that might take a while to get up and running. What's the plan from an agriculture perspective? How do we stop this, prevent it? Where do we go?

SPEAKER_06 1:25:37

Being proactive is the most important thing we do. And you can go to screwwarm.gov to learn everything that you need to know about screwworm. Um the the the sterile fly program is what we need to continue to do. We've got a facility that we're building. Um, I was on a call for um a couple hours Saturday night with um executive leadership at USDA and APHIS bringing to the table a different type of radiation technology that's modular, that we can sterilize more flies more quickly. And they're looking at that. And we're, you know, hopefully we're gonna be able to send that down into Veracruz and test it. So they're looking at every way possible to expedite the thing, but they we still get a hundred million flies a week. Right. So what we're trying to do is figure out where the best place to deploy them. So if you think you see something on your animals, don't be afraid to call Texas Parks and Wildlife if it's wildlife. Um, Texas Animal Health Commission or your veterinarian, because this is not a food-related disease, this is a pest, which can be treated and cured. But the most important thing on the reporting is then we know where to go drop flies to make sure we don't have any outbreak.

SPEAKER_08 1:26:44

I also think it's very important. Um, and I don't want to get into too much of the politics of it because it's just not. But the reality is this also requires a lot of working across lines. Right? It requires a lot of cooperation between Texas and the federal government, between the USDA and and you know, you as running for agriculture commissioner here in Texas. And I I want to see more of that as well. This this ability to say, hey, I may be the Texas Agriculture Commissioner, but I have to work with other organizations, other agencies, and other people if we want to make any move at all.

SPEAKER_06 1:27:12

Is that well, so so um Monday morning, Brooke Rollins said, Nathan, I want you to come down to Kerrville. So I went down for the screw while screw worm meeting. I was down there with the governor, and uh I felt a little awkward, honestly, because I'm a candidate, and they had a seat on a placard for me right in front and center. Oh man. And I'm like, you got all these other very important people. I'm just a guy. But Brooke has been like reaching out and trying to make sure that I'm informed so I can be a mouthpiece of proper information. And once you get there, yeah, that you're able to already know what you're doing. We're gonna keep working together. And there are so many challenges that we have in agriculture today, and it's not gonna be able to be done just by the TDA, it's not gonna be able to be done by the Tech Zag Commissioner. It's gonna take the government, the governor, the legislator, and the federal government to fix these big issues we have today.

SPEAKER_08 1:27:58

Now, I want to take a step back now that we kind of covered. The breaking news, and I want to talk a little bit about you. Um, this is gonna be a very open question, but who is Nate Sheets? Wait, wait, I know you're laughing. Where did it come from? Because obviously it takes something to drive you to this point, right? Every politician has some sort of story. Why did you decide to get involved in politics? What drove you there, especially given that you've had a successful company, you're in this area already, uh, with with you know all the stuff you do with bees, honey. Where did the transition come to say, hey, ad commissioner, I gotta do it?

SPEAKER_06 1:28:28

You know, I want to make a difference with my life, like all of us. And, you know, my faith drives a lot of my belief system. And it actually says in Ephesians 2.10, it says that God created us for good works. And so I have spent a life trying to figure out what it is that God would have me go invest my time, treasure, and talent to go do. I spent 12 years in full-time Christian ministry, traveling to 88 countries around the world, telling people about Jesus, because I want to make an impact for God's kingdom. Went in and did Nature Nates full-time, created God created the largest honey company in America from one beehive in my backyard. But that same heart that I wanted to make an impact for God's kingdom, I brought that from ministry to business. And now I'm done with Nature Nates, and I want to, I'm 55 years old. Where can I go make an impact? And I want to make an impact for God's kingdom and make a difference in the lives of other people. And there's never been an ag commissioner in Texas that's got 30 years of food manufacturing, testing, safety, um, distribution, sales, yeah, yeah, and growing the largest brand, honey brand in America, largest honey company in the world. We sell nature nates in 30,000 grocery stores, got 120,000 beehives, own nature nates in Australia. So to take that experience, when the issue we have in farming and ranching today is a revenue issue. Right. Farmers and ranchers cannot afford to be in business anymore because of consolidation. That's what I've spent a career doing. Listen, I've got a ranch, we do cows, we do, you know, cutting horses, I've got that side. But the most impactful thing is what I've done for the past 30 years, especially as it relates to the the health being impacted by the food that we eat. At Nature Nates, I tested everything, all the honey twice for corn syrup, rice, uh, corn syrup, rice syrup, um, antibiotics, um, just a slew, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides to make sure I wasn't willing to put honey on your family's table, unless I was willing to put it on my family's table. And that was the way that we won.

