Summary of this week’s report:
The 2012 Texas primary is only a few weeks away and voting for the right candidates is more essential than it’s ever been. The stakes
are huge at both the state and national levels. It’s vital that we nominate true conservatives to represent us on the ballot in
November. Here are my thoughts on the primary, along with my
personal endorsements.
Full report:
Not long ago, leftist agitators and various race based groups succeeded in throwing Texas politics into flux by filing suit over
the new electoral map drawn up by the Texas legislature, claiming it was “racist.” (Of course, these days, “racist” and “racism”
have just become swear words that liberals hurl indiscriminately when they don’t get their way on something.) Our primary was
originally scheduled to be held on March 6th, but was delayed until April 3rd, until finally being moved all the way back to May 29th,
thanks to the lawsuit over the new map.
Because our choice of presidential nominee is essentially moot due to the late date of the primary, many Republicans might be tempted
to stay home on May 29th, but conservatives should not make this mistake. It’s imperative that we come out and make our voices
heard, and stand strong in our never ending battle to take the Texas Republican Party back from the likes of Joe Straus and his
RINO enablers.
Speaking frankly, Joe Straus has been a disaster as Speaker of the House in Austin. With an overwhelming majority in the House, the
Republican members should have been able to pass a lot of much needed conservative legislation dealing with important issues.
Unfortunately, as we’re all sadly aware, that hasn’t happened, and Joe Straus has been one of the main reasons it hasn’t. He appoints
committees and chairmen, giving him the power to effectively prevent any bill he doesn’t like from ever coming up for a vote. He
and his cronies have done that time and time again.
Straus never could have accomplished his task of blocking the conservative agenda without the help of dozens of Republican House
members, the very people we voted for in order to pass the bills Straus has been blocking. As Pat Carlson, President of the Texas
Eagle Forum put it:
“In 2010, Texas voters thought electing a two-to-one majority of conservative Republicans to the Texas House would send an
unmistakable message to legislators that they wanted strong conservative leadership.”
Unbelievably, our own “Republican Revolution” came to naught because the very Republicans we elected to bring about that
revolution then turned around and voted for a Speaker who had already made it crystal clear he was going to do everything he
could to stop the revolution in its tracks. Out of 101 GOP House members, only 15 had the courage and principles to vote against
Straus for Speaker.
This is not only outrageous, it’s also incredibly frustrating. All that time, labor and money freely given by thousands of
conservative Texans to bring about the 2010 election results, and this is the thanks we get? This is the kind of behavior that causes
many conservatives to give up in disgust, concluding that “they’re all a bunch of hypocrites… so what’s the use of even trying?” While
this feeling is understandable, we simply can’t afford to give into it. Instead, we’ve got to work harder than ever to elect real
conservatives who will truly take a stand for our values and won’t back down.
To that end, I’m offering my personal endorsements for the upcoming Texas House races for the GOP primary on May 29th. I’m focusing on
the House because our most important state priority in November is removing Joe Straus from the Speaker’s position. If we can get rid
of him, and elect a true conservative as Speaker, we could finally see our years of hard work promoting conservative values pay off.
In my own district, I’m thankful that I’ve got a great Representative, James White, one of the brave 15 who voted against
Straus for Speaker. He has my vote.
I’m also calling for conservatives in the San Antonio area to rally around and support Matt Beebe, who’s running against Joe Straus in
the primary. It’s really important that we do everything we can to get Matt elected. If he wins, we won’t have to worry about Straus
being re-elected Speaker.
As for the rest of the Texas House races, I can’t in good conscience support anyone who voted to re-elect Joe Straus as
speaker in 2010. On the contrary, I strongly endorse all of the other Representatives up for re-election who, along with my
representative, James White, stood up for what’s right and voted “No” to Joe Straus as Speaker. They are: Leo Berman (Tyler),
Cindy Burkett (Mesquite), Wayne Christian (Center), Dan Flynn (Van), Phil King (Weatherford), Jim Landtroop (Plainview), Jodie
Laubenberg (Parker), Tan Parker (Flower Mound), Charles Perry (Lubbock), David Simpson (Longview), Van Taylor (Plano), and Bill
Zedler (Arlington).
If you don’t live in one of these districts, and one of the candidates is an incumbent who supported Straus, I strongly urge
you to vote for a different candidate, if he or she is at all conservative. We’ve got to let Republican politicians know that
playing politics as usual is not going to cut it. The “go along to get along” approach that led them to support a RINO like Straus was
a complete betrayal of our trust, and we’re not going to put up with that sort of thing any longer, and we need to send that
message loud and clear on May 29th. If at all possible, do not give your vote to an incumbent who supported Straus. This doesn’t mean
that every challenger is automatically worthy of your vote, but in many cases they are, and unless they hold some positions that are
clearly out of line with conservative values, we should support the challengers, instead of the known Straus supporters.
If you need more information about different candidates before making a final decision, almost every candidate these days has a
website, and there are several other online resources you can use to learn more about them, and where they stand on the issues. In
conclusion, on May 29th we need to send a message to those Republicans who double crossed us by voting for Straus after we
worked so hard to get them elected, to let them know we’ve had it with RINOs and spineless, squishy “conservatives.” If you’re in
the district of one of the brave 15 who opposed Straus, support the incumbent. If not, support the challenger unless there’s a really
good reason for not doing so.
The Peter Morrison Report
http://www.PeterMorrisonReport.com
http://www.facebook.com/morrisonreport
Sources:
http://www.texasobserver.org/contrarian/item/17265-the-15-who-voted-against-straus
http://texaseagle.org/legislative-scorecard/2011-scorecard.html
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options visit:
http://www.aweber.com/z/r/?LKxMHCzstCwcbBycbAxMtEa0jCxMbGysnIw=
(Pundit’s Note: Peter Morrison is not anyone I’ve ever met, nor do I know how the heck I got on his mailing list. But he’s a great thinker, and I agree with 99% of what he says, most of the time. My old partner John started printing his columns here with Peter’s permission, and I’m going to continue to do so as long as Peter allows.)
~Johnny~
The Texas GOP is looking for this Alan D. Vera guy who they claim is at least partly responsible for the most disruptive moments at this weekend’s state convention in Fort Worth. Since the party and the elected state representatives haven’t taken seriously Tea Party demands that Joe Straus be ousted as Speaker, the Tea Party Patriots present at the convention took matters into their own hands. The footage below is from only 1 of 20 exit ramps at the Fort Worth Convention Center Arena. Perhaps they got the message that we want them to “Oust Straus.” We’ll see.
Don Bechtold
Alan is a cofounder of truethevote.org – you two should talk.