It’s sad that the only major newspaper in one of the largest cities in the country promotes bigotry. The Houston Chronicle’s business columnist, Chris Tomlinson, is a bigot and the newspaper prints his offensive screeds regularly.

BIGOT: a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices;

The only thing that definition from Merriam-Webster needs to improve its accuracy is a picture of Chris Tomlinson.

False claims of lost revenue for Texas

In his latest bigoted screed, Chris Tomlinson promotes the idiotic ‘study’ that claims that Texas will lose billions of convention and tourism dollars if Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is successful in passing a law that keeps men out of women’s restrooms and locker rooms. Remember when Tomlinson said that Houston would lose boatloads of money if voters shot down the offensive Houston UNEqual Rights Ordinance? Hey, did you hear that the Super Bowl will be held in HOUSTON in February? After voters defeated that stupid ordinance in Houston, Chris Tomlinson said this:

The fact that a small number of voters defeated Houston’s equal rights ordinance comes as no surprise.

Demagogic politicians, though, spread misinformation and lies to appeal to the basest human emotions among poorly informed voters.

n 1920, a handful of Protestant conservatives, worried about public morals and immigration, sponsored the second coming of the Ku Klux Klan to Houston. They promised to uphold American values, punish miscreants and secure the political supremacy of northern European whites. Klan leaders spent more time talking about morality and fighting crime than they did promoting their racism and eventually won control of Harris County government.

So the bigoted Chris Tomlinson thinks that the large number of black and Latino voters that defeated the Houston UNEqual Rights Ordinance are the same as KKK members. Oh, and uninformed of course. Gotta throw that in there because no one that is ‘informed’ could possibly want to keep men out of women’s restrooms and locker rooms. In the bigoted world of Chris Tomlinson anyway. Chris Tomlinson and his bigoted brothers and sisters in arms want to redefine basic language.

I, and the vast majority of Texas citizens, agree with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick that men do not belong in women’s restrooms and locker rooms. We reject this ‘transformation’ of a fundamental truth. The bigoted Chris Tomlinson can call us whatever he wishes to call us. And the editors at the Houston Chronicle can continue to allow this hatred to fill their pages. Calling us names and screaming at us with your hatred isn’t going to change our fundamental belief – men do not belong in women’s restrooms and locker rooms.

If a fight is what they want, a fight is what they will get

And guess what? We aren’t going to shut up and sit down in the face of your bigotry, Chris Tomlinson. We are going to fight to protect that fundamental, common sense, no-brainer argument – men do not belong in women’s restrooms.

“Discriminatory legislation is bad for business,” said Chris Wallace, president of the Texas Association of Business. “We cannot slam the door on the Texas Miracle of openness, competitiveness, economic opportunity and innovation.”

Yes it is, Mr. Wallace, yes it is. That is why we aren’t going to let you discriminate against our daughters, sisters, wives, mothers and grandmothers. Mr. Wallace’s misrepresentations are one of the reasons we replaced one of the Texas Association of Business’ favorite sons, Rep. Wayne Smith, with Briscoe Cain. Rep.-elect Cain isn’t going to cower down in the face of your misrepresentations of common sense laws. We aren’t going to let you pass Sen. José Rodríguez’ bill making it legal for men to hang out in women’s restrooms and locker rooms.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s bill is not going to discriminate against anyone and he is not the one that asked for this fight, Sen. José Rodríguez did. If the bigoted Chris Tomlinson and friends want to fight about this, bring it on. Ask Annise Parker how it worked out for her. Maybe the geniuses at the Harris County Republican Party can figure it out too.

Is the Houston Chronicle becoming a click bait website?

Normally, I would tell you to go read a column in the Houston Chronicle that I comment on. If you choose to do that, you may click here: “Business leaders to battle bigots in Austin“.

Before you do that, you might want to know that the bigoted Chris Tomlinson likes for that to happen:

Maybe the Houston Chronicle so desperate for readers that they let their employees write hateful, bigoted columns just for the clicks. In this regard, maybe, just maybe, there is not a lick of difference between the Houston Chronicle and fake news sites.

Wouldn’t it be nice if people read the bill?

Frankly, instead of clicking over to read the column at the Houston Chronicle, your time would be better spent reading Sen. Paul Bettencourt’s critique of that idiotic ‘study’ that the TAB is promoting:

Texas Association of Business Numbers on Unfiled “Women’s Privacy Act” andReligious Freedom Bills are Wildly Speculative
Senator Bettencourt says let’s first read the bill to find out what is in it

 

HOUSTON – Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) has called into immediate question a study promoted by the Texas Association of Business (TAB) that describes the speculative economic impact of Senate Bill 6, supported by Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, that has not even been filed in the Legislature to date. The St. Edwards University study uses legislative acts from around the nation, many of which are not in effect in their home states. Therefore, the use of any of these examples of “denial of service” bills to extrapolate “bathroom bill” claims of business and job losses in Texas should never have been made in the first place.

“No matter which side you may or may not be on in this public policy debate on SB 6, women’s privacy and religious freedom, this study’s amazing claims of $8.5 billion in economic losses and 185,000 job losses in Texas attributed to legislation that hasn’t even been filed are just flat wrong,” Senator Bettencourt said.

The study references Arizona SB 1062, which was vetoed and never implemented. It also uses Louisiana HB 707 that is no longer in effect and quotes an unverified media story with no basis in measurable fact that 80-85{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of the business of the top conventions in the city of New Orleans was lost. These alleged losses are then extrapolated onto the Texas economy, despite having never been proven. In fact, the citation used to justify a large portion of the alleged loss in Louisiana states: “So far, statements issues by companies and conference organizers opposing the measure have not yet been followed up with action.” “In plain English, that means their efforts did not pan out,” said Senator Bettencourt. Finally, the study claims that Texas could lose 0.5{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of its GDP based upon Indiana’s SB 101, a claim that has not been fully vetted nor adequately verified.

“This is indeed part ‘fake’ news, and the St. Edward’s University study should not be relying on misleading data prior to the filing of the actual bill,” Senator Bettencourt continued. “Any study that ranges from a $964 million impact up to an $8.5 billion one, almost a 9 to 1 ratio, is just wildly speculative.”

In 2015, 61 percent of Houston voters rejected a poorly worded initiative known as the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, H.E.R.O., by former Mayor Annise Parker, without any measurable economic loss to the community. The 2017 Super Bowl, for example, is still coming to Houston. Senator Bettencourt opposed this ordinance along with the Houston Pastor’s Council, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, and a broad coalition of community groups.

“While public policy debates can be heated, let’s first read the bill to find out what is in it!” Senator Bettencourt concluded.