SPEAKER_08 1:30:18

And and that's I I mean, I I don't want to go on on a tangent here myself, but I mean I I when I was doing research into McDonald's, uh, you know, you really want to make America healthy again. Don't eat McDonald's. Sorry, sorry to Donald Trump. Come on, Trump. Sorry, Donald, but you can't with the with the McDonald's, you gotta stop. Um McDonald's, I found out that they're rusted potatoes that they grow. The family that grows on the primary farm, the way they do it, they treat so many pesticides that they have to wear hazmat suits to go pick the potatoes. And the potatoes that that family eats are potatoes in a separate housed greenhouse because they won't eat the potatoes they grow for McDonald's. And so you brought that up and it reminded me of how different things can look in agriculture and why it's important that you have that. Another thing about your company that I really like that I wanted to just talk about for a moment, you had your personal cell phone number on those bottles for what, 17 years? Same one right here. That's that's crazy to me.

SPEAKER_06 1:31:04

But you know what it was? It was a 17-year consumer research project. I talked to thousands and thousands of people. And you think over 17 years there would be a million questions, but there was only half a dozen questions. People want to know who made their food, where was it from, did it have anything in it, did you add anything to it? And those same questions people are asking today. People want to know where their food is from, the source. They want they're seeking out healthy, nutritious food. And we have to change the way that we feed ourselves right now in America. We're killing ourselves. Yeah. 70% of all Americans have one chronic disease, 78% of kids 18 to 25, cannot serve in the military because they're health related to food. Right. Seems like a national security issue.

SPEAKER_08 1:31:43

Yeah, it certainly is a national security issue. So I want to connect that to your job as agriculture missionary. I'm saying it a little, you know, uh I'm I'm preconceiving it because I'm prophetic. I love it. I'm hoping for the best here. I'm really optimistic. That's what I'm doing here. So, how does this connect back? Because obviously, you do believe in the Make America Healthy Again movement, which, you know, I I remember back before that term even existed, and I'm you're you're exactly the same way, but much for much longer than I am in a much greater capacity. But my family, we drew up, we grew up drinking raw milk from a farm near us. We said, I you look at the way that they're they're they're pasteurizing this stuff, aren't you taking out all the good stuff? Aren't you taking out the point of drinking milk when you get rid of all the vitamins? Like I'm sure it's healthy-ish, but aren't you taking out the positives? How does make America healthy again from a business perspective then translate into what you do as agriculture missioner? What does that look like?

SPEAKER_06 1:32:32

Yeah, so in the honey business, again, I have my cell phone number, so I knew what people were looking for. Everybody always asks, oh, do local honeys help with your allergies? So I don't want to go down that rapid. I do want to hear a quick question. It is unfiltered, as long as it's got pollen. So your body naturally produces histamine. So when you ingest pollen, that histamine coats the nerve receptors in your note, ears, and eye pastures. So it does. So when airbound pollen comes and hit that nerve receptor, it's inhibited. But the pollen in the air and the pollens in the honey are different honeys. Right. Or different polls. So it doesn't have to be local, it has to just be pollen. Right. So I created the raw and unfiltered sector of honey and launched it in 2011. Honey in the United States was $300 million at retail at that point. 14 years later, today it's $1.7 billion, and $1.4 billion has come from raw and unfiltered. It's just like the raw milk. They pasteurize milk and then they sell it on the shelf because they want a longer shelf life and more.

