Today we take a little break from various news stories to honestly assess the very odd behavior of Glenn Hegar. He gave the grassroots 90 percent of what we asked for, but he did it in a very strange way.
Transcribed by Otter.ai:
Today’s podcast is very simply about the very odd behavior of Texas Comptroller Glenn Hager, who gave conservatives most of what they wanted, but did so in a very strange way. And today, we break that down for you. Welcome to the Luke Macias Show. There’s a lot going on in Texas. And I wish I could talk to you about all of it. But unfortunately, we’re going to have to take a little bit of time today to talk about the very odd and absurd behavior from Texas Comptroller Glenn Hager, and actually come to you with some good news. Last week, we finally got let’s say conservatives around Texas got 90% of what they wanted out of the Comptroller, but the way in which he did it, and it’s gonna it’s just gonna tell us a lot about his mindset. How timid he is about this issue, and how potentially unserious he is. So let’s kind of back up and just remind everyone with a quick recap and timeline. On August 4, Chris Hopper with the Texas family project, and Tony McDonald, who is a conservative lawyer here in Texas, both came out and the Texas scorecard published an article where they talked about their belief that Mister Mister, the Dallas gay bar, who had hosted a drag show where children attended, had crossed the line and committed illegal acts, which would make them a sexually oriented business. Now you have to understand that a lot of you have seen these drag shows that have happened all across Texas. And what Chris hopper and Tony McDonald did not say at the time was every single drag show in Texas is illegal. They said, if the drag show reveals any portion of nudity, and if you want to know the legal definition, it’s literally almost any part of your private area. Okay, so any portion of nudity, you could now be a sexually oriented business. And so they say, well, there is this one drag show that it is clear crossed the line and could be fined. And so this is one way that the comptroller could help address this issue is he could issue a fine to said business. And then representative Bryan Slaton came out and said, Comptroller Hager should act. And Hagar then responded and he responded send a press release out Texas Comptroller Glenn Hager statement on Investigation of Dallas area Club, which may be liable for sexually oriented business feet. And this was set out the day after this story. This is really good behavior from a statewide elected official and an elected official who has done very little regarding any type of cultural issues. Okay. And this first instinctual act seemed very promising. Conservatives weren’t mad at the Comptroller, there was no desire to cast him or present him as a problem when it came to this policy area. And he was acting quickly. And then came two months of silence. And so for two months, Texans hear nothing from the comptroller absolutely nothing. And you know, there are people reaching out to the Comptroller, there are people reaching out to the office, emailing the office, their stories getting read, everyone’s just kind of like what’s happening here. Now, here’s the reality. Y’all might remember representative Brian Slayton, the same one who called on the Comptroller to issue this fine had already come out before and said, I’m going to file a bill to make it child abuse to take your kid to a drag show. And that got massive media attention. I mean, he’s been on Fox News, and he’s been covered in national media across the board on this issue. So Republicans, even in their priorities, made sure that we wanted to end the sexualization of Texas kids, and I was there at the Republican state convention. I was working with the priority committee, I was doing these different things. I mean, there was a coalition of a lot of conservatives that work together to make sure that these type of policies are prioritized next session. And so nobody had said, hey, the comptroller single handedly has to address this issue in its entirety. It was like there is this one opportunity to address this issue. And it was one of those things where, I mean, here’s what’s so funny, right? We are rightfully upset at the IRS when it goes out and just targets all of these conservative organizations. So we now know is just a witch hunt, the FBI who’s arresting all of these pro life activists across the state on some obscure, like blocking access to health care statute that they can use to go invade the homes of these people. So when the left has power, they use it. Okay. And this was not telling I mean, conservatives didn’t say, hey, the controller should go Bust the doors down and and, you know, completely shut down this business, which I wouldn’t even be opposed to personally. But that’s not what the request was. The request was issue one fine to one business that looks like it crossed the line. And for two months, there was silence. Now, this is not a hard decision to make you have to determine whether or not you think you can find this company. All of us think you can. Some people think you can’t, if you do, by the way government’s immune from paying a bunch of damages. I mean, like you could find them. They could take you to court let the courts decide whether or not what they did cross the line, the sanctuary and business statute. This is how it reads. Some of y’all I’ve used this I mean, Ron DeSantis, is trying to go after different things. He doesn’t like any find some obscure law passed in the 70s. Okay, there was this law that passed in the 70s. If we interpret it this way, we can stop this bad behavior. And he’s done that. And that’s really what this was to. There’s a statute that you can determine how you read it. And if you as the statewide elected official who oversees the enforcement of this statute, read it correctly, you’re going to find this business. It’s that simple. But