Joe Straus and concealed carry on campus

[RHenriksen]

What options do we have for influencing the choice of speaker?

Call your Rep. and let him/her know your feelings.

Chas.

I will, I will! At what point will we know the full slate of choices?

[recaffeination]

What options do we have for influencing the choice of speaker?

If they're up for election this year, and they supported Straus in 2011, knowing full well what Straus did in 2009,

The choice is clear.

[Heartland Patriot]

What options do we have for influencing the choice of speaker?

If they're up for election this year, and they supported Straus in 2011, knowing full well what Straus did in 2009,

The choice is clear.

The primaries are OVER. It is the GENERAL election that is upon us. So, are you saying you want people to vote for DEMOCRATS, who are almost all PHILOSOPHICALLY fully opposed to campus carry and firearms/self-defense rights, over Republicans who are far more likely to support a campus carry bill, and who GENERALLY support firearms/self-defense rights? I'm not saying I'm a Straus supporter, and as someone who was recently a college student, I was very unhappy about what happened. I just want to be clear about what you are asking folks to do come election time.

[recaffeination]

Words and labels are cheap. How they voted is what matters to me.

Don't let them trick you into voting for a wolf in the guise of a sheepdog.

[Heartland Patriot]

Words and labels are cheap. How they voted is what matters to me.

Sounds like hem-hawing around to me. I have zero problem stating that I WILL NOT vote for a Democrat. IF they were to retake our state legislature and/or state senate, they WILL REVERSE all of the hard-won gains on firearms rights that have been made over the years. So, are you saying that you would be okay with us having to have our firearms and self-defense rights reversed, for what, to punish a handful of Republicans? Doesn't seem like a very good plan to me. What NEEDS to be done is to vote for more conservative Republicans during the primaries until we weed out the ones who are weak. You can vote how you want, but I sure hope not too many folks pay attention to your line of reasoning.

[tacticool]

I agree with realists who say conservatives should vote against anyone who supported Straus in 2011 and helped him kill campus carry and other conservative issues. Straus proved in 2009 he's a fox in the hen house. Any collaborator who helped him get back into the hen house in 2011 needs to get booted out of the Texas House so Joe Straus can't threepeat in 2013.

[katiethompson]

I agree with realists who say conservatives should vote against anyone who supported Straus in 2011 and helped him kill campus carry and other conservative issues.

That's a tad impractical, since all but two voted for Straus for speaker after his opponents dropped out...

[Jasonw560]

Bryan Hughes is apparently gong to try to oust Straus as Speaker.

Sounds like a true conservative. Need to find out more about him, though.

Good news on that front: Hughes coauthored both Driver's and Simpson's campus carry bills last session.

He said in a recent Tribune article he would ensure committees reflect the House as a whole - i.e., fewer Democrats in prominent positions. I'm hoping that if he wins, both Calendars and Public Safety will be nice and conservative, giving campus carry a better chance of passing.

That's good news. I'm following him on twitter. Sounds like the real deal.

[recaffeination]

How they voted is what matters to me.

I have zero problem stating that I WILL NOT vote for a Democrat.

Cool. I have zero problem stating that I will not vote for anyone who voted for Joe Straus for Speaker in 2011.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

[Heartland Patriot]

How they voted is what matters to me.

I have zero problem stating that I WILL NOT vote for a Democrat.

Cool. I have zero problem stating that I will not vote for anyone who voted for Joe Straus for Speaker in 2011.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

I guess it is hard for some folks to come out and say that they want to vote for the PARTY who HATES firearms and self-defense, as a rule. That they don't mind seeing the gains that have been made undermined, perhaps out of spite, who knows. It can be said that some Republicans might not deserve to be re-elected, based on their support or lack of support for some things like campus carry. But does a Democrat who DEFINITELY wouldn't and won't vote for any concealed carry measure in the first place, much less campus carry itself, deserve it more? Voting for someone who I DISAGREE with 90% of the time over someone I agree with 90% of the time over one or two issues, just ain't happening. On that score, I don't plan on getting fooled even once. And on that note, I am done with this.

[chasfm11]

I guess it is hard for some folks to come out and say that they want to vote for the PARTY who HATES firearms and self-defense, as a rule. That they don't mind seeing the gains that have been made undermined, perhaps out of spite, who knows. It can be said that some Republicans might not deserve to be re-elected, based on their support or lack of support for some things like campus carry. But does a Democrat who DEFINITELY wouldn't and won't vote for any concealed carry measure in the first place, much less campus carry itself, deserve it more? Voting for someone who I DISAGREE with 90% of the time over someone I agree with 90% of the time over one or two issues, just ain't happening. On that score, I don't plan on getting fooled even once. And on that note, I am done with this.

