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As you know, Texas is embroiled in a contentious battle regarding redistricting with numerous Congressional, State Senate and State House districts at stake. The current compromise map under consideration has Harris County losing at least two Republican State House seats. Well, this wasn't acceptable to Harris County Republican Chairman, Jared Woodfill, who showed tremendous leadership by standing up and saying so. As a former HCRP Chair, I know what it's like to stand up to the political establishment and fight for what's right. It's not easy, but Jared did it, and by doing so, showed courage, vision and leadership. He spoke out, informed and called Harris County Republicans to action. I applaud Jared for giving a voice to tens of thousands of Harris County Republicans. We need his leadership in the Republican Party.
GOP Can't Win For Losing
The U.S. House Republican leadership has agreed to renew the payroll tax reduction (or your Social Security taxes) without getting Obama to agree how to pay for it. So we just increase the deficit and undermine the financial stability of Social Security for a tax break that does little to help economic growth. Our side sought spending reductions while their side wanted to raise taxes on small businesses and entrepreneurs. Maybe the better idea was to protect the integrity of Social Security. All the more reason to have a new President come January 2013.
Primary Elections Train Wreck
If you were wondering whatever happened to the March or April primary, ask the three Federal Judges in San Antonio why they can't just follow the Supreme Court's direction and while you're at it, ask why Republicans in D.C. voted to extend the so-called Voting Rights Act a few years ago. This act is used to involve the Feds in state and local redistricting based on scrutiny that is as outdated as the post-Civil War era that we are still making amends for. It is a simple truth that redistricting is a political act. So the next time you wonder why in Democrat-controlled states the GOP gets consistently messed around, yet in GOP states the Democrats don't, think the "Preserve Democratic Seats Voting Rights bill." Unfortunately, nothing will change until Republicans take a stand and become as politically tough as the Democrats.
The San Antonio Sellout
Redistricting guru and former Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt has observed the impact just in Harris County, "The result is, even though the GOP carried every county-wide race in 2010, the Republicans don't even have half the State House seats based on any likely settlement in San Antonio. At risk are the seats of conservatives like Rep. Ken Legler and Rep. Beverly Woolley. And if you were not already depressed, because of the over the top aggressive Voting Rights Act interpretation, other seats are at risk and once they go Democrat, we can never get them back."
TCR Comment: With no racial majority in Harris County, one wonders when Anglo voting rights will be protected. Of course, what is needed is for the U.S. Supreme Court to toss the entire Voting Rights Act because it unconstitutionally discriminates and violates the principle of one man, one vote. Coming soon: An in-depth tell-all story as to what happened on this critical subject.
ACTION OPTION: Contact Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (greg.abbott@oag.state.tx.us) and State GOP Chair Steve Munisteri (smunisteri@texasgop.org) and ask them to protect our GOP seats in Harris County.
They Can Take Their Marbles And Go
It has come to our attention that several notable supporters of District Attorney candidate Mike Anderson have stated that they will not support District Attorney Pat Lykos if she wins her re-nomination bid in the upcoming Republican Primary Election. TCR is disgusted by this "I'm taking my marbles and going home" attitude. We believe that there is nothing wrong with a robust primary process, provided that Republicans unite behind our Republican nominees against the Democrats. TCR calls on Mike Anderson to ask his supporters to do the right thing and pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee, not the Democrat. If the Anderson supporters still refuse, then Mike Anderson should demonstrate his commitment to our Republican candidates and publicly reject the support of this politically disloyal minority--surely he doesn't need their "marbles" that badly.
TCR on the Air
Red, White & Blue featuring TCR Editor Gary Polland and liberal commentator David Jones, Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and replaying Sundays at 5:00 p.m. on PBS Houston Channel 8 and on the web at www.houstonpbs.org.
Upcoming shows:
02/17/12: "Grand Jury Aftermath – Who Said What To Who" with Ray Hunt, David Mitcham, and Mark Bennett.
02/24/12: “State of the County” with Harris County Judge Ed Emmett.
For a fun feature go to www.houstonpbs.org and under Red White and Blue, you can see commentary about the show and its guests by Gary and David each week. The current show as well as past shows are also available on YouTube.
About Your Editor
Gary Polland is a long-time conservative and Republican spokesman, fund-raiser, and leader who completed three terms as the Harris County Republican Chairman. During his three terms, Gary was described as the most successful county Chairman in America by Human Events - The National Conservative Weekly. He is in his fourteenth year of editing a newsletter dealing with key conservative and Republican issues. The last eleven years he has edited Texas Conservative Review. As a public service for the last 8 years, Gary has published election guides for the GOP primary, general elections and city elections, all with the purpose of assisting conservative candidates. Gary is also in his ninth year of co-hosting Red, White and Blue on PBS Houston. Gary is a practicing attorney and strategic consultant. He can be reached at (713) 621-6335.
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