We have to invest in the future of Texas, so today I am breaking down which organizations I’m financially supporting this year and why I support each of them.
Transcribed by Otter.ai:
Welcome to Luke Macias Show and welcome to the first week of Advent, we are in a season where we get to think about and consider the New Year, the new church here if you’re a Christian, and also the coming of the next year, which is going to also entail a legislative session, which we get to do once every two years. And and also December is a time to slow down a little bit. My hope and prayer is that this is the slowest month of the year for me, we’ll see if I succeed and that being the case. But I wanted to start this week, in this month off with an episode dedicated to overviewing, some political organizations, which I am donating to, at the end of the year, I sent an email out I didn’t do an actual podcast on it. But I talked about all of the political contributions that I made. And so if you’re on my email list, you got that list, that email had a ton of interaction. And so I’m really grateful to y’all for sending your feedback. Some of you sent back and said, I’ve made a lot of these donations. And that’s also encouraging. And so I wanted to kind of go through donations I’m making, but also kind of talk about the mindset that each and every one of us are, and how we make donations. So I’m going to give you some different thoughts. One of my good friends who’s a larger donor than myself has like a rule in odd years, he makes more financial contributions to political organizations. And then in even years, he makes more political contributions to candidates, right. And so most of you who listen to this podcast have limited financial capacity, right? You have a set amount, there’s several of you that listen this podcast that have a whole lot more capacity than I do. I know that for a fact. But, you know, some of you are in the Luton CEUs camp, which means you have a set number that you’re able to give, and you have to really consider what that is, and what you know what it could accomplish, I will just tell you, I kind of didn’t want to do this episode. And I didn’t want to do this episode I wrote out, I literally wrote out my list of donations I was going to make before the end of the year, like six weeks ago, and I’ve only made a couple of them. Okay. And between making that list and recording this today, my kid my dining room renovation has cost me like several 1000s and 1000s of dollars more than I originally planned on spending. And it’s not necessarily like my contractor screwed me or anything, it was like these things weren’t budgeted for and that one thing had a problem. And that electrical issue came up or the ceiling wasn’t insulated, or we had to take all sorts of little things that came in and occurred that changed the cost. And so I made my political contributions for the year. And you know, we’re doing okay, and so as this inch closer, I was like, I think I should change what the first episode of December’s gonna be about. Because if I say I’m gonna do this, I actually have to do them. So this is me telling you like, this is like an accountability episode for me. So several of these donations on this list have not been made. But I will just tell you that I’m going to make them this year. And here’s the problem with how we think of the money that we have. So a lot of you are engaged. I know that and I will just tell you a couple other things like for those of you who are Christians, I don’t consider my political giving as a type, okay. And so if you are somebody who tries to take 10% of what you earn and and give it back, I don’t consider political contributions to be part of that. I don’t consider most political organizations to be part of that. I personally, have always felt like donations that are made in the pro life cause as long as they’re not political. I consider a time I know this is getting real. There’s not a perfect formula here. But for instance, donations. I’ll talk about this. In fact, I’ll tell you the first one on my left, which is the San Antonio crisis pregnancy center. And so my mother serves on the board of the crisis pregnancy center, they do some phenomenal work for San Antonio, I will just tell you, there are several centers in San Antonio that do some great work. And I’ve been supportive of several of them in the past. But I donated to the San Antonio crisis pregnancy center this year. And I do consider that as part of your mission, I both consider that as part of our families type, okay. And we are investing in an organization that is literally faith based and designed to not only give the gospel, but also we say, you know, we want to provide the word indeed, as well. And so the way we treat those who are in need, and so the fact that this organization is really there on the ground, and they’re actually tangibly every single year helping women who are in need, who are in crisis pregnancies, and the fact that more women think the Lord are going to be in crisis pregnancies due to the fact that they will have a harder time ending the life of their