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The Myth of Joe Straus

By: Drew Ryun (Diary) | January 7th, 2011 at 10:11 AM |

RESIZE: AAA

As Erick noted earlier today, my fellow Texans have a clear, distinct choice as to who will be the Speaker of the Texas House coming up this Tuesday, January 11th. Let’s be honest. There is a clear cut difference between Joe Straus and Ken Paxton. For more on that, check this site out.

In spite of all the ads he has bought on Drudge, NewsMax and other conservative sites, Joe Straus and the word “conservative” do not belong next to each other. Leftwing, progressive, liberal-yes. But conservative? Not a chance.

As a man whose family is deeply entrenched in the gambling industry, lauded by groups like NARAL, Planned Parenthood, who worked with his lieutenants to kill good immigration reform bills and a very good Voter ID bill this past session, Straus is as far left on a host of issues as Dick Durbin and Chuck Schumer at the federal level. These are poster boys of the Left in case you hadn’t noticed.

And yet, Joe Straus is desperately trying to wrap himself in the mantle of conservatism and hope no one has paid attention to either his actions of those of the committee chairmen he appointed last legislative cycle.

On top of his progressive politics, Straus and his team have been running around Texas claiming credit for the massive wave experienced here on November 2nd. Nothing could be further from the truth. He claims to have helped Republicans pick-up dozens of seats, yet he did not give one dollar to any Republican challengers this fall, preferring to spend his time fundraising for Democrats while his lieutenants actively worked to knock off conservative incumbents in the Texas House.

And while he was not lifting a finger to help Republican challengers win, he was handing out six figure sums to incumbents who won by healthy double digits this fall. Look at the tables below. The first is the amount of money Republican challengers received from Joe Straus or his leadership PAC (it’s a grand total of zero).

The second is a compilation of Young Conservatives of Texas rankings, the percentage these incumbents won by and the amount of money they received from Joe Straus. Given the different names and entities Joe Straus and his camp give under (Joe Straus, Joe R. Straus III, Straus, Joe and Texas House Leadership to name a few) it is hard to peg the actual numbers, but the tables below come close (seriously, Tim Kleinschmidt, you needed $435k to win by 33% this fall?! And Doc Anderson, really? $177k to win by 20%? I’ll leave Linda Harper-Brown alone this time-I’ve already pointed out the optics problem she faces in earlier posts.)

Table 1: Zero financial support by Straus for seats taken by GOP from Democratic Incumbents
P	Dist	Legislator	Candidate Reported $ from Straus	% Won*	Margin of Victory
R	1	George Lavender	$0	52-41	11
R	3	Erwin Cain	$0	57-43	14
R	12	James White	$0	58-42	16
R	33	Raul Torres	$0	53-47	6
R	34	Connie Scott	$0	54-46	8
R	35	Jose Aliseda	$0	53-47	6
R	45	Jason A. Isaac	$0	54-46	8
R	47	Paul D. Workman	$0	50-46	4
R	52	Larry Gonzales	$0	57-38	19
R	57	Marva Beck	$0	52-46	6
R	78	Dee Margo	$0	52-48	4
R	93	Barbara Nash	$0	49-48	1
R	96	Bill Zedler	$0	52-48	4
R	101	Cindy Burkett	$0	52-48	4
R	102	Stefani Carter	$0	55-45	10
R	106	Rodney E. Anderson	$0	49-48	1
R	107	Kenneth Sheets	$0	51-46	5
R	117	John V. Garza	$0	52-48	4
R	133	Jim Murphy	$0	56-42	6
R	134	Sarah Davis	$0	51-49	2
* Not = 100 due to rounding and minor party candidates. Top 2 candidates shown (R-D)

Table 2: Where Straus money was spent
(Straus & his campaign funds & the THLF)