Devil's advocate here. I understand your point but I also know that concealed carry in Texas was passed with Democrats voting "yes." I think we are all in trouble when we paint everyone with the same brush, based on a label. In general, I agree with what you said. I can find very few people who claim to be Democrats who I believe would represent me in Austin

But there are also a "number" of people with an "R" behind their name whose views are very far removed from Conservative. Many politicians have figured out that it would be impossible for them to be elected as a Democrat but that they can hold their same views and get elected as a Republican. IMHO, that is what has gotten us into trouble. People claimed to be Republicans, we elected them and then ended up voting like Democrats. That has to stop. In the Tarrant county area, we just got done punishing a number of people like that at the ballot box in the primaries. Unfortunately, there were some who escaped that punishment.

My point is this: in a contest between a Democrat and a Rino, there is no "lessor of evils". You are going to get bad Conservative representation either way, it is just a matter of the flavor it takes. Actually, for me, a Democrat who stands up and is public with whatever he or she believes is much better than a Vicki Truitt who told Republicans what they wanted to hear and then forgot her promises on Strauss and not only voted for him but did his bidding. She won't get that chance again. All that sparkles is not gold.

[sjfcontrol]

I guess it is hard for some folks to come out and say that they want to vote for the PARTY who HATES firearms and self-defense, as a rule. That they don't mind seeing the gains that have been made undermined, perhaps out of spite, who knows. It can be said that some Republicans might not deserve to be re-elected, based on their support or lack of support for some things like campus carry. But does a Democrat who DEFINITELY wouldn't and won't vote for any concealed carry measure in the first place, much less campus carry itself, deserve it more? Voting for someone who I DISAGREE with 90% of the time over someone I agree with 90% of the time over one or two issues, just ain't happening. On that score, I don't plan on getting fooled even once. And on that note, I am done with this.

Devil's advocate here. I understand your point but I also know that concealed carry in Texas was passed with Democrats voting "yes." I think we are all in trouble when we paint everyone with the same brush, based on a label. In general, I agree with what you said. I can find very few people who claim to be Democrats who I believe would represent me in Austin

But there are also a "number" of people with an "R" behind their name whose views are very far removed from Conservative. Many politicians have figured out that it would be impossible for them to be elected as a Democrat but that they can hold their same views and get elected as a Republican. IMHO, that is what has gotten us into trouble. People claimed to be Republicans, we elected them and then ended up voting like Democrats. That has to stop. In the Tarrant county area, we just got done punishing a number of people like that at the ballot box in the primaries. Unfortunately, there were some who escaped that punishment.

My point is this: in a contest between a Democrat and a Rino, there is no "lessor of evils". You are going to get bad Conservative representation either way, it is just a matter of the flavor it takes. Actually, for me, a Democrat who stands up and is public with whatever he or she believes is much better than a Vicki Truitt who told Republicans what they wanted to hear and then forgot her promises on Strauss and not only voted for him but did his bidding. She won't get that chance again. All that sparkles is not gold.

Then it would seem the time to "oust" the RINO's would be at primary time. I would tend to agree that replacing a RINO with a Democrat seems less than useful.

[chasfm11]

Then it would seem the time to "oust" the RINO's would be at primary time. I would tend to agree that replacing a RINO with a Democrat seems less than useful.

In a perfect world, you are absolutely correct. And many of us tried. I stood on a street corner waving a sign and many of our group spent days and weeks in the "ground game" for the primaries. We had great success but that success was less than perfect. In spite of State wide losses, Strauss still has an Austin power base. It is going to get really really ugly, trying to keep him from another session with the House gavel. I'm on my knees every night praying for the success of preventing that.

The root problem is that a majority of Texas voters don't even know who Joe Strauss is, let alone the damage that he has done. He is a Republican and served in the Bush administration so he has to be a good guy, right? Sure. And I have land in Florida to sell you. You'll just have a little "water problem" to deal with. Strauss is the poster child for why simply re-electing people claiming to be Republicans is a failing strategy. People from Tarrant country block walked Strauss's district but were unsuccessful against him in the primaries. Not all machine politics are limited to Chicago.

[bizarrenormality]

Stereotypes are easy and voting a straight party ticket doesn't require any intelligence. Just look at Chicago.

It's more effort, but I think more effective, to judge individuals by their own actions when that information is available. We know what effect Joe Straus had as Speaker during the 81st Legislature. For a legislator to vote for Straus as Speaker of the 82nd Legislature, knowing his track record, was a shout from the rooftops about that legislator's values. Whether I favor or oppose Joe Straus' agenda, I would be an idiot to ignore that much evidence when voting next month.

[Charles L. Cotton]

I've tried three times to craft a response to some of the posts I've see on this thread, without violating Forum rules. I cannot.

Chas.