child. So when I say more women will be in crisis pregnancies, people go, Oh, you, you wouldn’t want to rejoice over that? Well, if the alternative was those women killing their child, you would rejoice over that reality. Our goal and hope would be that we don’t have crisis pregnancies. And the truth is that, and we heard this at, you know, their banquet, we got to meet and hear from women who had chosen life over the last year or two, and see their children. And what they’re realizing today is that they’re not in crisis, their child’s one, the child’s to six months, nine months, one month. And it’s not a crisis, it’s a gift. It’s a gift. So the San Antonio crisis pregnancy center is one organization that we donated to, you can go to my website, looting ceus.com, or you’re on my email list, you’ll actually see the breakdown of all these organizations. And you can actually just have a link of where I made my donation at the political organization, which I am donating the most to this year, which again, is not some major, huge amount of money. But I am making a donation to the Texas family project this year. And this is an organization that has come up and really started to be the tip of the spear on the issue of all these drag shows on the sexual transitioning of kids on all of the transgenderism that’s going on across our state and really have appreciated the work that Chris Hopper has done over there. He is working overtime to build an organization that is really young and growing fast. And so I am investing into their future and want to see them continue to succeed because we have to have strong families. They’ve also there are issues they hit that you won’t find other organizations in Texas that talk about I mean, they will actually address the issue of pornography, the policies, they will push policies with the American principles project, which is a phenomenal federal organization. And I’m sorry, Terry shilling if you’re listening to this, that you’re not on my list of donations, but hey, the kitchen remodel, made it a little harder. And but I will say this, this gets me back to that kitchen remodel, then I’m gonna get back to that list. Okay, guys. So like, I’m sitting here going, I don’t know if I want to make a couple $1,000 total of donations to political organizations at the end of the year. Because of all these things that have cost me money, right. But the truth is, like, I had to spend 450 bucks on like this vent hood, okay, over my kitchen, which everybody walked in on Thanksgiving and was like, I love this vent. But here’s the truth. Like I didn’t really feel like I had a choice, right? Like, I need a new vent hood. And my wife and I looked at several and I tried to get her to buy like an $80 one that would probably look like you bought it from Goodwill. And she didn’t really like that. And I don’t understand why because I felt like it was a totally reasonable position to hold. But that being said, we compromise and found this other one that we both agreed on and we bought it and everybody loves it. But I like there was not a scenario in which I wasn’t going to get event. Okay. And there wasn’t a scenario in which I wasn’t going to wrap that beam. Or I wasn’t going to fix the ceiling or I wasn’t gonna insulate something. But here’s the thing for a lot of us, like investing in conservative causes is optional. Okay. And this is kind of the problem. This isn’t a good thing. We have to invest in building up institutions that are going to help preserve some semblance of virtue values, basic building blocks and pillars of our society who are going to hold accountable those who are elected, that say one thing, because a lot of us on our own can’t just keep the entire state informed as to what’s going on. We have to have strong organizations. So supporting them can’t be optional for us. Okay, back to the list. After the Texas family project, the federal organization, which I’m making my largest contribution to this year is the Center for renewing America. The work that Russ Vogt is doing is phenomenal. Over there, Wade Miller, Ken Cuccinelli, there are several America first, national groups. And this is the one that in my opinion, is doing the best work, they are incredibly focused, and I would say, more principled than most of the organizations out there and are willing to step in the gap and fight both on social issues and marriage issues and on immigration, and honestly, on these key issues that are really important that so many organizations kind of avoid. And it’s not just that they talk about him, it’s that they’re actually on Fox News, pushing even when Republicans failed to deliver that when the Republicans compromise on Mayor the issue of marriage, that they are actually out there pushing hard. While so many organizations are staying silent. I’ve seen them behind the scenes, I’ve seen them, you know, front and center on stage, they’re doing amazing work, and they should be supported the Center for renewing America. Also supporting this year, Texans for vaccine choice and organization, which I you know, helped start honestly, back when this there were several