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Catch Mark Cuban's appearance on the CBS Mornings Show about Cost Plus Drug Company's entry into and "disruption" of the pharmaceutical marketplace. One of America's most famous and one of the few beloved billionaires talks about why making more money doesn't float his boat . In his interview, Cuban exudes excitement for leveraging his business acumen and wealth to create positive change for the American people. And then, when asked about his politics, he drops the bomb—his support for ending the political "duopoly" and implementing rank choice voting. Cuban's cold call from Dr. Alex Oshmyansky, founder and CEO of Cost Plus, opened the door for what Big Pharma brought on itself with excessive and dehumanizing profiteering. In a world of inflation Cuban says he cannot control, we might learn from what Dr. Oshmyansky did that got Cuban's attention. He developed a far less costly and equally effective medicine outside the Big Pharma system and pitched it to Cuban. Cuban’s political statement we take as a challenge for us all to become disruptors. Might we independent political actors develop a prototype for independent political action outside the two-party system to compete with the two parties for pennies on the dollar? Last week's ruling on Roe v. Wade comes simultaneously with a growing crisis in our economy. As we watch billions pilfered from the public purse on broken subsidy programs and the squandering of our natural resources (water and land), we have a hardened GOP attempting to take America off the cliff with NO abortions and even the right to birth control. Texas Democrats will surely fall for the continued provocation by the moribund GOP because they too are largely funded by "The Austin and DC Lobby." They AGREE on subsidizing the massive in-migration growth that will continue to leverage our water and land resources to death. (Clarification: We have friends in both parties and plenty of enemies too.) What are we independents to do? Why not seek a revolutionary break with the two-party system by addressing the fundamentals, which government should be doing but is not? Independents should advocate for the government to get out of our bedrooms and bathrooms. And if they continue to refuse, we must engage in what they refuse to do -- problem-solving that includes fundamental tax reform, protection of natural resources, and preparation for continued crises everyone knows is coming with inflation, food shortages, energy instability and increased costs, and drought. Cost Plus is a revolutionary break in American business with a straightforward approach. Check out t his letter by Cuban , laying out the mission of Cost Plus. How can we independent political activists foment a similar revolution by disrupting the political duopoly? We ask you to help answer this question by joining the League of Independent Voters and becoming a shark for small "d" democracy in America. Don't forget Cuban is backing litigation challenging the ballot access rules for independent candidates and new parties. Read about the suit taken by the Center for Competitive Democracy and Shearman & Sterling, LLP here . A ruling is expected s oon! Join LIV and be part of the solution.

In this edition: Mark Cuban Bullish on Ending Duopoly. Go here . Chapter 313 subsidies to clear-cut forest in Bastrop for solar farm?! Go here . Speaking of Billionaires, Keep Bastrop Boring. Her e Tarrant County Appraisal District Ouch -- Chandler Crouch. From WFAA here . It's Official! Former Bastrop County Judge, Ronnie McDonald , has been certified for the November ballot to run as an independent for Bastrop County Judge. McDonald served four terms as Bastrop County Judge, having been elected as a Democrat. This year, he will face Republican Gregory Klaus and Democrat Dock Jackson. See more here at Bastrop Votes. Linda Curtis received notice from the Texas Secretary of State for placement on the November ballot as an independent for Texas House District 17 -- Bastrop, Burleson, Caldwell, Lee and Milam counties. Her opponents are Democrat Madeline Eden and Republican Stan Gerdes . See more here at Bastrop Votes . Susan Cook , independent candidate for Hays County Commissioner, Precinct 4, filed 700 valid signatures to more than meet the 500 required for placement on the November ballot. Susan just received notice from Hays County she's on the November ballot! See Susan on Facebook -- website coming soon. LIV has reached out to the only other independent candidate running for Texas legislature who will be on the November ballot, Alejandro Arrieta , House District 103 (Carrollton). Arrieta will face longtime Democratic incumbent Rafael Anchia . Eight out of 34 candidates that filed to run for state or federal offices were approved for the ballot by the Secretary of State. See tweet by Texas Tribune political correspondent, Patrick Svitek. LIV ratings will come out with our star-ratings in August for the November general election. If you are a candidate of any party affiliation and would like to take our survey or redo the one that you may have previously submitted, please contact us. LIV has yet to rate any candidates for federal office.