Dist

Legislator

81st YCT
****

% Won*

Margin of Victory

Subtotal Money

Chair

Gang of 11

Hopson, Chuck

35.5

76-24

$17,500

YES

Kleinschmidt, Tim

80.6

65-32

$435,000

Taylor, Larry

86.7

89-11**

$5,000

Zerwas, John

60.7

71-29

$5,000

Hilderbran, Harvey

77.4

90-10**

$2,500

Sheffield, Ralph

83.9

81-19**

$2,500

Anderson, Doc

83.9

58-38

$177,500

Orr, Rob

80.6

76-20

$5,000

Phillips, Larry

90.3

88-12**

$5,000

Parker, Tan

93.5

100-0***

100

$2,500

Miller, Doug

71.0

86-14**

$2,500

Jones, Delwin

51.6

LOST Primary

—

$15,000

YES

Laubenberg, Jodie

96.7

100-0***

100

$2,500

Smith, Todd

58.1

71-29

$12,500

YES

Patrick, Diane

54.8

85-10**

$2,500

Shelton, Mark

73.3

86-14**

$2,500

Truitt, Vicki

74.2

100-0***

100

$12,500

YES

Geren, Charlie

58.6

100-0***

100

$22,500

YES

105

Harper-Brown, Linda

83.9

52-45

$350,000

108

Branch, Dan

61.3

65-33

$5,000

YES

112

Button, Angie Chen

74.2

83-17**

$2,500

113

Driver, Joe

65.5

57-43

$317,500

126

Harless, Patricia

71.0

68-32

$7,500

129

Davis, John

76.7

100-0***

100

$2,500

130

Fletcher, Allen

90.3

89-11

$7,500

138

Bohac, Dwayne

53.6

63-35

$175,000

144

Legler, Ken

93.5

59-38

$365,000

* Not = 100 due to rounding and minor party candidates.
Top 2 candidates shown (usually R-D)

** No Democratic party challenger

*** No general election challenger at all

**** YCT = Young Conservatives of Texas voting rating

So, if you are a state Representative (and I especially want to challenge you freshmen), here in Texas sitting on the fence wondering which way you should vote on January 11th, I want to challenge you with this thought. Did Joe Straus help get you elected this fall? Or did he go out of his way to protect his cronies? And if Joe Straus did not help you get elected, who did?

The answer is simple. Tea party and grassroots conservatives. And guess what, if they could create the tidal wave they created on November 2nd, they can re-create that very same tidal wave during the primary season in 2012.

Tags: Angie Chen-Button, Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin, Doc Anderson, Dwayne Bohac, Erwin Cain, Joe Driver, Joe Straus, Ken Legler, Ken Paxton, Linda Harper-Brown, Stef Carter, Tim Kleinschmidt

COMMENTS

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texasgalt

Monday at 1:30. A quorum is 52. First order of business is a vote to see if they will take a vote on the Speaker issue. It takes 2/3 to move to a vote. The gentleman’s agreement is that all Republicans will stick by the caucus vote.

Taylor received 5K from Straus and the Straus folks have put pressure on Taylor, questioning the legitimacy of a Caucus vote. The caucus vote is not truly binding and the real vote will come on the floor. The floor vote will be the first time since 1974 that it was anything other than procedural.

100% of the Democrats that survived November 2 are committed to Staus. What else do Republicans need to know?

Taylor got some input from his district: http://www.hcnonline.com/bay_area/news/article_e0789d9a-26ec-5ccc-9c6a-e81a7fa0a70e.html

Besides calling your Reps, there is a chance to influence the Caucus Sunday and Monday, 1/10 – 1/11.

http://www.teaparty911.com/articles/oust_rino_joe_straus_rallies_austin_11th.htm

texasgalt

http://www.facebook.com/event.phpeid=188428597835096&notif_t=event_wall
momofthecastle

voting on the Speaker of the House if the Republicans are in the majority? I thought Texans had sense!!

miroco

I’ve been in the party since we numbered in dozens. I have held almost every volunteer position one can. I have a few years left, anybody who supports Strauss is MY enemy, you know I will never forget or even forgive. I am so tired of wusses, go back to your Yankee friends, get out of MY state.

sertelt

Texas pro-life groups are backing Paxton and opposing Straus
http://www.lifenews.com/2010/12/29/texas-pro-life-group-backs-paxton-over-straus-for-speaker/
graciegirl

Absolutely unexplainable. And the propaganda! We have been told that the Republican caucus vote which will not include Dems (duh!) will be so illegal it could call in Eric Holder to redistrict our state. Yesterday we were threatened that the Rep causus will not include Blacks and Hispanics so therefore will be illegal! Ahhh, never miss a chance to play the race card! What about the fact that the caucus is non-binding? A vote will follow in which everyone can vote so how can it be illegal?