women walking around the Capitol, fighting hard on these issues, and helped file their initial pack paperwork and do basic. I mean, literally, we sat down I remember at a Starbucks, and it was like, you should have a pack. And they’re like, What is a pack and I’m like out, look, it’s just this thing, and then people will be able to organize around you, and just gave them some ideas and walked alongside that organization for a long time. And I’m still proud to support them. Today. Medical freedom is really important to me, it’s really important to my wife, it’s really important for our children, it’s really important for our friends and communities in this state. And so if we don’t have medical freedom in Texas, you don’t have much freedom at all. And if COVID taught us anything, it’s that and so organizations like Texans, for vaccine choice have to be built up. And they have grown substantially over the last several years and have accomplished a lot of good work. So please consider supporting them, as you look at your end of the year support. We’re also donating to the true Texas project, an organization I’ve spoken to several of these groups across the state. And we’ll be doing more speaking, next year, love what they’re doing, organizing more groups in different cities. Look, this is the messy work that’s required of a lot. This is not stuff that it you know, like I said, it’s messy. It’s not all of the stuff that we want to do every time it’s not the stuff that makes it on to the political documentaries, or the political TV shows. But you have to get local, you have to organize groups of people, I was out speaking to a friend’s group of, you know, a dozen patriots out in bear County. And this wasn’t a true Texas project. This is another organization but had a phenomenal conversation with these people. And that’s what we have to be doing more of and the fact that somebody is opening up their home and having 1015 20 patriots come together and say what can we do? How can we be more organized? How can we get people here that know more, and talk to them and then use that to affect how we spend our time, talent and treasure. That’s encouraging it has to be done. And if it’s not done, we won’t be able to win in these key areas. Their true Texas project in San Antonio is based right in the heart of martyr ACOs District, which is one of the huge conservative flips. And if you don’t think we have to organize more conservatives in North San Antonio, you’re wrong but they’re doing this all over the state. So true Texas project happy to support their efforts this year, also donated to the Hofheinz Liberty foundation. Y’all know in the past, I’ve supported on how fines personally and Ben all in for his campaign. And so he has spun up the Hofheinz Liberty foundation this year, and they are rocking and rolling. They’re putting out white papers on property tax issues. They’re being on the forefront of the immigration fight in Texas. They’re working really hard to take these issues that were really big and part of his campaign and making sure that there’s an entity that’s working overtime to promote this agenda during the upcoming legislative session. And so I I’m proud to support Don and the work he’s doing. And definitely need to jump on board. If you haven’t done that with the Hawaiians Liberty Foundation, Texans for fiscal responsibility is an organization that I’m very familiar with very close to what what Jeremy and Tim are doing over there is some phenomenal work. Not only do they create the fiscal index, which is very helpful every year to actually go on and see of all these votes that are taken, you know, how are my legislators actually voting, it’s an incredibly valuable thing for you know, it’s it’s an incredibly valuable thing for the conservative movement to have it’s things that give the grassroots something tangibly to point people to to say, Hey, what happened here? So absolutely great, phenomenal Texas private school responsibility, here’s the thing them in the Hofheinz Liberty Foundation, we have a better chance of eliminating property taxes than ever before, we have a $30 billion surplus. And we talked to you about this last couple of weeks about how David feel, is trying to tamp down on this. And he’s talking crap about, you know, members of the legislature who are pushing for more aggressive property tax relief. The work that Texans for fiscal responsibility does and having them pushing aggressively at the forefront of these issues during the next legislative session is super important. So it’s not an option. It’s like the event in my kitchen. Okay. It’s like, after my countertops go in, I need to put a tile and that’s like one of the last things Okay, and I’m sitting there going, like, maybe I could just not tile, it’s like you can’t not tile, okay, you can’t not donate to Texans for fiscal responsibility. You can’t just be like, well, you know, if my property taxes go up next year, that’s okay. It’s really not okay, if you think about it, and maybe it’s okay for you. Maybe it’s okay for me, here’s the truth, my property taxes could go up quite a bit, and I