Don't let us spoil it for you. Click on the picture to check out this WFAA report about the hottest taxpayer revolt going on in Texas led by realtor, Chandler Crouch.

Texas Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), who was appointed by Lt. Governor Dan Patrick to chair the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Water and Rural Affairs, made the following statement during his keynote address yesterday (June 16) to the Texas Water Conservation Association (TWCA): Referencing what happens when science underlying a permit is wrong and wells go dry, Perry said, "We’re going to have that conversation.” Kermit Heaton, landowner and cattle rancher in Paige, Texas (Bastrop County) who spoke to Perry's Committee on May 10th, responded by saying, "I hope this is not the same B.S. we have been fed for years on a problem right under the nose of state officials. They were warned about the Vista Ridge (San Antone Hose) starting 2014 when SAWS and their private partners came in with their bought-and-paid for ‘experts’. Now there have been a bunch of rural wells go dry — in the first 6 months of pumping -- and they had to be reworked or re-drilled. I think an audit of Vista Ridge will show us how NOT to handle our water resources. These water marketers can’t act like robber barons who can rape and pillage at their whim. As Saint Augustine said ‘In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery.’" From the TWCA website : Texas Water Conservation Association (TWCA) is a 501(c)(4) association of water professionals and organizations in the state of Texas working to promote sound water policy for the state. By the time you read this message, they will have concluded their summer conference held in Round Rock, Texas, one of the fastest growing communities in the US .

A Texas Tax Code Chapter 313 (aka the Texas Economic Development Act) creates a state tax incentive program for certain large businesses to limit the appraised value on their property for the purposes of local Texas public school district property taxes. In essence, big business gets the tax breaks, little homeowners pick up the tab. According to Austin Interfaith, "With Chapter 313 set to expire at the end of the year, the state's comptroller office has received a record number of applications. Since Jan. 1, 2022, school districts have sent in 393 company Chapter 313 applications. In any given year before this, the office received maybe 150 applications." ( More here ) One 313 application recently filed by the Elgin ISD with the Comptroller's Office and looking for approval is for yet another Bastrop County solar farm that will require clear-cutting. In September 2021, a divided Smithville ISD, passed a controversial 313 subsidy for a solar farm that clear cut 1200 acres in Rosanky. This new proposed solar farm will require the clear-cutting of 2,100 acres bisected by Little Sandy Creek south of Elgin, Texas, in an area prone to flooding. According to residents the land provides "an ever-diminishing refuge for area wildlife." Read the full article published in the Elgin Courier with a joint statement by area residents and Bastrop Interfaith here . If the Elgin ISD application is approved, the Comptroller will send the application back to the ISDs for a vote, according to this June 10th KVUE article . You can attend (in person or online) the Elgin ISD meeting this Monday night, June 20, at 7 pm where landowners are expected to ask this application to go away. Meeting details here . We suggest y ou read this statement by the very conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation's statement against Chapter 313 subsidies. This Houston Chronicle editorial released last December contains some important background on this issue.

Independent politics in Texas is blooming. Can we make it boom in 2022? Under what conditions might it happen this year? The federal lawsuit filed in July 2019 challenging Texas ballot access laws for independent candidates and minor parties will soon be moving forward. Read about it here before the forum. RSVP to attend tomorrow night's First Monday LIV Forum HERE or click the button below. Susan Cook , Linda Curtis, and Kodi Sawin are petitioning to get on the ballot as independents for Hays County Commissioner (Pct. 4), Texas House in HD-17, and Texas House District 19. And, here's a big deal for Bastrop County voters : Former Bastrop County Judge and Democrat Ronnie McDonald, is petitioning to get on the ballot to run again for the same seat, this time as an independent. If you're petitioning to get on the ballot, please tell us and attend this forum. Hoping to see y'all tomorrow night!