I have reported here that I have gotten our self described Tea Party Rep Lois Kolkhorst to meet with our Tea P which she did for 90 minutes. She came with her mind made up so did not hear a word we said.

Over the holidays a couple of us continuously sent her new info so actually got a two on one, Three Hour meeting with her and she still will not budge. (BTW she runs unopposed, is entrenched by family and business in this district so has no fear of being primaried.)

I really am not accusing her of anything illegal. BUT there is something very that Straus was supported last time by all Dems and 11 Pubs and this time by approx 49 Dems and so many Pubs. I just cannot fiigure out the allegiance to this man when conservatives won. Hey! WE WON!
s_cook2010

The idea that conservatives are not supporting Straus is false. I am a solid conservative and I proudly support Mr. Straus as speaker. He did an excellent job leading last session and believe he will do so again this year. He is a strong conservative and is the type man we need leading this session. I have contacted my rep and let him know I hope he votes for Speaker Straus.

barry915barry

jwebb

barry915barry, are you implying that s_cook2010 is a liar? The poster states that he/she is a Conservative and backs Straus, which I would accept as a true statement and you throw this out?
Do you have anything of substance to contribute?
FWIW, I am a Conservative, I live in Texas and the idea of Joe Straus as Speaker does not bother me one bit. All I have read is how evil Straus is and that we should all back Paxton, but I have read or heard nothing from Paxton himself on how he’d run the joint. s_cook is correct, Straus did a good job in a tough environment.

barry915barry

I am not at this point questioning the bonafides of s_cook2010 (nor yours for that matter).

I am questioning the bonafides of Joe Straus. The suggestion by s_cook2010 that Joe Strauss is a “…strong conservative…” strains the boundaries of credulity.
It is not supported by the vote to be speaker. He was elected with 65 Democrat votes and only 11 Republican votes. He appointed 16 democrats as heads of committees as opposed to only 18 for Republicans. His scoring by Naral is a 73 average from 2005-2009. Planned Parenthood seems to like him too. Lastly, Drew pointed out above, with a link to an analysis of voting records, where Straus and Paxton stand. Ryun also threw in a couple of graphs on Straus for good measure.

Regarding PaxIon, it occurs to me that how you actually vote is WHERE you would lead. Feel free to draw a different conclusion:).

I am not sure anyone is “questioning” whether or not Straus did/did not do a “good job” in a tough environment. I would suggest that is simply irrelevant fluff. After all, it is hot when you are cooking in the kitchenand the oven is on.

Is he a conservative? Not likely based on his votes, his BEHAVIOR. Is he a strong conservative? Even less likely.

Links:

http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Texas-Declares-Rino-Season-Open-On-Joe-Straus/1811444
http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Texas-Declares-Rino-Season-Open-On-Joe-Straus/1811444
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Straus
http://texaslegislativeupdate.wordpress.com/2011/01/04/the-case-against-joe-straus-for-texas-speaker/
http://www.razshafer.com razshafer

I’m interested to know a bit more about why you have not found the rather significant attacks against Straus and his liberal record unsettling. From your previous Straus related comments it appears that you’ve gradually swung from the Paxton camp over to a much more pro-straus position.

Paxton’s record is very clear. He’s a staunch conservative that doesn’t shy away from tough fights. He’s respected among his colleagues and places in the stratosphere of every conservative legislative rating I’ve been able to dig up. Since he has announced, Paxton has been been heavily engaged in speaking to grassroots organizations, meeting with fellow members and doing a number of radio interviews. Through those mediums his desire to serve as a conservative Speaker is clear. Among other priorities he is firm in his desire to pass property tax reform, institute meaningful voter ID legislation and make our state government more transparent.