SPEAKER_08 1:33:32

And they got the creams they can sell butter.

SPEAKER_06 1:33:34

The same thing's true on the honey. So I did that on the honey side, and it completely transformed the entire honey industry in America. So if I as I think about how that transitions over to be the ag commissioner, when I I spent more money testing my honey than most honey companies spent marketing their honey, I also got a 30% premium at the shelf, and the only way they could compete is lowering prices when I was already more expensive than what they were. And so it's had to be really cheap. What consumers want is they want value for what they're buying. They're willing to pay for the value. But we also have high grocery store prices in America. So how do we lower consumer prices and raise farmer profitability? Bringing producers and consumers together and helping people be able to buy more locally and sustain local economies and to make a greater impact in agriculture in Texas.

SPEAKER_08 1:34:26

My essential oils wife and mother will be happy to hear about the allergy. They've been telling me for I have massive histamine problems, and they're always like, raw, unfiltered honey. They go, Oh, come on. Give my honey, and they're like, Yes, and I'm hearing from the soon-to-be ag commissioner that uh apparently I was I was I was proven wrong on that. Now, I do want to talk about Ag Commissioner for just a moment. One of the big things, uh, because we of course rely fundamentally on agriculture here, especially here in the state of Texas, um something like 17,000 farms have closed in the last six years. Yep. A farmer today makes what, 15 cents on the dollar compared to 40 cents back in 1980? Yes.

SPEAKER_06 1:34:59

What's driving the collapse and to further that, how do we reverse it? Yeah, so consolidation of what's gone on in agriculture. There used to be hundreds of different types of vendors, whether you're

Food Policy, Consolidation, And Farm Survival

SPEAKER_06 1:35:10

buying seed or whether you're buying equipment. But through consolidation, private equity, BlackRock, they come in, they buy these companies, they roll them up, and so you have far less choices of who you buy from. Now those producers have or those input companies have total control when you can only buy from one seed company or buy from one equipment company or maybe two, and they just re-keep raising the input cost. Um, and so a producer is also having the same impact on the purchasing side that there used to be a lot more buyers, and now there's one or two, and now they're price takers. Right. And so um the economics have just gotten upside down. You know, in Texas, we had 700 meat pot packing plants across Texas in 1970, and a rancher made 70 cents of one dollar food, and the packers made 30 cents. Today we've got four meat packers that control 85% of the meat market in America. Now the packers make 70 cents of one dollar food and the ranchers make 30. So they've reversed the thing through consolidation. So even Brooke Rollins says what we need to do in agriculture is deconsolidate agriculture and create small companies again.

SPEAKER_08 1:36:17

Are you saying that the free market small businesses and the average American are the way forward, like they have been for 250 years? Is that what you're saying?

SPEAKER_06 1:36:23

I mean, uh yeah. Big ag, big food, big pharma, big pharma, big medical is always the it's these massive. It's always like, oh, we've got to scale. We've got to scale. But it's the difference of having a lifestyle business versus building a company that has, you know, some wealth that you build that you can go sell at some point.

SPEAKER_15 1:36:42

Right.

SPEAKER_06 1:36:43

We need people that are looking for lifestyle businesses. And I think with AI coming in, yeah, we're gonna have people scrambling to figure out how am I gonna put food on my table, and we're gonna see, you know, maybe a lot more entrepreneurial ventures, and I hope in agriculture, um, start to come in because people are gonna have to figure out how to feed themselves again.

