If the 2010 election signaled nothing else, it’s that Texans wanted conservative legislators. In race after race, Texans voted for the candidate taking the commonsense conservative view. Yet the 2011 legislative session failed to deliver the systemic policy results many voters expected thanks to so many insider-lackeys running the show.
In the 2012 election season, voters are going to take a stronger look at the candidates. Looking for legislative candidates who don’t just talk-the-talk of conservativism, but actually walk the policy-making walk.
Our new ConservativeLeadersProject.com website is profiling examples of conservative leaders… and legislative lackeys.
The lackeys tend to be the ones who talk like conservatives at home, yet in Austin work to water down reforms or go-along with the Austin lobby.
A couple examples… State Sen. Kel Seliger of Amarillo campaigns like a conservative in his west Texas district. He hits all the high notes on the campaign trail. Yet in Austin, he consistently takes the low-road of big government, voting for more regulations and higher taxes.
In the Texas House, Vicki Truitt of Southlake describes herself as a bulldog; too bad she barks at all the wrong things. She proves herself willing time and again to work with tax-funded lobbyists to raise taxes for boondoggle spending sprees. She brags about her support from big-government liberals.
There are many strong conservatives in both bodies, like State Sens. Jane Nelson, Brian Birdwell, Dan Patrick and others. And the House has commonsense leaders like State Reps. Jim Landtroop, Bryan Hughes, Phil King and many others.
Yet in both bodies, the lackey-wing of GOP conspire with liberal Democrats to stifle, stymie and otherwise oppose everything from spending limits to zero-based budgeting.
If Texans truly want the legislature to pursue meaningful reforms, voters will need to clean out the House (and the Senate) — replacing lackeys with leaders.
