Posted on 11/09/2014 6:31:55 AM PST by BobL
The majority of people on this site don't live in Texas and don't follow our politics closely, so this is for them:
Dan Patrick has been a conservative talk show host for at least 20 years in Houston. He recently branched out and has a number of radio stations in other major Texas cities too. He was happy to be like Rush, an outsider, trying to hold Republicans accountable.
But then he got a TASTE of just how corrupt the Republican Party in Texas was (and is, although not nearly as bad after this election). Back maybe 15 or so years ago, he was getting tons of phone calls from listeners seeing their property taxes going through the roof. Our corrupt system had been rigged very effectively - people that work for the county "assess" your property at higher and higher values, and you pay your taxes on that assessment. Now the assessments were probably accurate, as property values, particularly west of Houston were going through the roof, but it was literally driving people broke and driving some from their homes. If it was a homestead, the year-to-year increase of your tax basis was (and still is) limited to 10%, but if the assessment, say doubles in one year, you will get hit with those 10% increases every year, until your tax basis matches the assessment. In other words, your property taxes will have doubled in 7 years without even a vote being cast (i.e., the property tax rate would stay the say and the politicians would just throw up their arms and say there's nothing that they can do about the assessments). A very sweet system for politicians.
So Patrick says that is unfair and people should not be driven from their homes for reasons they cannot control. So he calls for limiting the tax basis to a much more reasonable amount, maybe 3%, or at most 5%. He then organizes two bus loads of listeners (I believe two buses) to travel to Austin to speak to the legislature on the issue. They are PROMISED by the Republican State Senator (don't remember his name, I'll call him Smith) that they will get to speak, at least some of them. Well they sit quietly and politely all day through the hearings and the ONLY PEOPLE that got to speak were lobbyists explaining why we should never change the tax law, and then the hearing concluded. PATRICK WAS LIVID and nearly got himself arrested for screaming from the gallery.
Well, Senator Smith, within a few years, decided to cash-in the favors he handed out and retire, and Senator Smith was from Patrick's district. So Patrick ran for the open seat. Patrick was considered a joke, of course, and there was a well-established State House member that the party establishment was backing (in the Primary). It was a four-way (maybe five-way) race, and Patrick won 70% of the vote (no typo there). He coasted to victory in November 2006, and then easily won re-election in 2010. Lots of people didn't like him in the State Senate, because he simply wasn't a big-government guy - they tried to undercut him. Unfortunately for them, he took names.
In the 2013 session (we only have a single 5 month session every 2 years) the Republican Lt. Governor, David Dewhurst (about as big-government liberal as they come) screwed things up procedurally and set up Wendy Davis for her abortion filibuster, which instantly made her a national star. Patrick was livid about that and decided on the spot that he would run for Dewhurst's job (at the time we didn't know just how much of a drag the national Democrat Party would be for Texas Democrats last week, so we were worried about the state going blue). Patrick then beat Dewhurst earlier this year in Primary, and then in a run-off. So it was Patrick on the ballot for 2014, for Lt. Governor. The Dems were happy, as they considered him so "extreme" he would have trouble winning.
As you guys may know, the Lt. Governor position in Texas is very powerful, possibly equaling that of the governor himself - he runs the State Senate. The Dems had to know that they didn't have a chance in hell of winning the governor race (Abbott is a class guy), but they really, really, needed to stop Patrick from the Lt. Governor. So they figured they'd hit him in his weak spot, with Hispanics, and they ran a well-respected Hispanic State Senator against him. As this article notes, Patrick got nearly 50% of the Hispanic vote anyway, and TROUNCED her. (she's actually not a bad lady, and Patrick and her get along quite well)
So this was the big race that we were watching here in Texas (and the one that worried me the most)...and the Dems got clobbered in it. Patrick has left a string of political bodies in this state getting to the position he's at, so it will be very interesting to see if some of the liberal Republicans again try to take him on.
Next year, our next legislative session, will be a lot of fun to watch, and not just because of Patrick, but because Governor-elect Abbott is also far more conservative than Perry ever was. Can't wait.
Have listened to KSEV radio (DanPatrick700AM)on-line when available since its inception. What ever happened to C.L.O.U.T. ?
“The implication is that republicans are racist, but they carve out those districts so that minorities can get elected, and it’s almost impossible to change them.”
I’ve been following this for decades. It started with the Civil Rights Act. With it, black leaders DEMANDED more black faces in Congress. Not necessarily more Democrats, but more black faces, and the only way to get black faces, was to pack blacks into their own districts. That was all that mattered. Bush Senior, in one of his few smart moves, decided to enforce that law to the letter. And so black faces increased...but for every new black face (always a Democrat, of course), 2 or 3 white Democrats ‘disappeared’ as remaining districts became more conservative. The fallout was evident a few years later, in 1994 when the Reps swept into the House.
Then black leaders complained that not enough Democrats were getting elected...but too late, they lost.
“What ever happened to C.L.O.U.T. ?”
It is Lt. Governor...and there is a lot of CLOUT there. But no, don’t know the history well enough to tell you...except that they will finally get their way on appraisals.
This dropping the assessments is going to become a lot less popular than you might believe..Much like what Gov. Brownback in Kansas, when the lost revenue impacted the school tax debate, almost lost him a re-election..
However, it’s a debate that we must have, in-spite of the implications that defunding, or slowing down the Education Gravy-train, that drives the women, and minority vote, against the GOP in elections..