SPEAKER_08 1:37:00

I know it's so easy, and I know it gets cliche, it's so easy to go to the grocery store and to buy whatever it is that you need to feed your family and and put no second thought to where that ever came from. Um, you know, that's where I give PETA a little bit of credit, because at least they have the right kind of concept of how they look at food, which is hey, some animal had to die for that for you to eat that, right? And so many people are just like, well, I'm just buying a steak. Well, who made that? Who who who raised that cow that had to be slain? How did they do it? Right. That's also very important to making sure that we're all healthy, right? As we kind of wrap up here, getting close to the wrap-up at least, right? How do you one of the big things, and I've been talking about this with every potential elected official, one of the big things, and we mentioned it already, of working across interagency kind of cooperation, how do you bring people together to say, hey, this isn't just me, this has to be all of us working in tandem. How does how do we how do we do that in a country that feels divided?

SPEAKER_06 1:37:49

You know, as a business guy, as a CEO, um I didn't care if you're a Republican, Democrat, um, didn't care what your religious background was. I was there to sell honey. Right. And so I was it was a very unifying vision.

SPEAKER_08 1:38:04

I I don't want to, you know, pat you too much, but I I would say you were astronomically good at it.

SPEAKER_06 1:38:09

Well, but it's go find out what's important to someone else and let's go achieve that together. Right. And so, you know, food is should not be political. People's health should not be political. You know, the political part is well, how do you do it? And so I think the skill set that I have is to be able to come in and cast a vision for what a better future can look like for all of us, to the point to where it doesn't matter what side of the aisle that you're on, people are gonna want to get behind it. But I need that on the governor's office, we need that at the speaker level, we need that on the Senate side, on the House side, because we do need to reinvest back into agriculture. Um we we need some capex investment so we can have some OpEx outcome. And uh because the TDA has been starved, and especially agriculture has been starved over the past decade here in Texas. So we just have to get back to some of the basics. And you know, I've got um the Farm Bureau endorsed our campaign, as well as Texas cattle feeders, Texas cattle raisers, cutting horse, wildlife, um forestry, because all of these ag groups know that there's got to be a better future. Right. And so we are gonna go out and we are talking to everybody in agriculture, and we're gonna use that as the basis by which we plan to go forward over the next few years.

SPEAKER_08 1:39:25

Right, and that's a reminder to everybody. I know this all sounds very good and very awesome. Uh the reality is that only happens if Nate actually wins. Right? I think that's a we need your vote. I was gonna say all of these things sound really cool, but I'm not speaking to the sitting ag commissioner. I'm speaking to somebody who who's running for that office. And that means come November we actually have to get you elected if we want to see all of those outcomes. Now, to wrap up this segment, I have one final question. You touched on it with your missionary work, how faith drove everything, but I want to hear how faith is going to continue to drive everything. How does that work out in the ag office, in the ag commissioner's office? Where does faith put you there?

SPEAKER_06 1:39:56

Yeah, you know, um I'm a big culture guy. And so uh the culture is reflective of the personality of the organization of the leader. And so we're gonna have a an organization that is focused on excellent service orientation um that has the underpinnings of from a biblical basis of how we treat other people. Right. And I'm gonna model it myself. You know, when George Washington swore in as the first president of the United States, he put his hand on Deuteronomy 28. Deuteronomy 28 says, if you will seek after me and keep my commands, I'll send the sun, the rain, your animals will have lots of babies, your crops will be abundant, your enemies will be at peace with you, you'll be the head and not the tail, the lender and not the borrower. I think George Washington was saying, I have no idea what it means to be a president. He he had already said, I'm not a king, I'm a farmer. Right. So he put his hand on Deuteronomy 28. I think it's symbolically to say, I can't control, I can't make it rain, I can't make you have lots of your animals have lots of babies, your crops be abundant, but I can lead in a manner by which I seek after God and I keep his commands, and then we all do that collectively, and then we just trust that God brings the promises that it gives us in Deuteronomy 28. So that's my desire, my passion, my commitment, is that's how I'm gonna lead at Tech Department of Agriculture.