The Republican establishment, and every lobbyist this side of the Pecos to DC and New York City, targeted Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape for defeat in the May 24 Republican runoff. Water and local control champion, Paul Pape, lost by 325 votes failing to become the Republican nominee for State Representative for Texas House District 17 --Bastrop, Burleson, Caldwell, Lee, and Milam counties -- home of the central Texas water wars. Judge Pape will remain Bastrop County Judge until January 2023. In or out of office, we expect continued community service from Pape. He’s built that way. In the middle of the heated runoff in this race with Rick Perry’s poodle , Stan Gerdes, Pape (pronounced “poppy”) was helping to raise funds for Elgin tornado victims. Gerdes and political operative Ed Johnson of Lee County (formerly Director of Harris County Voter Registration) attempted to hornswoggle veterans at the Armed Forces Day Commemoration in Giddings, Texas (Lee County). ( That's Johnson to the left of Gerdes .) While Pape refused to shake down donors to fund his campaign, covering most of the campaign costs himself, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan and lobbyists galore were loading up Gerdes with campaign cash. While Gerdes was calling Pape a "liberal," Gerdes took money from a New York PAC that donates more heavily to Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi! The Latest on the Gerdes/Perry Gravy Train Stan Gerdes spent at least $500,000 to win HD-17 by 325 votes. Texas Ethics Commission reports reveal Speaker Phelan kicked in at least $44,500. There may be more to see in Gerdes' July report. We have no idea how many people and PACs the Speaker directed to donate to Gerdes' coffers. In the latest reports filed by Gerdes with the Texas Ethics Commission, we found 46 registered lobbyists who represent 449 different special interest groups and entities. They are a who's who in energy, real estate, insurance, builders, you name it. On water, here are a few of the cities, counties, and water authorities involved in the Gerdes/Perry gravy train . They are interests from the City of Austin, Bryan, Garland, San Antonio, Harris County, Nueces County, LCRA (Lower Colorado River Authority), the Lower Neches Valley Authority, the Sabine River Authority, San Antonio River Authority, San Jacinto River Authority, North Texas Municipal Water District, Texas Water Infrastructure Network, and the Upper Neches River Authority. Then there are the plentiful natural resources grabbers on Gerdes' reports, including the railroads, the toll roads, and other powerful grabbers. These people rightly see House District 17 and rural Texas as resource-rich. Obviously, they gave to Gerdes expecting an ally in the legislature who would help them plunder those resources for profit and NOT for the benefit of people who live in HD-17. See Gerdes’ reports at the Texas Ethics Commission here . Confused by the RINO, They Forgot the Elephant Stan Gerdes, his political handler, former Governor Rick Perry, and their political consultants known for dirty tricks, used Pape’s non-partisan leadership to attack him as a “liberal.” Pape, an ordained minister, couldn’t be more conservative – socially and fiscally...at least in the OLD Grand Old Party (GOP), the Republican Party of Texas. The new GOP has fallen prey to "red-meat" conservatism, taking the party into a form of political insanity . The new GOP has all but snuffed out genuine Texas conservatism -- based on private property -- our vast land and water resources. Genuine conservatism in Texas has been on the skids for a long time, thanks to the nearly permanent incumbency of Rick Perry, who is a stranger to graceful retirement. Perry put up our land and water for hock long ago. The pushback from a gigantic cross-partisan coalition of Texans -- and our six years of hard labor -- defeated Perry's Trans-Texas Corrido r , also known as the NAFTA highway. The $200 billion TTC would have been the largest eminent domain seizure in Texas history, breaking independent farming by putting a scar across the richest farm soil in the world. The TTC debacle almost cost Perry his job when then Texas Comptroller, Carole Keeton Strayhorn , left the GOP to run as an independent for Governor against him in 2006. Perry lucked out with two independents in the race (including comic and author Kinky Friedman ) and was re-elected but with only 39%. And just after his narrow reelection, Perry’s TTC went down in flames in the 2007 legislative session. The Independent Movement is a Challenge to the OLD and NEW GOP Rick Perry made his move to put Texas on the auction block again in 2013 and this time it worked all too well. He used state funds to poach businesses from other states, urging them to move to Texas as fast as possible in commercials. A selling point was our already low taxes to be augmented by giveaway tax subsidies from the controversial Texas Enterprise Fund . Today, Texas government (local and state) is still giving big and unnecessary tax breaks to businesses that would come here anyway. Our article about the Samsung subsidies, " Samsung Subsidies Snooker , " documents 30 years of 90% property tax reductions by the City of Taylor and 20 years of 90% property tax reductions by Williamson County, and HALF of Milam County's available groundwater per year! The voracious hogs at the public trough in "The Lobby" -- Big Real Estate, Big Oil, Big Insurance, etc., couldn't have cared less about