Government, local, state, and Federal has got to be reversed, it sounds right until the Liberals get to sound their talking points, and they wave the red, (false) flags, blaming revenue, not incompetence, socialist indoctrination, that is failing our schools, which everyone who actually follows closely, knows is really happening..
It will be interesting to watch, and whether the new Lt. Governor will be able to withstand the broadside coming at him, without our considerable and demonstrably visible effort..
Good analysis.
Congress is a zero-sum game. Someday those gerrymandered district representatives might form their own political party and negotiate with Republicans instead of just being Democrat slaves.
“Most of what I heard about Patrick was very critical of his policies. Your quick vignette provides all I need to know about Dan Patrick, and I will support him whenever possible.”
Thanks. Patrick did not follow the established path to his position and therefore the establishment both hates him and cannot control him, so they will say bad things about him and try to undercut him, if possible.
But we’ll see how he does now...he doesn’t owe them a damn thing.
C.L.O.U.T.
Citizens to Lower Our Unfair Taxes
REFERENCE OLD FREEP POST-
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1650411/posts
and wiki:
Patrick joined with restaurateur Edd Hendee and former local tax official Paul Bettencourt, both on-air hosts on Patrick’s station, to form Citizens Lowering Our Unfair Taxes (CLOUT), a political organization that was originally formed to push for lower property taxes in Texas.[citation needed]
You're right, in that sense. It has to be done carefully and there will be a lot of squealing. It is like turning an ocean liner around. We'll see just how skilled he is on this...but he has a lot of room to maneuver - if he can knock down the max increase from 10% to 5% he can claim victory, but the 'precious schools' will still have enough money to build their nanaoriums (indoor swimming pool complexes).
Poor David, he took out the biggest gun he could find, aimed squarely at his foot and pulled the trigger. That must really hurt a lot.
Next year, our next legislative session, will be a lot of fun to watch, and not just because of Patrick, but because Governor-elect Abbott is also far more conservative than Perry ever was. Can’t wait.
...
Sounds like the Bush wing of the GOP in TX is losing control, though George P. has a new job where he can rack up an impressive list of cronies.
GEO P BUSH, isn’t the OLD GUARD, by a long shot.. You will grow to love this kid, watch.. Once again, you heard it here first, as usual.. :)
“GEO P BUSH, isn’t the OLD GUARD, by a long shot.. You will grow to love this kid, watch.. Once again, you heard it here first, as usual”
We’ll be watching...it will be a first, given Grandpa, W, and Jeb.
Dan likes to hear himself talk a good game. This article is very pro-dan, but can’t list accomplishments beyond knowing when there is a good opportunity for Dan to run for office.
Need more than words, especially after Dans famous interview with Ted Cruz where Dan lost it, yelled at Ted so bad that Deuhearst used that interview as a campaign ad.
Dan has promised a lot, it is time to deliver or get classified like Cornyn. A rino who knows how to talk conservative and govern otherwise.
I am not a fan of Dan.
And regarding Strauss, he got re-elected. But most of his rino conspirators did not. I think the message was sent.
W fooled some people, too.
Good to hear about Straus. Hopefully that message is heard.
Regarding Patrick/Cruz you do speak for a lot of people in Texas. Things certainly could have gone more smoothly, but hindsight is always easy.
In the case of Ted Cruz running for US Senate in 2012, it was not easy for Patrick to make an endorsement, as he was having to answer to Dewhurst in the State Senate, at that time - and it seemed (back then) that Cruz was not about to win the Primary against Dewhurst. Put that all together and it shows that Patrick is also a politician - he chose the safest path.
I have no doubt, in hindsight, that Patrick would have endorsed Cruz under different circumstances, as he seems to agree with Cruz on just about everything, and cannot stand Dewhurst, but Patrick had to live under Dewhurst’s rule - so time will tell, and it will be interesting to watch things play out next year.
I made a clear statement about George P, I really don’t hold any man on his relationship to someone he had no responsibility for that relationship..
I wouldn’t want my children and grandchildren to have to carry my baggage, how could I do the same to another.. This is a man that has grown up in the most, or one of the most powerful families in history of this country, and has many more qualities, politically, financially, ethnically, and physically, that none of his predecessors had..
Watch him, and enjoy what he does to Liberals.. It’s a scream.. Women, old and young, Liberals and Conservative, love this guy.. His Hispanic heritage, and Latin Charm, doesn’t hurt in the least.. LOL
Patrick promised to end two practices which made Texas legislation much more liberal, despite an almost 2/3rds represention by Republicans:
2/3rds rule, which allows 11 of 31 Senators to block a bill from coming to the floor for a vote. There are 11 Dem Senators this session. If they stood together, they could block any bill. Wendy Davis’ pro-abortion filibuster happened during a special session wher the bill had to be considered because the Gov sets the topic for special sessions. A pro-life bill couldn’t come to the floor in the regular session because of the 2/3rds rule: Dems always blocked it.
Dem Chairs. Both Dewhurst and Straus (on the House side) have made a practice of having about half of committee chairs be Democrats. The Lt. Gov and Speaker pick the Chairs. Patrick has said he would end that practice.
Patrick has a reputation for putting Patrick first. Who cares. If he does just those two things: kills the 2/3rds rule and no Dem Chairs, then he earned my vote.
Best news I’ve heard all day.
Wait till you see the rush to the border if/when the Sultan announces Amnesty.
BTTT
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