In the beginning of the speaker battle (before opposition to Straus was announced) it was clear that the status quo was far from something I could tolerate. Straus’ record, both as a voting member of the House of Representatives and during his time as Speaker of appointing liberals and failing to champion conservative causes is clear. How are we to believe he has had some kind of radical conversion to a more conservative set of principles?

After an arduous examination of the facts and records it is abundantly clear to me that Joe Straus is not the best Representative to sit in the Speaker’s chair this legislative session. I’m a firm believer that Ken Paxton is the better man for the job and that he will continue his record of solid conservative principles and action as Speaker.

jwebb

And I certainly don’t discredit Paxton’s voting record. I would be quite happy with Paxton in the Speaker’s job.
But. Straus is going to win and I am trying to point out that Straus will run the House in a fair manner, which in this house means that far more Conservative legislation will be brought forth. With this house, Conservatives will chair many more significant committees. While many choose to view Straus’s tenure in the last legislature as his downfall, I am more willing to see that he played a good hand with crappy cards and I do believe that is not irrelevant fluff.
Is Paxton a strong Conservative? I am sure he is. Does Paxton have the skill set to be Speaker? I’m not sure (and am not implying that he doesn’t, just that there is no history).
I think it is ridiculous that we win such a huge majority in the Texas House and immeditely form the circular firing squad.
barry915barry

I do not believe Straus’ track record indicates that he has been nor will be a solid, CONSERVATIVE speaker for the Texas house. Your suggestion that “With this house, Conservatives will chair many more significant committees.” simply does not meet the smell test. The man appoints DEMOCRATS to chairs plain and simple!!! I also do not agree with your assertion that we have formed a circular firing squad. The man is lauded by both Naral Texas and Planned Parenthood. Not exactly shining beacons leading the way for social conservatives.

This does not appear to be a case of two strong conservatives competing against each other and the people of Texas would be just as well off with either.

No, Paxton vs. Straus seems more like Rubio vs. Crist.

In this case it seems apparent that your leopard has already shown his true spots.
http://travismonitor.blogspot.com Freedoms Truth

Straus will appoint Democrats as committee chairs. I have been assured by a Straus supporter that this is ‘what is done’ and it will be done if Straus wins.
Do you think that a 101 to 49 majority needs to appoint even one Democrat committee chair? How many Democrat chairs will you tolerate and how much dilution of the conservative agenda will you accept to keep Straus as Speaker?

Paxton will make a better speaker for conservatives, no doubt. The Speaker’s power is in the chair appointments and he will make MUCH BETTER APPOINTMENTS for committee chairs.
This is why the real conservatives in the House are behind him; they were shut out by Straus and will be leaders with more of a role with Paxton.

Paxton will be like Boehner. Straus is like, well, he’s not much more conservative / Republican than Bob Bullock. Some say that’s fine, but we can do better.

Last point – it is NOT a circular firing squad to pick the best leader and have him run the House. paxton has laid out a clear conservative agenda and advocates being a leader with an agenda, a team leader not a mere umpire. Why not the best?
AceInTX

Conservatives are the vast majority in Texas yet we’ve been shut out through redistricting for 20 years in Texas…We finally got a majority setting us up to correct the imbalance of gerrymandered districts only to see the Dems use the voting rights act to force the redrawing of our maps and lessen the number of Republicans going to Washington after slinking off to Oklahoma to prevent a quorum and a vote on the maps….We’re STILL under represented…and now….we have the Dems and a hand full of RINOs and no nothing freshmen deciding who will be our speaker and who will draw the 2010 boundaries ensuring Republicans will still be under represented in Congress…

This is beyond belief
annas

I am SO disgusted with our newly elected Republicans in Texas that are (1) avoiding their constituents and (2) supporting Straus against the wishes of those constituents! One would have thought the Democrats ignoring their constituents would have taught these folks a lesson……guess not.
http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

Ace, if that’s true (and I don’t have any reason to doubt you), maybe the problem is that the conservatives in Texas aren’t where they ought to be — where the can really make an impact politically — inside the Republican Party of Texas itself, as I mentioned earlier in this thread.

