06.02.06

Texas GOP Trades Tax Cuts For Immigration

Posted in Around The State, Election 2006 at 2:12 pm by wcnews

As Republicans in Texas gather for their convention they are, for the first time, having to deal with what they did and not just rallying the “conservative” base. Those conservatives are not happy about their leadership going against their tax cutting ideals. The winds are a changin’ and it looks like it’s time to forget about what happened a couple of weeks ago and look to the future. As I scanned the news for what’s the buzz in ‘ol San Antone this weekend it appears that the “true believers” are trading tax cuts for immigration. Meaning that since their leadership sold them out on tax cuts they have to rally around the border. I especially like this quote:

Even Norman Adams, a GOP activist from Houston who wants the party platform to include language condemning the new business tax, said, “I don’t want anybody but Perry being re-elected. But I want to scare the pants off of him.”

Steven Hotze is keeping up the pressure on the sell out of the conservatives:

To even the most unbiased observer, the Perry business tax is an end run around the Texas Constitution, which strictly prohibits a state income tax unless agreed upon by a majority vote of the electorate in a statewide election. It is an attempt to create an income tax without allowing citizens to exercise their right to vote on whether they will allow the state to tax their income.

Perry and the Republican legislators abandoned their pledge of no new taxes and turned a deaf ear to their conservative supporters when they were inundated by phone calls and e-mails opposing the Perry business tax during the special session. The Harris County Republican Party Executive Committee overwhelmingly passed a resolution opposing the Perry business tax on May 15.

That will quickly be swept under the rug as we can see from the statements of the GOP chair:

Party Chairman Tina Benkiser drew cheers from many in the convention crowd when she said immigrants should learn English and embrace American values and that “amnesty” for illegal immigrants “is simply another word for surrender.”

“Americans overwhelmingly believe that the government has lost control of our borders and they want something done about it now,” Benkiser said.

In the same article we learn that two Democratic state Reps. are on site giving the GOP faithful some advice:

“Don’t forget to tip the immigrant who’s going to clean your room and serve your meal,” said Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer.

Under the Republican Party’s proposed platform, it’s questionable whether the late U.S. Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez, a longtime congressman from San Antonio and son of Mexican immigrants, would actually have been an American citizen.

“He’s turning in his grave,” Martinez Fischer said.

The GOP tentative platform calls for the suspension of automatic citizenship for the children born in the United States to illegal immigrants.

Rep. Joaquin Castro accused Perry and the Republicans of using immigration and border security as “wedge issue” to divide Texans. Martinez Fischer said Perry’s camera plan amounts to pandering in an election year.

And last it looks like Dan Patrick trying to become the next “Pappy” O’Daniel, GOP nominee buys radio station in North Texas?

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