how this would bring us to today. Texans are getting priced out of our homes, our water supply is threatened, our energy is destabilized, we face manmade flooding, and we even risk damage to aquifers that cannot be "fixed." If the aquifers being sacrificed to Vista Ridge are damaged, we're talking game over for growth in Central Texas. "The Lobby" is hereby on notice. Local Control or Controlling the Locals Former Texas House Speaker, Joe Straus, could have saved the Grand Old Party when the legislature went after local control in 2015 . When folks in Denton -- largely Republicans -- passed setbacks for fracking facilities in their city, Straus was Speaker. Straus may have been working behind the scenes, but we saw no effort to stop the hysterical herd of legislators whipped into a frenzy by the oil and gas lobby from overturning an ordinance passed by the voters. After it was overturned ( HB 40 ), Straus turned his head when one of his lieutenants, then Rep. Jim Keffer (R-Eastland), tried to gut the 100-year law giving Texans the right to petition for a public vote in Texas municipalities. We were caught flat-footed when the anti-petition bill ( HB 2595 ) handily passed the House. We quickly moved to bring together a cross-partisan coalition to kill the bill in a Senate committee. Under Straus, the "Californiafication" of Texas water policy went into overdrive. The monstrous Vista Ridge/San Antone Hose pipeline picked the wallets of 1.8 million SAWS ratepayers with 58% rate hikes for an unnecessary project. Straus' constituents living in one of the poorest cities in America – San Antonio – are still getting hosed by the hose! (To be fair, Straus came out for local control in schools in 2021. We wrote about it here .) Hats Off to Water and Local Control Allies Pape, Fischer and Dowell We wish to thank Bastrop County Judge Pape, Lee County Judge Paul Fischer (who will be stepping down in January, as is Judge Pape), and former Giddings Mayor John Dowell, who just stepped down after eight years of service to the people of Giddings. We are eternally grateful for your efforts to protect our water and local control. In our humble opinion, any failures of non-partisan leaders like Pape, Fischer, and Dowell are due to state government denying our local officials the tools they need to deal with the hollowing out of rural Texas we witness today. Political leaders, not hacks, are damn hard to replace. The most critical task of the independent movement is to find new leaders and school them right -- as non-partisans -- so they can make a real difference. Join us to carry on. Millions of young people are counting on us. There's more to the story about Gerdes and Perry in the News section at IndyTexans.org .

Volunteer at the Lee County Fair, May 19 thru 21 -- Thursday through Saturday. Join us for the parade on Saturday, 10 am. We'll be riding those water marketers high, like we did at the Lexington Homecoming! Senate Interim Water Hearing We gotta tell you that the Tuesday Hearing by the Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs was a big hoot. Perry was watching his ps and qs, allowing those pesky Lee and Bastrop County landowners who are facing water depletion, and their advocates, lots of time to state their cases. Catch them -- John DeGomez, Bill Rhodes, Andy Wier (Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund), Don Hardy, Nancy McKee, LIV Advisor, James Murphy (on ocean desal) and Kermit Heaton -- between 3:55:18 and 5:24:03 on the Senate Recorded Hearing here . Our quick take on the hearing: Chairman Sen. Charles Perry, while trying extra hard to at least appear to cater to these landowners (all conservative Republicans), it was the urban liberal Democrat and freshman, former Travis County Judge, Sarah Eckhardt, who grabbed Republican thunder. Eckhardt had, in fact, helped get an important landowner protection bill ( HB 3619 ) through the Texas House in 2021. When it got to Perry's Senate Committee, he sat on it rendering it graveyard dead. Perry also stated that the aquifers for Vista Ridge are "fast recharging." Perhaps he misspoke. We promise you these are VERY SLOW TO RECHARGE aquifers -- as in 100s of years for mega-pumping projects like Vista Ridge. Admittedly, the Ogallala Aquifer in Perry's district is practically-speaking a no-recharging aquifer. Texas leadership -- including Rick and Charles Perry (no relation) failed to fight for protections of one of the greatest aquifers in the world -- the Ogallala . What was most bothersome to us at LIV is that Perry implied that getting the landowners some money to remunerate their damages was all they really wanted. Not so. They and many others -- hundreds, even thousands of residents in Milam, Burleson and Lee counties -- had already turned down the salesmen for the water marketers who knocked on their door. Some reported to us, after multiple visits from these "salesmen," having to brandish firearms to get their point across to vacate their property. As landowner, Don Hardy , pointed out, we don't really know where the water is headed now that San Antonio is "waterful" -- a word SAWS invented for having too much water on their hands! No one responded when he suggested the Senate Committee find out. :) No one is safe until we get real protections for the people, environment and wildlife dependent on the water under and over our feet! Visit more here about Pape's Five-Star Rating from LIV. Visit LIV's "Big Squeeze" water page to take in the story of Vista Ridge.