The Republican Party of Texas actually has a pretty good “how to” guide for Republicans who want to get involved in the real ball game of politics — party politics — inside the Republican Party of Texas itself (which I’ve linked to on my little blog in my signature block below):

http://staging.electionmall.ws/texasgopsite/inner.asp?z=2

That’s where the “vast majority in Texas” need to be, in my humble opinion. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve received anecdotal evidence that the Republican Party of Texas, on average, across the state, is about the same as the national average: about half the allotted precinct delegate slots are vacant right now, just waiting for the warm body of a Texas conservative Republican to fill them up.

Thank you.

For Liberty,

ColdWarrior
AceInTX

and can’t be a precinct chair any more…

But I’d be happy to tell anyone who wants to know how to start in Texas that is interested in finding out…it’s actually scary how easy it is to take over a precinct…even if there is already someone there when you get to the convention
voltron

I’m a warm body, conservative, and I will show up
AceInTX

Before election day…go to the Texas GOP web site…download and read the party platform. if you have anyamendments you would like to add to the platform…write them out and take them with you to the polls on election day.

I always waited till about a half hour before the polls close to go vote

Texas law requires the location of precinct conventions be posted on the front door of the polling place…usually a school or library. vote and wait for the polls to close. Ask one of the polling officials if your precinct packet has been picked up…you may meet the existing precinct chair coming to pick it up….if there is no precinct chair…and no one shows up…congratulations…you’re a temporary precinct chair. The instructions for holding the convention are in that packet. There will be other instructions on what to do with the packet after the convention is over. There will also be paperwork to fill out if you wish to serve on a committees…or to do work at the SD convention…this is how I ended up with my credentials experience.

Bring five or six friends who will vote for you for precinct chair in case there are people there. Most precincts will only 2 to 5 people show up…if any…I was on the senate district credentials committee in 2004 and of all the dozens of precincts in all of San Antonio…I think there was one that had 10 delegates attending. .

During the precinct convention…you will begin by selecting a temporary precinct chair…once that is done the convention is called to order…you will make a list of all in attendance and check their names against the voter rolls to make sure they voted…you can not be a convention delegate in Texas unless you have voted in the primary.

You will make a list of precinct delegates who wish to attend the Senate District Convention….Again…for the most part this is automatic. Each precinct is allotted so many delegates who may attend the Senate District Convention. And using my experience on the Credential Committee again…we only had one precinct that had more people who wished to attend the SD convention than there were slots….there will be alternates…if you are chosen as an alternate…make sure you go…because there are always people chosen as delegates who won’t show…it 95% sure you will be seated at the SD convention…

You will make motions and vote on platform amendments you wish to have considered at the SD convention and you will adjourn …at most you’ll spend an hour or two with the precinct convention.

After this,…you will go to the SD convention where the whole process is repeated…you will vote on amendments to the plat form…listen to speeches of candidates who wish to address the convention…select delegates for the State convention….everything I said being an SD delegate applies to state…there will be a certain number of delegates from each precinct chosen to represent the SD at the State convention…the SD convention will take about a day…we always hold ours on Saturdays in San Antonio…I assume that’s the same state wide

I’ve lost track of the rotation but I think the convention will be in either Austin or Dallas this year….I’m sure Ill be corrected if I’m wrong on that.

I went in 2004 when it was being held in San Antonio…I had a ball…you won’t regret it if you go…it will take three days at the State convention…you’ll caucus with your SD convention to vote on different agenda items on the state convention level…and you’ll get word back on what business is being done on the various committees on the state level…the caucuses are broken up from time to time and all delegates go to the convention floor to vote on issues and to here speakers speak…this is the first time I ever heard Michael Williams speak…he won me over the first time I heard his voice…he’s got a powerful base voice that booms across the convention floor when he speaks…

anyway…that’s the way to get started.

