10.12.06

What’s The Matter With Williamson County?

Posted in Commentary at 10:18 am by wcnews

The short answer is nothing new representation can’t fix. The long answer is below.

Republican voters in Williamson County must be feeling, at the very least, a little betrayed by their Republican representation, especially Republicans in rural Williamson County. The plight of rural voters in the county especially is similar to the plight of Kansans, like those mentioned in Thomas Frank’s bestseller, What’s The Matter With Kansas? Over the last 30 years, in disgust over a perceived waning of moral values in the Democratic Party, many rural and middle class voters have sold out their economic future for what they were told, and came to believe, was a conservative party - more to their liking fiscally and morally. Nationally budget deficits have exploded since “conservatives” took over all branches of government. Recent scandals over sex and money are a testament to their lack of morals, conservative or otherwise.

What has all of this gotten them? Have their taxes gone down, their total tax burden, not just income tax? Unless they’re in the top 1% or live off of stock dividends it hasn’t. Sure, sure, gays can’t marry in Texas, but does that really matter, in the grand scheme of things? Especially when their ancestral home is about to be paved over in the name corporate profits? Look out here comes the free market. They don’t even have the free market to fall back on. Their Republican representation made such a sweetheart deal with the corporations that their profits are guaranteed. That’s right, if the traffic doesn’t show up on these roads - and fat chance it will since the corporations paid the consultants that made the traffic predictions - and the profits aren’t what are expected, then our tolls and taxes will go up to make sure the corporations profit.

Their moral governor stood up last Friday night and told them that they voted for the TTC, and to have their land paved over, when they voted for a GOP shell game/constitutional amendment empowering the “Texas Mobility Fund” 5 years ago. That’s right, they didn’t even read it because their “moral”, “fiscal conservative” Republican leaders would never do anything to sell them out, or so they thought. The sheep got lead right to the slaughter. They just did what they were told by the GOP and voted yes on #15 back in 2001 (It passed with over 67% .pdf of the vote) . And as they say, the rest is history.

Being sold out like that wouldn’t be so bad if at least they were moral. Instead their representatives line their own pockets while in office and this “Proven Conservative Leader” doesn’t even mention his wife on his campaign web site anymore. (Old site, New site) Wonder why that is? Nothing about his church membership on that bio page either.

But this isn’t about I told you so, it’s meant to offer them hope. Hope like their Parents and Grandparents received when listening to a real leader like FDR. Not the “fear itself” they’re getting when they listen to GWB and his GOP fear mongering minions. There were simple adages they knew back then. Like you get what you pay for, there are no free lunches, and if it sounds too good to be true it usually is. Toll roads now, without a raise in taxes is a hoax. Just like what the GOP since Reagan has been saying, that lowering taxes actually brings more money into the treasury - voodoo economics - it sounds like a sales job because it is. The hope is that it’s not too late to turn it around, all it takes is the courage to admit they were wrong or duped.

If we return the same party and representation to office in Williamson County and expect something different we are fooling ourselves, see the definition of insanity. Nothing sends a message to politicians more than sending them back home and I guarantee that if we vote out these “so called conservatives” no one will ever write a book asking what’s wrong with Williamson County?

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