"No city can deal with the likes of the growth that's happening to Dripping Springs." A Vista Ridge Consultant. The "g" word isn't greed or the Texas grid. It's growth . From environmentalists who actually still say inane things like "everyone is welcome" to conservatives who still think the GOP cares about rural people, and even the purveyors of "drain first, conserve later" projects like Vista Ridge -- they won't talk bad about growth. But, we regular folks know that cancer is also a growth, and growth -- unfettered and subsidized by moving drinking water, the most precious resource on the planet -- can kill the organism. In this case the organism is our land, our water and our future. Finally, some in media are starting to pick up on the BIG story! “Despite the frequent boosterism among state leaders about people and businesses moving to Texas, there are signs that many Texans now perceive downsides to that growth,” said James Henson, executive director of UT Austin’s Texas Politics Project. More here at KVUE-TV There are two Mr. Perry's, both Republicans, Who Brought Us Here -- along with their pals in the Democratic Party. This lame 2013 radio ad by then Texas Governor Rick Perry for his "Come to Texas" campaign put in overdrive a massive subsidy program -- the Texas Enterprise Fund -- to bring companies, especially big water users, to Texas. Many believe they would have come anyway due to our already low taxes and little-to-no regulation, not to mention hugely generous tax subsidies. One of the biggest wake up calls was revealed by the Texas Appraisal District Association when they released a study way back in 2006 . The study showed how large-scale commercial properties in Texas are under-valued on average by 40%, resulting in a $4 billion loss in revenue to the state. Local Austin real estate investor, Brian Rodgers, blew this whistle again about it in 2010, despite knowing it could hurt his bottom line -- see Austin Bulldog story here . In today's market, how much might that loss be, we will not guess. Just know that the Lege has failed to bring home the bacon for homeowners and renters, just their donor pals in real estate. Truth be told, the growth machine is a two-party sham with some leading Democrats fully onboard. Former Austin Mayor and former State Senator, Kirk Watson, is a leader of the growth machine . Watson helped turn the Austin Chamber of Commerce into a servant of big real estate to the detriment of local Austin businesses. Meanwhile, the narcissistic Watson built a formidable donor list as Austin's affordability began to tank. And, the dude is running again for Austin Mayor. Texas Monthly Weighs In " Residential appraisals are up 15 to 30 percent in Harris County, 20 percent in Tarrant County, 24 percent in Dallas County, 25 percent in Bexar County, and 53 percent in Travis County, and I could go on." Texas Monthly, What the Bleep is Happening with Texas Property Taxes? , May 4, 2022. The Texas growth machine is an unholy alliance of the worst of the Texas GOP with the worst of the Texas Democrats ensconced in large Texas municipalities where it's obvious that growth ain't paying for itself come hell or high-water, pardon the pun . Instead, the "machine" is creating unlivable places without reliable and affordable water and energy and taking rural Texas for a ride. Together with rural Republicans like Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), Texas is in trouble as people flood in from other states, pricing current residents out while those very same new residents feel betrayed. No one told them in a year's time, their property valuations would hit the roof and they'd be facing an unreliable energy grid. No one told them about water flooding due to hyper-development. And no one mentioned the scandalous water grabs if the water hustlers wanted to move your water somewhere else. Tuesday Senate Water Hearing • May 10, 9 am click here for full hearing notice, including invited speakers Interim hearings are held in between our bi-annual legislative sessions. The Interim Charges given to the Texas House by the Speaker of the House, Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont), and to the Senate by the Lt. Governor, Dan Patrick (R-Harris Co.) , lay out what the two leaders of their respective chambers want their committees to study in order to develop new laws for the 2023 legislative session. See the Senate Charges here, see page 21 for Water . See House Charges here, see page 23 for Natural Resources Please note Charge No. 5 of the House Charges on Natural Resources. It suggests a look under the hood of Vista Ridge is in order: The current chairman of House Natural Resources is Tracy King (D-Uvalde). King is known to shoot straight