can still afford them. But somebody in my neighborhood is getting kicked out of their home if my property taxes go up. And that’s not okay. It’s not sustainable. It’s not where our state can go. So Texas for fiscal responsibility, we’re donating to them this year. Texas scorecard, loot Misia show brought to you by Texas scorecard. Texas scorecard is a 501 C three and they are a nonprofit news media entity. If you look at the pillars of what’s needed for society to flourish, you need to have strong media. And so I am donating to Texas scorecard this year as well. And will be at the gala this upcoming December 3. If any of y’all are there, we’d love to see you. I’ve already talked to several of you that will be there. And so I look forward to catching up with so many of you at the gala. America first legal This is honestly phenomenal organization. So here’s the thing. There are a lot of legal nonprofits, conservative legal nonprofits, and I’m not gonna, I’m not gonna criticize a lot of them. Okay, I’m not I’m not here to criticize a lot of them. I will say that, in general, most of them are so tailored into just like the First Amendment, religious liberty. And I think as a whole, we almost have like, a conservative legal industrial complex, okay. And again, I’m not hitting any of y’all specifically, I know many of you, you are doing good work and are trying to advance the cause of freedom in the courtrooms within this small area. But we have to be more aggressive and we have to expand where we take the legal battle. The ACLU does this incredibly well, the left does this with a bunch of different legal entities. And for a long time, conservative legal organizations have been so like picky about what they’ve engaged in. And it’s very clear that we need to be engaged on every level. So America first legal is led by Stephen Miller, who, if y’all look him up, you’ll have noticed him from stuff he did with the Trump administration and other things like that. He pushed a lot of their immigration policy did a lot of incredibly effective things. Stephen Miller runs American first legal and is doing a phenomenal job. And they are engaging on issues that really matter. And I think push the Overton window in ways that most conservative legal organizations would never touch. So America first legal, we’re donating to them this year. And last, but not least, American moment, American moment is an organization that Suraj Sharma and friend of mine started he is in DC. They have a weekly podcast that y’all can listen to, which I think brings a lot of value. I think they are doing a really good job of identifying and cultivating young and middle aged talent across the country. People that have conservative ideas who want to be engaged in the battle in some form or fashion and finding ways of building them up and then getting them Put into positions where they can make a difference. And these are things that, honestly I and a couple other people in Texas have been doing for years in the state. But like, unofficially, we identify people who care about the cause, and then try to see what we can do to get them plugged in to make a bigger difference, identify their skills and have them Empower, you realize, if you take somebody who’s a patriot, and conservative and talented and you put them in an organization, or have them work for different state offices and things like that, they can make a big difference. And so America moment is doing that at a national level, because one of the things we recognize is that when Trump took over a lot of his administration, and then other federal bureaucracies were filled with people who honestly don’t love our country, and don’t really see the time we’re in and don’t want to engage in the battle in the same way. So I think the work that American moments doing is pretty phenomenal, and should be done across the nation by other organizations as well, I think we need some state based American moments, we’d love to see those populated. But that being said, those Overview A couple of the organizations who you should hire donating to this year, and again, I just want to emphasize with y’all, some of you, you know, a end of the year donation, if you were to make, well, first of all, a lot of you like you don’t want to necessarily donate, because you don’t know what your money goes towards. And I totally understand that. And one of the things I can tell you is that with every single one of the organizations I just went through, I’m very familiar with their leadership, I’m incredibly familiar with some of them. I mean, I, I’ve gotten to see their annual budgets and things where I can understand that this money is not going to, you know, remodeling their bathroom, in their office building like some of these stupid nonprofits, or that it’s not going towards luxurious travel, where they’re staying at all these fancy hotels every time they go somewhere, okay, these people actually care. And I’ll tell you, like, there are a lot of conservative organizations that I hear about that I like, but then I see them do something. And I’m like, I’m not interested in donating to