Good luck
AceInTX

it’s not real hard to pick it up by observing other delegates if you’ve never participated in formal debate and conventions…but if you have the basics down…you won’t be intimidated if you decide to take the floor and offer comment or motions.
texasgalt

and yes 4-5 friends is all you need to take over most precincts. This past March primary evening, only 5 total showed up in my precinct. We elected ourselves. The other 21 slots available went unfilled.

TX GOP Convention was in Dallas this year.
AceInTX
http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

Great “how to” info!

The Neighborhood Precinct Committeeman Strategy had some successes again today in Arizona.

FYI, today at the Maricopa County, AZ Republican Committee Statutory Organizational Meeting, where the elected precinct committeemen elect their officers to two-year terms, we conservatives won everything. Our incumbent conservative chairman, Rob Haney, won with 69 per cent of the vote to 31 per cent for his adversary, who tried to claim in his literature that he was a “tea party candidate” and a staunch conservative. In two years we went from 1,989 precinct committeemen in the county to 2,935, and almost 67 per cent participated in the election, either in person or by proxy ballots. The number participating was the most ever. Most of the almost 1,000 new PCs were there today, and most were conservatives recruited from the tea parties and other grass roots conservative organizations. In the other contested election, for treasurer, our “true conservative” candidate won handily as well, and the other three conservative officers ran unopposed (including Janet Contreras or “The Letter” fame from Glenn Beck’s radio and TV programs).

Randy Pullen, our current state chairman, who was knocked out of his state committeeman slot at his legislative district election meeting a few weeks ago (making him ineligible to run again for state chairman), was appointed to a state committeeman slot by Rob Haney, because the county chairman has the right to appoint anyone to a vacancy, and there was a vacancy. Which now means Randy could run for state chairman again — I don’t know if that’s in the cards. Randy is a great conservative and also, currently, the RNC Treasurer. As RNC Treasurer, he’s been butting heads with Michael Steele.

As about 70 per cent of registered AZ Republicans live in Maricopa County, today’s results bode very well for the outcome of the state chairman’s race, which will be decided at the state annual meeting on Jan. 22 by the state committeemen — the precinct committeemen in every legislative district may elect one state committeemen for every three precinct committeemen. The next most populous county, Pima County, within which Tucson sits, also elected, across the board, conservatives to its leadership elections. Pinal County also elected grass roots conservatives to all of its leadership positions. And, today, in Mohave County, I’m told conservative Ron Gould was elected to the chairmanship.

So, I am pretty confident that conservative Bruce Ash, one of our two RNC delegates, and who has publicly stated he will NEVER vote to reelect Michael Steele as RNC Chairman, will handily win election as our state chairman. As I said, it’s possible Randy Pullen could run at the meeting, being nominated from the floor. If he were do that, I think he’d only do so if he worked out an agreement from Bruce whereby Bruce would then withdraw and throw his support to Randy so as to not split the conservative vote. The other two candidates in the race have very little name recognition and are unknowns to the “tea party” PCs, many of whom are also elected state committeemen.

So, I am very hopeful that the chairmanship of the AZ Republican Party, too, will remain in the hands of a solid conservative, either Bruce Ash or Randy Pullen.

And, our Arizona Republican Party is stronger and more united. But, there is much room for greater strength and unity as about 55 per cent of the precinct committeeman slots are STILL VACANT!

And it’s like that, on average, in every other state. We conservatives across America can take over the Republican Party, and use it as our tool to take back our government by electing good, decent, conservative newcomers to the elected public servant positions, if we employ, together, united, the Neighborhood Precinct Committeeman Strategy.

Let’s get ‘er done. NOW!

Thanks again.

For Liberty,

Cold Warrior
AceInTX
texasgalt

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-house-of-representatives/2011-house-speakers-race/patrick-says-caucus-vote-right-thing-to-do/

HB 401 (Voter ID) is ready to go. All that’s needed is a conservative Speaker to push it. Paxton’s the guy.

Michael Dugas

Straus is NOT a Conservative and you here pleading that adjective just shows us all what a troll you are….after 1 day and a few hrs and all your posts being Pro Straus posts.
BTW how much does Straus pay for such hit and run postings?

http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

At least not for disagreeing.