comptroller Glenn Hager has decided not to do that. So what do you mean? So I have good news for you. I’m going to tell you I have good news, which is that cultural Hagar gave us 90% of what we wanted. Okay. If you’re a conservative Texan, and you follow the Comptroller, which very few people do, in fact, I think more people are now than ever before, because they’re like, this guy’s been getting a free pass for a long time. Shouldn’t he align himself with conservatives? He ran for Comptroller, I voted for him. I mean, he ran for comptroller as a pro life pro gun Comptroller, this guy knows that in order to be a statewide elected official in Texas, you have to be a conservative, you have to market yourself as a conservative. And he did. And he has pushed conservative policy in the past. So what is he decided to do two months after? I mean, honestly, eventually, grassroots Texans got fed up. And thanks to the leadership at the Texas family project and American principles project. I’ve had Terry Shilling and Chris Hopper on this show before y’all are familiar with these guys. They’re awesome. They put out a statement. And in that statement, they said, in fact, I’m pulling it up here. I mean, they said, he’s dragging his feet. This is what they said. He announced in August that he’s investigated this people he hasn’t done anything. This is on October 3, over 100 days since the event Hagos office has yet to conclude its investigation. It doesn’t take 100 days, guys, they’re not sitting there crawling, they’re not looking for, you know, some DNA evidence of something. Okay. They just need to decide, but they didn’t want to Glenn Hagar is refused to use his power to protect Texas kids from vile, obscene drag shows in Texas. This is what Texas family project and American principles project came out and said. And then for two weeks, nothing from the Comptroller, nothing. And people kept calling and messaging, asking absolutely nothing from them. Eventually, a statement of his gets released by grassroots America. Joanne Fleming and this is where it gets a little strange. The statement was written on October 7, which is four days after Texas family project American minstrel project, pushed the Comptroller and said he just we’ve been very patient, but he’s dragging his feet on this. But that statement didn’t get released for another week. Now, here’s the thing. I’m going to I’m going to go through this statement with you. And I’m going to tell you why we got 90% of what we wanted, okay, because I’m just reminding you, Hager could only go after one drag show. We want him to be able to go after all the drag shows but the current statute doesn’t cover them all. That is the biggest one we get would be a change in the law to say all of these things are covered and the comptroller can now shut them down. That’s where we want to get okay. So a week after he evidently writes this statement, but doesn’t release it. This is what it says in recent months my office has initiated investigations into a number of Texas establishments that feature drag performances at which children have been encouraged to not only attend but actively participate in their performances. He then goes on to like describe some of those things that he’s offended at, you know the the kinds of things that these kids engaged in. As a father of three children, I completely understand the frustrations of Texans who want something done immediately. As I personally find this behavior abhorrent and reprehensible. It runs counter to the values that Texans cherish regardless of political affiliations. I share that frustration, as it is clear that children should not participate in nor attend these events. We absolutely need additional provisions in Texas law to protect children. These provisions are needed not just in the tax code, but also in the penal code. huge win. So the comptroller of Texas is saying, hey, we need stronger provisions to make sure that kids cannot attend these drag shows at all. That’s a true statement. By the way, that’s something that all of us have said from day one. Unfortunately, while the text of the current statute might appear to be good, to give me an avenue to designate these as sexually oriented businesses, the reality is more complex. Texas is actually already in business laws have been significantly watered down by the courts. Over the last decade, the courts have ruled that a thin layer of latex paint sprayed on an otherwise naked dancer constitutes clothing. This is exactly why Texas law needs to be updated and strengthened. Losing This fight is not an option. And I will not allow activist courts to further undermine Texas values. By engaging in a legal battle without having the proper statutory support needed to win that battle. My office will continue to investigate these performances and find violations of current law. But to win long term, I’m committed to work with conservative legislators to update Texas State law in the coming session to give my office the authority needed to protect Texas values and Texas Children. huge win. Okay. He’s not now let me tell you what I disagree with and then I’ll tell you all the good things. So here’s, here’s the weird thing. He says I will not allow courts to undermine it. But we don’t know what the courts gonna do. Because you haven’t find these people. Okay. They also might decide instead of going to court, they’re just gonna write $1,000. Fine. Like, Republicans who who don’t know how to fight are, unfortunately, the norm. We all know this, like they are the norm, Republicans that don’t understand how to engage in the battle. And that unfortunately, by this statement, seems to be comptroller Hager. Okay. The Goodwin is we already knew all the other drag shows. All of us have talked about this for the last two months, all the other drag shows are illegal, and we need a law to stop them. And he comes back and endorses that and actually says he’s going to work on it. The question