this organization in the future. I see the heads of their organizations do things and say, yeah, that’s, this isn’t the type of thing that’s actually going to advance the cause. Or I’m traveling, and I run into the head of the organization. And we’re staying, you know, we’re we’re going to Houston, and we’re meeting up at some gathering. And I’m staying at a Makita are a lot of times, like when I travel across the state, I like to crash friends houses, right. So I’m like crashing a friend’s house in Dallas, or Houston or the Fort Worth area, and I talked to them, and they’re staying at the Omni. And I’m going, Oh, you’re not on my donation list now, because I know that room is 380 bucks. And I also know, there’s all these other hotel rooms that are like 160, or 180, or 120, if you really want to get, you know, if you want to roll the dice on your life, but the point is that you could at least do something for the cause of liberty. And when you when I see you by that hotel room, like you get off my list, if I may, I’ve made donations to organizations, and then seen their leadership spend money in a certain way that tells me, look, I give 100 bucks, okay. And if my 100 bucks is just 1/5 of your next hotel room, I’m just not that interested. This is not, this isn’t what I want to be part of. And if one of the organizations on this list, I see doing that kind of stuff, like you won’t see me do that again next year. So I just want to give you all that confidence. But you don’t understand that like for some of you a five or $10 donation, it makes a difference for a lot of these organizations, okay, maybe not to a heritage are one of these large, huge think tanks with these massive budgets. But some of these organizations, you can help them make a difference. And you can be invested in something that matters. Because here’s the truth, we where your money is there, your heart will be also this is a this is a rule that we all know is true. Okay. You put your money towards something, some of you make more money than others, but the money you make you put towards something, and where you put that money there, your heart is also. And if we are not willing to invest a portion of what we make into further in the conservative movement in Texas, then we can’t complain. When we see Texas going the direction we don’t want it to go. So I hope that many of you are considering what you’re doing this year. And if you have any other questions again, email me go to Luqman ceus.com You can sign up for my email list there so you can get these lists with the links and stuff but also, like again, a lot of people emailed me back during the last time I said to donate and they said you know what’s cool is some of Have them said, Oh, thank you so much. I’m going to donate to this candidate I’m going to donate to this organization, I’m going to donate to my local Republican Party, which I said to do if your GOP was actually run by a conservative, or the Texas GOP who’s being run by a phenomenal conservative Matt Rinaldi but they were on my list back during the campaign cycle, which you can find on my website if you go there. But some people came back and said, Hey, there’s this guy. He’s running for county commissioner in my county, he’s a die hard conservative, I’m excited about him, we gave him a couple 100 bucks. That’s great. Now, I’m not going to give that guy a couple 100 bucks one because, look, I had to buy this vent over my kitchen. I mean, I’m not made of money. But the other reason I’m not doing it is because that guy in that county is a county commissioner. And that’s awesome. But that’s not necessarily affecting me as much. That’s why I donated to mark LaHood, who was running for my district attorney in bear County. So all of us are invest if we’re at least investing in what we’re trying to advance. That’s great. You might not invest in the true Texas project. I’m sorry, Julie McCarthy, if you’re listening to this, but some of them they might not but you know what? You might go to your local conservative organization. Like you might have a local conservative organization, Cook County conservatives, why is county conservatives Parker County conservatives, these other groups and say, hey, you know what, before the end of the year, we’re going to reach out to our leadership and say, Hey, we’re gonna get 50 bucks, we want to give 100 bucks at the end of the year towards the the efforts we’re doing. Invest in what you’re building there, because that will make a difference. Okay, I hope you all have a blessed week, a blessed week of hope, which is the word of our week, this week and Advent. And I hope that you’re hopeful for the rest of the year, the legislative session, everything going on and we look forward to coming to you next week. God bless you. And God bless Texas. Thank you for listening to the Luke Misia 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. If you’d like our podcast to grow, please consider subscribing to the show on whatever platform you’re listening and leave a review that helps others find the content we’re producing. Thank you. God bless you. And God bless Texas.
