| QUOTING… “They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong. There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.” — Ronald Reagan |
Today’s headline in the Dallas Morning News says it all: “Texas business groups ally to counter tea party influence in GOP primaries.” Ironic, since the tea party arose to counter those establishment groups working to undermine our economy and liberty!
This is exactly the same thing happening right now in DC, with big-government “business” groupsseeking to undermine the popular work of reform-minded senators like Ted Cruz. It’s just that rather being a story on Fox News about distant happenings in liberal Washington, it’s playing out right here at home.
The fight isn’t just “there,” it’s here. Are you ready?
Trough Feeders
These “business groups” tend to be those who feed from the government trough, and worry their rent-seeking ways might be limited, or even revealed. As we had previously reported about this “Texas Future Business Alliance,” they’re going to be engaging in elections only by hiding their true goals.
They are calling what the Wall Street Journal identified as a 25 percent increase in state spending “conservative.” The legislators they are protecting as “conservatives” are the ones who every conservative group — and even a series of non-partisan studies of the legislature from Rice University — show to be the most liberal Republicans in Texas office!
The DMN and these “business groups” are presenting a typically false choice, as our Ross Kecseg put in an email to me this morning: “Spend profusely or have no infrastructure at all.”
While conservatives want prudent and responsible
Just a few years ago we were told that Texans’ had to take on $4 billion in debt so that we could cure cancer. So far, no cancer cures have emerged… but revelations of cronyism and potentially criminal behavior have been uncovered in the scheme.
Fortunately, Texas’ Republican primary voters are smarter than the pro-cronyism lackeys give them credit. In 2012, 93 percent of primary voters gave their support to a ballot measure calling on state spending to be constitutionally restricted to no more than the sum of population growth and inflation.
Similarly, taxpayers have strong supported zero-based budgeting — which requires government budgets to start from zero rather than what was spent last time as a way to set priorities and ensure waste is kept at a minimum.
Both proposals are anathema to these “Future Alliance” cronies. They need bloat to continue unabated, knowing many of their contracts, programs and projects cannot withstand such scrutiny.
These guys know Texans expect honest, conservative governance, so they will say anything to soundright… even as they work — in the words of the DMN — “to counter” those very principles.
Saying It, Without Meaning It
Earlier this week, our general counsel wrote about an interesting case of three moderate candidates from different parts of the state trying to sell themselves as conservatives… using the exact same words, misspellings and punctuation. The common connection? House Speaker Joe Straus.
Skip Ogle, a lobbyist seeking to unseat conservative freshman Matt Krause, had a web page describing the depths of his conservative convictions, using the exact same words as Mike Novak (challenging Sen. Donna Campbell) and Duke Burge (in the open HD10 race).
Indeed, every statement on the men’s issues pages are the same, down to oddly emphatic (if also vague) statements on “Life” saying they “will always stand on the side of life. PERIOD!”
It turns out all three appear to have received “their” words from one consultant, who has also been paid$80,000 by House Speaker Joe Straus. That Speaker Straus’ team is playing in an open seat is one thing, but that his folks are targeting a conservative House and Senate member is a different story. It’s not only a breach of legislative decorum, but reflective of this broader effort by the Austin establishment crowd to attack conservatives by pretending to be conservatives.
Tied Together In Purple
As you might expect, the “business alliance” is also among the biggest supporters of Speaker Straus. They want to campaign as conservatives, even while legislating like liberals.
The big-spending cronies know they’re real goals are unpopular, so they have resorted to lying about themseleves. They want to turn Texas purple: Republican “red” in name, but Democrat “blue” in policy outcomes.
As each of us begin focusing on the primary elections, we must look past the stump speeches and labels by demanding evidence of convictions. The fight for the future has begun, and we have no choice but to win.
For Texas!
Michael Quinn Sullivan
& the EmpowerTexans.com Team