As we each celebrate the holiday season in our own unique, traditional way, I am reminded daily of the power of “Choice”. We can choose to embrace a spirit of gratefulness and in doing so, share our abundance with those less fortunate.  We can choose to become more involved in the world around us, and in doing so, make a difference for those who must carry on when we are long gone.  We can choose to reject the notion that mediocrity is good enough, and in doing so, strive to be the exceptional America that many have given their lives to protect.

I pray that each person reading this will take even one small moment to reach out their hand…smile at a stranger…speak an encouraging word to a child…thank the elderly for the gift of their wisdom… and perhaps we will realize the true Spirit of Christmas is not a day we celebrate once a year, but a life style we model each and every day.  

Bless you all as we celebrate Christ’s birth and move into a New Year.

“Christmas is a necessity.  There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves.”  
~Eric Sevareid

Remember the excuses kids would give when they did not have their homework? Or the excuses given when stopped by a police officer for speeding? Endless, right? Well we have a new role model for excuses: Obama, regarding last Friday’s bomb report showing zero net jobs created in August. 

It is the first time since February 1945 that the economy has had a “monthly net job change of zero.”

What did our commander in Chief have to say about the report? “Bad luck”. Seriously Mr. President? So if luck plays such an important role, why even address the issue this Thursday? Let’s just continue to fly by the seat of our pants like with the stimulus spending spree and see what kind of “luck” we get this time around. Suddenly a man of many words has no comment.

The historic Texas drought has led to a record $5.2 billion in agricultural losses, making it the most costly drought on record say Texas AgriLife Extension Service economists.  The losses faced by farmers and ranchers, by commodity, include: livestock ($2.06B), lost hay production ($750M), cotton ($1.8B), corn ($327M), wheat ($243M), sorghum ($63M).

I've been hearing from farmers and ranchers throughout Texas CD-25 about how critical this issue is.  Will this be another example of Washington, D.C. ignoring the state of Texas, as with

The 11th Circuit has found that Obamacare's mandate to force Americans to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional.  So this was rocket science? This is how Obama began his presidency and it has gone down hill from there. The next thing to go down hill is Obama and all his goonies in 2012.

The recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upholding that the federal health care law's individual mandate violates the U.S. Constitution is an important ruling for our freedom and for limiting government.