Whoops!
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.
Imagine a 2/3rds rule in Washington where 1/3rd of Senators could block any legislation from coming to the floor.
Now imagine how our Republican squishes would be falling all over themselves to reach out to the other side. “We’re not really squishes, this is just the only way to get anything done. It’s not us, it’s the rules.”
That’s Texas’ 2/3rds rule in action.
Patrick ran on killing it. If it dies, so will the excuses for many Senators on why they’re really much more conservative than their voting records show.
Whoops!
“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.”
You have to...to win. But I hear you. He’s talked NON-STOP about killing off the 2/3s rule. The rule dates back to one-party Democrat rule and was intended to keep their extreme elements from mucking things up. It is TOTALLY OUTDATED now. He may concede a bit, such as a 60% rule, but he WILL NOT permit the Dems to use their 11 votes and be able to stop legislation - those days are over in the State Senate.
As to Dem chairs, I suspect that he’ll hand out some. Believe it or not there are some elected Democrats left in Texas that support American values...probably no other state, but there are some here. Let’s see what happens on this before passing judgment.
“Best news I’ve heard all day.”
It really is. I was sweating this particular election because I knew that the Dems would target it. If they lost this election, their party would be finished for DECADES in Texas, and they had to know it. If they could win this election and have the Dem be Lt. Gov., then everything would be in play.
But then something went TERRIBLY WRONG for them. Seems that their stunt regarding Voter ID backfired. They got their hack (Hispanic) federal judge to write a 147 page opinion shooting down Voter ID in 10 WORKING DAYS (i.e, she wrote it in 10 working days), complete with hundreds of footnotes (in an earlier post, I noted how amazed I am by the work ethic of Hispanics...but a 147 page judicial opinion, with the level of detail there, is simply not possible by any human).
So they tried to rig a rejection of Voter ID in Texas. They had the hearings (for 2 weeks) in September, and 10 working days later (early October), an ‘opinion’ that could have served as a PhD Thesis was written...right. The higher courts wanted NOTHING to do with it, and Voter ID, the toughest in the country, held, and any chance of Democrat victory ceased. They tried to get that opinion out so late that NO ONE could stop it - they learned a lesson regarding federal courts - they can move VERY QUICKLY, when required, and they did.
To vote in Texas, in 2014, required you show ID. The Dems lost by 20 points...winning is a lot harder when you are forced to play by the rules.
Look carefully at her face...and then compare it to Dan Patrick. SOMETHING IS THERE...for sure.
The Tea Party is very strong in Texas!
It is the Democrats who make an issue of Race, not Republicans!
The idea that one puts Democrats in charge of committee's is simply political treason!
“The Tea Party is very strong in Texas!”
Of course, and what has to SCARE THE HELL out of the Democrats is that Hispanics here REFUSE to be part of the Democrat reservation. In fact, should we get fed up enough to finally pull out of the United States, most (legal) Hispanics here, would likely be taking up arms on our side. We are MUCH MORE UNIFIED here in Texas now, and in a way that has no room at all for Democrats.
If they are that conservative, let them switch Parties.
I wouldn’t want my children and grandchildren to have to carry my baggage, how could I do the same to another..
...
Unless it’s the one reason they were elected to an office that doles out a tremendous amount of political favors.
“No Dem should be heading a chair. If they are that conservative, let them switch Parties.”
I hear you, but it had been different here. Dems COMPLETELY ran the show 25 years ago, and still let Republicans chair committees. It’s a WEIRD CONCEPT but, back then, there were a lot of Dems that loved America. Things are different now...I suspect that Dan will give the Dems some chairmanships, but if they act like Harry Reid, then those positions are FINISHED in the next legislature. We will see how it goes.
The Democrats blocked 50% of GOP legislature.
I am not sure about the Democrats allowing Republicans heading any committee's.
Also, Strauss (in the House) was elected to Speaker with Democrat votes with some Republicans, not by the majority of Republicans.
That has to be stopped as well!
There are 150 seats in the House. 76 is a majority for electing a Speaker.
Straus was originally elected in 2008 with almost the entire caucus of 65 Dems and 11 Rep voted him in. It was a coup against Speaker Craddock and a deal with the devil.
Dems control 1/3 of the Texas House but originated 51% of all bills signed last session.
Straus wife was on the board of Planned Parenthood and Straus has resisted bringing pro-life legislation to the floor, another reason why pro-life legislation in Texas has to go through special sessions specifically convened by the Gov. for that purpose.
Every election since 2009, Strauss has sought and funded squish primary opponents against conservatives.
I’ll give you another example of the politics played. In 2010, Straus directed PAC money to fund Tea Party member Marva Beck to defeat hard Dem Jim Dunham in the district that skirts Waco. They spent 500K on a state race to support a Tea Party activist that could oust the Dem. For 2012, they redistricted Beck and propped up a Republican squish, Trent Ashby, to take her out, which they did.
Of course, all that help “required” Tea Party member Beck to support Straus during the 2011 session, something she got hell for doing. What she got for her support was a sandbag.
Marva Beck raised almost 700K in 2010 and about 100K in 2012. Plus, they moved her where 2/3rds of her electorate was new. Staus wasn’t above riding the tea party wave in 2010 to defeat a political opponent (for reasons not related to party), demanding loyalty for his help to do so, and then stabbing Beck in the back two years later to ultimately get one of his own.
Politics in Texas is like everything else: Bigger.
Dan Patrick’s predecessor in the TX Senate was Jon Lindsay:
http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=5922
Thanks, name sounds very familiar...he may well have been the jerk that treated Patrick and his busloads like garbage in Austin.
They thought they were cute, after all, what power could the owner of a small-time radio station in Houston have, against the people sitting at the highest levels of power in the state government (and a big state government at that)? They must have gotten a BIG LAUGH out of watching Patrick having a tantrum up there in the Senate Visitors’ Gallery. Now they answer to him.
Dan Patrick put T. “Bone” Pickur Pocket on a committee today.
I want my Vote back.
Bass Turd.
Dan Patrick is ALREADY the best LT Governor in Texas History.
Long overdue. All those years DewCrist was in that office and he did nada.
“Dan Patrick is ALREADY the best LT Governor in Texas History.”
THANKS FOR THE PING!!! I always knew this guy meant business. He made Senators vote on this same bill when he first took office (as a State Senator) 8 years ago. He lost 30 to 1. My how things change when you’re the person assigning committees, rather than the “nobody” in the Senate peanut gallery (as he was 10 years ago), or the peon freshmen Senator 8 years ago.
I still remember some of the Senate elders saying (always without attribution) how Patrick was a bit too “combative and divisive” for the chamber...and that he would eventually learn how to behave, if he wanted to get anything accomplished.
Seems like he just accomplished something in his first day that Dewhurst had 12 years to do. This will be FUN!!!
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