SPEAKER_08 1:41:14

Right, and I hear a lot of the optimism, the reason I love that so much is I see so much pessimism in the party. I see so much pessimism across a variety of offices. And one thing that I, whenever somebody brings up that we don't make a rain, God does, one thing that I always like to remind people of as we kind of send off here is so often we we we say we want to follow the commands and we want the rain, but so many people have so little faith that they don't prepare for that rain, that they don't actually prepare their crops as if they're gonna get it. They assume, no, God's not gonna bless us. No, it's not gonna happen. I'm gonna do what I can, but it is what it is. And I think that that faith aspect is just as crucial. Absolutely. And so, as a Christian conservative uh here on the the station being Christian Conservative in my show especially, I I greatly appreciate your time, Nate. I love the background, I love the history, I love hearing about your faith and how it drives you. And I want to wish you the best of luck, Godspeed, for your election in November, and we greatly appreciate your time this afternoon.

SPEAKER_06 1:42:03

Yeah, we we need you to vote. I mean, it's uh it's super important. So get out there, you can go to Natesheets.com and find out all you need to find out.

SPEAKER_08 1:42:09

NateSheets.com. Excellent. With that being said, ladies and gentlemen, we only have a couple minutes left here in the last segment. We went a little long. I did that on purpose. You know, I I I wanted to go to the last break, but I realized we had too much to say and there's not enough time to say it. So I wanted to make sure we gave you ample time, gave Nate ample time to talk about his position, what he's gonna do. And that leaves me with the last two minutes here of the show to kind of wrap up. And so to wrap up, rather than jumping into a news story, because it's just not gonna happen. And you've heard a lot of news. And if you want to hear more news, you can always tune into a regular morning edition from 6 to 8 a.m. of the Lone Star Conservative here on Patriot Talk 920. From 6 8 a.m., Monday to Friday, I'll be giving you all the news you need to hear about the greater Houston area, about the state of Texas, where we're going, especially being here out at live at the state GOP

Faith, Civic Duty, And Final Challenge

SPEAKER_08 1:42:50

convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center. I want to leave you with this. And Nate, I I think said it more eloquently than I possibly could, which is that our faith ultimately drives us, right? And if we want to say that we are faithful Christians, that we are believers, and we want the rain and we want the blessings that the Lord has full sovereignty to bestow upon us, that requires something of us. I know I hear a lot of Christians say this. This world's not our home, right? What are you doing, Michael? We don't Christians aren't political, but that that couldn't be further from the truth. That could not be further. Christianity is inherently political if it is nothing else. Because the gospel, the word of Jesus Christ given to us through the 66 books of the Bible, are very clear about what we are called to do as Christians, about how we are called to live, to have influence. Right? What is the Great Commission? To spread the gospel. And that's done through our preaching, through our speaking, and by the way, through our policy. If we're gonna live it, it doesn't mean just saying it on the air. It doesn't mean just saying, oh, I'll preach the gospel to a variety of nations. It means saying, I'm willing to do something about it. I'm willing to go to the convention, I'm willing to be a delegate, I'm willing to show up and to speak the truth, even when, and especially when, by the way, it gets you in a lot of hot water. I have it all the time. If you get into this world, you're gonna face threats, you're gonna face opposition, but I would remind you that the Lord, our Savior, died on a cross from those threats. And if we're not willing to do the same thing, then can we really call ourselves Christians? If we're not willing to face the same adversity and pick up our cross, and sometimes that could actually mean literally face down death. Just as Charlie Kirk did, and as so many martyrs throughout church history have done. If we're not willing to do that, then how can we call ourselves Christians? I know it's easy to sit on the sidelines and say, oh, this world's not our home. I don't want anything to do with the politics, I don't want to get messy. That's not how the world works. That's not how God works. That's certainly not how Christianity works. Christianity has always been political from the time of the early church through the crusades, and especially through the founding of this country. I want to leave you with that. I will be live tomorrow, of course, from 68 a.m. for the normal show, but I'll be back the tomorrow afternoon from 4 to 6 p.m. for another live broadcast here from the GOP State Convention. I appreciate everybody tuning in. You've been listening to the special edition of the Lone Star Conservative. I'm your host, Michael Wilson, and Lord willing, I'll be back for both shows tomorrow. I'll see you soon.