and understands SAWS' bullying ways. That's not to say SAWS hasn't done some good things. But as one keen San Antonio based observer who has tried to achieve ratepayer relief for San Antonio's beleaguered ratepayers recently said, "SAWS has already grabbed the low-hanging fruit on conservation and Vista Ridge has made it more difficult for them to really go the distance on conservation so needed now." By now we hope you're asking why is Vista Ridge such a hindrance to water conservation in San Antonio, the second largest city in Texas? As SAWS says in their own PR, they are "waterful." a made up spin word that translates to the very strange "problem" they have. They have too much water! Does anyone know where this "extra" water is and what they're doing with it? We don't trust SAWS to tell us, but maybe a Senate Committee can find out. LIV has documented the long sorrowful story of the Vista Ridge "The San Antone Hose" on our Big Squeeze water page here . It will take you a while to get through it, but it's a great story, so get some popcorn. We, the people, have 2-minutes @ Senate Water Hearing on Tuesday For those who are testifying on Tuesday, you will have 2 minutes, or so we hope. The time- miserly chair of the Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Charles Perry has been known to cut citizens to 1-minute...or to none at all. Know that Charles Perry has something in common with the famous (or is it infamous?) Rick Perry. They have both presided over the draining of the Ogallala Aquifer in West Texas. And Charles Perry, appointed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to chair the critically important Texas Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs, by Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, has KILLED (by holding in committee and refusing to hold a hearing) many water bills in order to brow beat water bill authors into submission to support his flawed water agenda. We promise you, it's not just us "radical" independents who have an issue with the Senator. Perry. He has ticked off a legion of people who, despite our many disagreements, are all suffering from the "growth machine's" planning -- or lack thereof. Even vultures have a pecking order, eh? (You might want to read Texas Monthly's " Worst Legislators " rating of Charles Perry in 2021.) Don't Forget Perry's Pilfering Poodle Paws Addendum Here's what Independent Texans PAC says about the two candidates -- water ally Paul Pape and Rick Perry poodle -- Stan Gerdes, running for the House District 17 GOP nomination. The runoff is May 24. Groundwater is THE issue in the new HD-17 -- Bastrop, Burleson, Caldwell, Lee and Milam counties. Read this News piece, the rest of this message here too . Click on "Remember the Ogallala, Remember Vista Ridge" to view the flier:

The purpose of the Rate Advisory Committee of San Antonio Water System (SAWS), San Antonio's public water utility, is to recommend a rate structure for costs of service, affecting nearly 2 million ratepayers. The RAC was suspended early in the 2020 COVID crisis. In January 2022, SAWS finally called them back. Upon the committee’s return, they were handed a newly revamped set of by-laws that transferred the approval of the Cost of Service from the RAC to the exclusive purview of the Board of Trustees of SAWS. The resulting effect reverses decisions made by the 2019 committee. Who does this? In December 2020, SAWS CEO Robert Puente was allowed to use public money to conduct a sneak legal action launched to stop a citizen's petition drive for a public vote on the utility's transparency, accountability, and an audit of Vista Ridge. We were petitioning in the midst of COVID months after the RAC had been suspended due to "concerns" for their safety. The rest of us could eat cake! The Legislature must be made to face the inconvenient truth. It is easily made plain by SAWS' made-up marketing word, "WATERFUL." That's right. They have too much water while landowners and groundwater districts east of Austin, are dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars in damaged wells and a growing debate about the desired future conditions of critical aquifers depended on by hundreds of thousands, if not millions as people flood into the area. To the millions who live east of Austin, to Austin, to the Hill Country, and to San Antonio who are facing a train wreck in property values, water mismanagement and growth gone wild -- we must work together. We must work together to support our sober politicians and to put the drunks on the wagon. Join us at next Monday's LIV Forum, May 2, at 8 pm. And, please prepare to come to Austin on May 10th. (Visit out Events Page for more.) Alfred E. Puente is still not worried. We are.