is, Is he really going to work on it? And guess what we’ll let you know if he does. It’s not hard to know whether or not he does or doesn’t work on this issue. But he has said, I’m going to work hard on this issue. Great. Here’s the weird and absurd and odd behavior. This statement was written on the seventh and it wasn’t released until the 14th. Okay, and this is just what’s weird. You also can’t find the statement on the Comptroller’s website, anywhere. Okay. I mean, it’s very strange. So if I go to the news release section, okay. October 7, the date that this statement was supposedly written by his office, right. It says the Texas opioid abatement fund Council hears from State Agencies Responding to ongoing Fentanyl crisis. That is the press release his office put out on the seventh. Okay, on the 12th. Still, his statement that he wrote on the seventh wasn’t released. Right on the 12 comptroller Glenn Hager distributes 1.1 billion in monthly sales tax revenue to local governments. Let’s even go back October 3. So August 5, here’s the press release from the Comptroller and it actually was posted. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hager statement on investigating Dallas area Club, which may be liable for sexually oriented business feet that went out on August 5, okay, after that, nothing so all while he’s doing this investigation for a long time and deciding to do nothing. It talks about the light box to develop broadband availability. He’s really into broadband, Texas. comptroller’s deputy Comptroller and chief of staff are honored with an outstanding women in Texas government award. This all while children are getting sexualized this whole time right new drag shows new everything we’re not finding anybody. Comptroller distributes 1.2 billion monthly sales tax revenues to local governments. Okay. the comptroller’s office announces a local economic agreement database is now online that’s evidently worthy of a press release. Right. the comptroller Glenn Hager, State Senator John Huffman support repeal of sales tax on feminine hygiene products. So again, there is no endorsement so we even see on August 18. That comptroller Hager is willing to publicize that he supports certain policy, he will broadcast to the world to all the media and here’s what you have to understand. Why would he not send this news release out. And that would seem to mean that he doesn’t want all of the state based media entities to know. This is my position. So he’ll tell them he and Senator Joan Huffman, who just came out today and said that she wants to water down the pro life laws in Texas. Okay, this is the state senator who has come out and said, hey, those pro life laws we passed last session, I want to water them down. But on August 8, teen parent comptroller Glen Hager announced to the world that they’re going to try to repeal the sales tax on feminine hygiene products. Okay, so he’ll announce I support this policy and I want to push this policy understanding cryptocurrency and its rise August 23. August 21. Glen Hager announced his list of financial companies the boycott energy, he’s even again, these this is policy actions. He’s taking the revenue. The statement he had put his statement out on Harris County Judge Alena dog was effort to defund law enforcement. Okay, so he’s coming out on all these different issues, but silent on the drag show issue. Okay. He gets another award. I mean, look, Texas match the promise foundation increases scholarship funds now includes third and fourth graders. Yay. These are all statements he’s putting out. Glenn Hager receives the broadband Trailblazer award on September 28. He’s very proud of that. Big broadband deal. Cool. Still today, no statement. So this statement that the grassroots American people like if you click it, it says conservative Glenn Hager, Texas Comptroller, it’s very official, like written by him on the seventh and released Glenn hager.com is at the bottom of it. So it’s almost like a campaign release. Okay. It’s Glenn hager.com. That is at the bottom of this statement that grassroots America posted. But if I go to Glenn hager.com, do you know what I don’t find this statement? And this is the absurd, odd behavior. Why wait two months? Why eventually come out and say 90%, of what you needed to say to keep the grassroots happy and show that you’re fighting for this stuff? Why do we have to work so hard to make certain people open their eyes and do the right thing? See, if you show yourself as somebody who will eventually do the right thing when you’re prodded and poked, and then eventually yelled at or screamed at you? It doesn’t help you. And what I mean by that is, it’s way easier to be able to walk into somebody and say, Hey, this is something important. And they go, I agree, it’s something important because we both agree with the same things that are trying to protect children. Let’s take action to do this, right. But instead, what we have seen over the last two and a half months, is a comptroller who doesn’t want to do it. And even when he does kind of do some of it. He ultimately punted on finding them, that was bad. But then he said, Hey, I want to endorse this entire legislative priority, which is good. But even when he did the right thing, he didn’t want anyone to know he did it. Is that weird? Is it weird to be like, hey, I’ll go tell everybody. It’s almost like, and this is a bad example. I don’t know this, because I didn’t have that much of a dating experience before I married my wife. But if like, I mean, you like dated a couple girls or whatever, but like, I didn’t ever do this. I can, I can say, I never did this to anybody, but like, you’d have these people that you knew they had a boyfriend, who like didn’t Well, we’re kind of like talking and dating, but like he didn’t want to be seen with me in public. That’s weird. Okay, I never did that to any girl that I dated. And, but evidently, some people do it. Okay. And it’s definitely on TV. I