The Texas Capitol is well overdue to be cleaned of its crony cobwebs, but is a left-leaning group headquartered in Washington DC the one to lead the charge?
Many Texans may be seeing social media ads for a new group called “Reform Austin” calling on Texans to hold their political leaders in Austin accountable. It’s mostly good rhetoric, but the group is very short on details.
A look at documents the group has filed with the Secretary of State suggests their solutions—if they ever get around to providing any—may serve to make corruption in Austin even worse.
Reform Austin is registered in Delaware and headquartered at 1 Thomas Circle NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC, the office of the national tax law firm Caplin & Drysdale. The sole President, Secretary, and Treasurer is Rogene Calvert, a “public and community affairs consultant” with the firm Outreach Strategists and a 2013 candidate for the Houston City Council.
The group’s social media page is pretty vague but is laced with mildly left-leaning sentiments, including hits on President Trump for his immigration policies, support for mandatory sick-leave policies, and calls for increased government spending on schools and healthcare.
If this new group is serious about empowering Texans to hold their elected officials accountable, they’ll advocate policies that reduce the power and complexity of government, and thus make it easier to control, and not policies that increase the authority of government bureaucrats in Texans’ lives.
We’re skeptical.