"I came to Driftwood from California last year expecting some peace. I can't believe what is happening to us." A petition signer at Dripping Springs Founders Day, April 24, 2022. The political drunks pushing growth -- and us --- off a cliff, leaving us with few tools to protect our land and water, are hereby put on notice -- the independent movement has your number! Be NOT confused, voters! You will be voting throughout the month of May, and we're already in early voting. Use this page at the League of Women Voters , your county elections offices, and don't forget local electric coops! Read the rest of our LIV News; Elections in May -- don't be confused! Events Galore! Grid Collapse, Should-Be Front Page News, from Paul Robbins. Rick Perry's Poodle in HD-17, home of the water wars. Endorsement News! Kathi Thomas for Pedernales Electric Coop. Who Does This? Alfred E. Puente. It's all here.

First things first -- please sign in again to our email list with your zip code to help us work with you on the very local level. Go here , please. LIV's First Monday Forum was rescheduled for this Monday, April 11th at 7 pm. It's a doozy: War What is it Good For? Join us for a guided discussion of the articles -- from the left to right -- we've posted on the RSVP page here . Note: LIV does not engage in federal issues, including foreign policy. But we know it's impossible to ignore the dangers unfolding in the Ukraine. We've compiled articles we suggest you read before the forum. LIV deeply appreciates Lee County Judge Paul Fischer and Michele Gangnes, Simsboro Aquifer Water Defense Fund (and LIV advisor), longtime allies in conserving the aquifers and landowner protections, seen together here at the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District hearings last Monday. Note: Next week we will cover Texas water wars from 30,000 feet, and how all Texans are affected. Last week, we mentioned two public Lost Pines District water hearings in Bastrop. One was a rehearing on a permit demand dispute going on since 2018 when local landowners and other water users first protested the LCRA’s permit request to pump 25,000 acre-feet of groundwater per year (AFY). Remember, Vista Ridge is 50,000 AFY. The Lower Colorado River Authority’s mega-permit demand is on the same aquifer targeted by Vista Ridge – the Simsboro formation of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer. It’s about the same amount of water that continues to be demanded under Gatehouse Water LLC’s permit (formerly Forestar) by “Chicken Little’s Lawyer.” We reported last week that Gatehouse has filed a federal lawsuit against the Lost Pines district and its board. Monday’s hearing resulted in this: On LCRA’s permit, the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District held firm on their original decision to cut back their permit from 25,000 AFY to 8,000 with a few other changes (including much needed groundwater and Colorado River monitoring). LCRA is threatening suit. The City of Bastrop’s permit request to drill three additional wells (at XS Ranch in Bastrop County) and produce a total amount of 6,000 acre-feet of groundwater in Bastrop County was tabled for more discussion next month. One exchange between Lost Pines board member Phil Cook and Trey Job, City of Bastrop’s Assistant Manager was about the City’s conservation efforts and how much water city residents are using. Job didn’t seem to know precisely but it was somewhere between 175 and 200 gallons per day per household. The City of San Antonio, which brought us Vista Ridge is using 55 gallons per day. Cook raised that this lack of conservation does not reflect well on the communities that don’t want massive pumping of their aquifers. We can’t disagree here at LIV one iota! Suggested Podcast: The Purple Principle : An award-winning, non-partisan podcast for independent-minded Americans interviewed LIV for their April 12 show as part of their big series on Texas . Suggested Reads: David Stockman , The Warfare State's Infinitely Mendacious Echo Chamber Austin Chronicle : Aquifer Storage Project Steams Ahead Bill King : City of Houston Water Rates Nearly Double Over Next Five Years San Antonio Express News: Texas Hill Country : ‘Tipping point’: Waters under fire in Texas Hill Country as development, population boom