mean, if you watch any of those, like, shows that my wife makes me watch, there’s always some boyfriend who doesn’t want to be seen by the girl because he’s not sure. Okay. So here’s my point. This is the way Glen Hagar has treated grassroots, okay. It’s like, Hey, I’m with you. I’m aligned with you. And do y’all want to put out a statement for me to like your people that like you, and then they’ll see that I put out a statement that you liked. That’s just weird. Well, can you send the press release out? Like, it’s right here? It’s on his website? Oh, no, it’s not on his website, at the bottom of his statement, says Glenn hager.com. Well, if you go to Glenn hager.com, there ain’t no statement about anything regarding drag shows. Why? Glenn? Wake up. This isn’t a hard issue. Independent voters are with us on this issue. Every Republicans with us on this issue. I mean, two out of 10 Democrats are with us on this issue, glut. The and here’s the other thing. When, when an official won’t line himself up with conservatives, even on a policy that doesn’t hurt him, you know, that’s just going to be a long term problem. If you think guys drag shows wasn’t even a thing. Two years ago, nobody was talking about this. You know what else they weren’t talking about how much sex they were talking to second and third graders about, you know, adults, they weren’t talking about porn in school libraries. They were hardly talking about the sexual transmission surgeries. which are now a much bigger issue. Thanks to a lot of work that conservatives have done in Texas, they’re going to more things regarding the sexualization of children are going to come out. So if we don’t know how to quickly respond to it, when it happens use every bit of force of government we can use to protect those children. We don’t understand the threat that we’re in. Glenn Hager seems to just not know what time it is. And because of that, he’s acting odd. Weird, kind of absurd. And it’s fine, because we ultimately got 90% of what we wanted. If you’re a conservative Texan, and you’re watching this whole thing from afar, it’s like, well, I got what I wanted. Good. But you also don’t walk away going, Glenn Hager is a total ally, who’s going to work with conservatives across Texas to stop sexualizing kids, you’re like, No, he’s somebody who you have to beat into submission? Why? Those are the questions that I think conservatives are asking themselves when they take a step back. And I just wanted to make sure y’all saw that kind of behavior. And really peeled it back and watched it, that’s one thing we try to do here sometimes is take this issue that you might just read one little excerpt from one story in the news about and go, there’s a little bit more to this. And when you peel it back and understand it, it will reveal something. And what what do we take away from this, we take away that if you’re a conservative in Texas, and you want to protect kids, you’re gonna have to push really, really, really hard. And ultimately, you still might get what you want. That’s the good news. Because even when people don’t actually rejoice while aligning with you, they will ultimately align with you. But you want to know the difference. You want to know which elected officials you need to push and prod. Which ones you can go to kindly and say, Hey, would you be open or willing to do this? Which ones are actually coming up with the ideas, and then which ones you have to completely beat into submission. And then there’s the last group and the last group are people who are going to oppose you every time on it, right? And so there’s all these groups. So some people, it’s like, man, they’re coming up with the ideas, they put out these awesome Bill ideas, and I love this, I want to be part of what that guy is doing. And then there’s the other people who can go to say, Hey, would you be open to supporting this type of policy? And then they go, absolutely, thanks for bringing this to my attention. And then there’s another group of people that are like, well, you’re gonna have to bug them a little bit, but ultimately, they’ll come around and then there’s the haters, the world that it’s like, they might come around to your position, if you just completely go in and lambaste him. And then there’s the last group, which is just going to oppose you, and you put elected officials into these camps. Here’s the good news, too. You have to understand some elected officials move into different camps, okay, either on the issue, or over time. They’re smart. They adapt. They evolve in a good way. Glen Hager, could tomorrow just decide. Ah, yeah, this isn’t really worth it. This seems like a battle that’s not worth fighting. In fact, I’d rather be aligned with these people. What are we going to do to work together? And you know what, grassroots, if you’re a grassroots Texan, you should welcome that. Open Arms, hey, love to move into a position where this is an allied relationship, anytime. But unfortunately, some people will be stuck there for a while, because they just don’t know how to break free. And that’s unfortunate for them. And fortunate for us when we get to see which camp you’re in. Because the more we know about which camp you’re in the war, we know how to address you how to approach you. So thank you for following this and a little different than our average week, but we wanted to bring this kind of analysis to us. So you can think about how you apply this in your behavior and the way you act towards Texas politicians. God bless you, and God bless Texas. Thank you for listening to the lunacy of show this program is brought to you by scorecard media. check out Texas scorecard.com to read up on all things Texas scorecard media has other podcasts as well. Yeah, they’re not as good as this one, but you should still check them out. Honestly, though, visit Texas scorecard.com To see all the content they’re producing on a daily basis. 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