To: tejek who wrote (647821 ) 3/13/2012 1:52:26 PM From: PROLIFE Read Replies (1) | Respond to El Paso Mayor overrules voters, threatens opponents with jail By Coach Collins, on March 13th, 2012 by Doug Book, staff writer In a display of the arrogance of power for which the left have become so well known, Democrat El Paso Mayor John Cook decided not only to overrule the results of a 2010 ballot decision, he is hoping to jail those who dared circulate a recall petition in response to his contempt for the will of the voters. In 2009, Mayor Cook and a majority of the El Paso city council decided that health insurance benefits should be provided for unmarried and homosexual “partners” of city employees, at taxpayer expense of course. Church groups and others opposed to the decision gathered the necessary petition signatures to put the issue on the 2010 ballot. By a 55-45 margin, El Paso voters passed the ballot proposition which stated: “The city of El Paso endorses traditional family values by making health benefits available only to city employees and their legal spouse and dependent children.” (1) The left have often evinced a glaring lack of concern for the will of American voters and Mayor Cook carried on this tradition by ignoring the ballot results and choosing to provide the health benefits anyway. As a result, Tom Brown Ministries, the Word of Life Church and other groups and individuals circulated recall petitions for Cook and the city council members who chose to impose their own views rather than bow to the legal, expressed wishes of El Paso voters. And the people’s recall initiative succeeded as, with the required number of signatures and necessary approval of Governor Rick Perry, a new election was scheduled for April of this year. Naturally Mayor Cook went to court, filing suit against Brown and those who worked on the recall petitions. After all, should the wishes of simpleton voters actually begin to take precedence over the will of those who know what is best—that is, Democrat politicians– the ramifications for the agenda of the left would be disastrous! But Judge Javier Alvarez ruled in favor of Brown and the people of El Paso, stating that he did not believe it proper for a judge to overrule the expressed will of the people at the ballot box. Still claiming the utmost respect for the wishes of El Paso voters, Cook filed restraining orders against Brown. He turned Tom Brown Ministries over to the IRS, claiming the church had violated the law concerning its status as a non-taxable organization. And finally a Texas court of Appeals took up the Mayor’s cause, finding in favor of Cook, throwing out the recall notice and cancelling the recall election. And the reason given by the court—“laws regulating political-action committees and corporate political activities had been broken.” Apparently a website, though not owned by Brown Ministries, had somehow improperly assisted in gathering supporters of the recall effort. (2) So there will be no recall election. Mayor Cook will probably get by with ignoring El Paso voters and the will of the constituents he was elected to serve. And incredibly, a Texas prosecutor has now decided to pursue church members and others who helped in the recall petition drive. The Alliance Defense Fund which has filed a petition with the Texas Supreme Court on their behalf states that hundreds of Christians and other El Paso citizens “are facing jail time for exercising their constitutionally protected right to speak out against Mayor John Cook’s policies.” (3) The left must, after all, make examples of those who would dare take a stand against them. Having served the 2 term limit as El Paso Mayor, Cook will be forced to leave office at the end of the year. It will be interesting to see if he decides to stay on and imprison anyone who doesn’t like it!