Michael Dugas

j/k
I’m cool with dropping the Troll adjective….even when it’s deserved.

But it’s oh so hard when someone tries to defend Straus’ Conservative bona-fides. The guy did everything he could to shut conservatives down. Picked Dems over Republicans even.
But having never been a recipient of the Blam Stick in these past 5+ yrs I don’t want to start now. =)
edintexas

It strikes me that someone who has been involved in RS for 2 days, and who has consistently submitted pro-Straus comments during that extended period of participation, isn’t simply disagreeing. He, or she, is electioneering – or propagandizing – take your pick.

http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

So let’s stick to talking about Straus, not the pro-Straus commenters.

http://travismonitor.blogspot.com Freedoms Truth

Dear Newbie,
given how conservatives were shut out of passing decent bills last session, and how Straus let a lib Dem run ways and means and with Todd Smith didnt even get Voter ID to the floor except at the closing days, giving Dems oppty to killed, please justify this lunacy:

“He did an excellent job leading last session”

WHAT GREAT BILLS DID STRAUS PRODUCE LAST SESSION???

“He is a strong conservative”

How many conservatives put over a dozen liberal Democrats to head up committees????

How many liberal Democrats will you let Straus appoint this time?
AceInTX

heh

edintexas

Here’s a link to a column I found on the Dallas Blog website:

http://www.dallasblog.com/201101011007544/guest-viewpoint/just-what-was-straus-up-to.html

jwebb

It was a divided House and he did a good job. Of course he would have to allow Donk bills to the floor when they had a high number of members. Donks also offer up bills at a higher rate than Republicans.
As for the “very good Voter ID Bill”, it didn’t even require a voter to have an ID! And puleeeze, Straus did not kill that bill, the Donks blew the place up!
Straus will once again all entertain a Voter ID bill, but this one will actually have some teeth.
Mr. Ryun, you have posted some strong hit pieces on Straus as have some other organizations, but can you point me to anything that clearly states how Paxton would run the Speaker’s job?

http://www.razshafer.com razshafer

Giving him a pass on appointing liberal committee chairs, not championing important legislation and not trying to grow the conservative majority in the House just because the house was divided is a huge cop-out. It’s not “fair,” it’s liberal.

Having a divided house is actually a more significant reason for the Speaker leading as a true conservative…a position he denied from the beginning due to the means of his ascension. He should have been working as a tireless advocate for conservative causes rather than sitting back and letting things die (as you seem to be suggesting he did).
http://travismonitor.blogspot.com Freedoms Truth

It was a divided Texas House and Straus let the Dems control the agenda time and again. Special interests and Dems got their bills in, but conservatives were shoved aside on issue after issue. For that, he did a lousy job from the conservative perspective and a fine job from the insider/liberal/Democrat perspective.

“Of course he would have to allow Donk bills to the floor when they had a high number of members.”
Wrong! Committee chairs can and do bottle up bills – SO WHY WERE PROLIFE AND CONSERVATIVE BILLS STOPPED BUT NOT LIBERAL BILLS? This is what the pro-Straus folks will NOT answer or explain.

They give false and lousy excuses like:
” Donks also offer up bills at a higher rate than Republicans.”
When in fact that is not true and not even relevant. The Committee chairs have the power, and Straus gave half the chairs to liberal Democrats and about 2/3rds of the rest to his RINO Republican pals, so the conservatives got crumbs and NO POWER TO MOVE THEIR BILLS.

So conservative bills died and liberal Democrat bills advanced. We would have had a flurry of liberal bills passed by the House (and vetoed by Perry) had it not been for the Democrats filibuster of the voter ID bill.

And if you want to diss the voter ID bill, blame Todd Smith, he watered it down to get it out of committee – AGAIN, thanks to Straus giving away the store to Democrats – and took too damned long – thanks to Straus being a slow-poke setting up the session and Todd Smith dithering and Tommy Merritt being a mole for the Dems … that it led to a disaster on that.

Giving Straus ‘credit’ for that cluster- ahem chub, is ironic.

Even if you give him a bit of a pass for the divided House, Straus Ran the House lousily from the conservative viewpoint, and if it weren’t for the Dem/media conspiracy to praise to the skies everything that is anti-conservative, we would all agree on that.
edintexas

Joe Straus has stated that he is a “Member’s Speaker”. I’m hate to point it out (OK, I prevaricated there), but no Conservative, nor even conservative, would see his role as serving the members of the House instead of the people of Texas. Any member of the House who does not see his ONLY job as being that of a person serving the people generally, and his constituents specifically, doesn’t deserve to be seated in the House, much less in the Speaker’s chair.

http://travismonitor.blogspot.com Freedoms Truth

The claims that Straus did such a great job as Speaker in the last session defies credibility.

Straus did NOT achieve anything useful of note to conservatives, except for a passable budget that used Federal stimulus money to keep Texas afloat. Yippee.

Beyond that, it was a near-disaster and a train wreck. The claims that he did such a good job comes from the media and liberals who LIKED the fact that:
- Voter ID didn’t get passed, despite that fact that it would have passed had it merely gotten a vote on the house floor; it is very popular in Texas
- Democrats killed hundreds of bills to stop Voter ID from passing; Straus would not stop it
- the ONLY pro-taxpayer bill was written by a (gasp) liberal Democrat, a tiny temporary bump in the margins tax exemption
- NO immigration bills even made it out of committee (keeping the peace on that powder keg, and conveniently stopping ‘anti-immigrant’ bills for the open borders crowd)
- billions more would have been spent, except for above Democrat act of killing bills

Moreover, the inexperienced Straus took a whole month to get the house organized, making the start up slow, and the productivity of the House minimal.
SO WHAT WAS SO GREAT ABOUT IT?
As pointed out in a vote analysis of the session -
CONSERVATIVES GOT LEFT OUT IN THE COLD Conservative bills and amendments were left on the cutting room floor.

If any Straus supporter claims that Straus did a great job as Speaker, what they REALLY mean is that they dont mind at all if conservatives got screwed.
Now some argue that it was the ‘will of the House’ , but that only proved that a nominal Republican majority is NOT a conservative majority … undercutting all the claims about Straus being a conservative.

He was NOT a conservative Speaker in 2009 and we can’t expect him to improve much in this session either.
melbedewy

As a non-Texan can someone tell me why this scum Strauss hasn’t been violently primaried?
chbroussard

…read the letter written by Bryan Hughes (TX-5), withdrawing his support. When did bribing become acceptable behavior for a speaker candidate? This letter pretty much sums up the character of Joe Straus.

Note: If the link does not work, just Google Americans for Prosperity Texas, Bryan Hughes.

http://americansforprosperity.org/111010-bryan-hughes-withdraws-support-speaker-straus
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harlan

But Texas politics is all about Austin. (Just like U.S. politics is all about D.C.)

And Austin is inky blue.
silentcal2012

If Straus is too liberal, blogs like this one might lead one to conclude his opposition is too fundemental. I dont know much about the race, but am uneasy with attacks on a man’s family because of ties to the gaming industry. That sounds a little crazy to most freedom loving conservatives.
ranfin

I can’t believe Republican representatives would put Struass in the Speaker’s chair. Any who do will face strong primary opposition in two years. He turned his back on them two years ago. Why would they put their seats at risk to vote for him now?
AceInTX

This is a problem

It’d be like the entire Dem caucus voting for Pelosi and enough Republicans pealing off to make her speaker over Boehner
AceInTX

It’s weird alright
edintexas

You mean Moscow on the Guadalupe isn’t good Republican territory? Who woulda thunk it?
AceInTX

It’d be like Dems and RINOS getting together and making Charlie Bass Speaker and him appointing Rangle to chair appropriations…and other lib dems to chair committees leaving Republicans out in the cold
AceInTX

with friends like Strous….Republicans don’t need enemies!
AceInTX

they keep making moves like this in state after state…on issue after issue…and vote after vote…and they believe we’ll just throw up our hands and walk away…

WE MUST FIGHT THE URGE TO BE DISCOURAGED!!!

RS

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