Craddick’s Christmas List: Rallying The Faithful On Right Wing Issues
By Vince Leibowitz on Dec 1, 2007 in 80th Legislature
A day after releasing the third and final set of Interim Charges for the 80th Legislature, House Speaker Tom Craddick sent out an e-mail blast to his faithful that outlines what is essentially a Christmas wish-list for the far right wing of his party.
Placing special emphasis on the bogus concept of Voter Identification and on budgetary reforms that would essentially take the state’s health and human services budget back to the dark ages, Craddick makes it clear where he stands:
Two of the most significant interim charges will study the effectiveness of the state’s budget structure and will examine alternative methods to determining the state’s spending limit. During a time of record surpluses, we should reinvigorate our effort to spend and budget wisely. The bottom line is we don’t spend government money, we spend taxpayer money, and we must be good stewards of the resources given to us. The question for legislators to consider is whether we can do more to protect taxpayer interests while still investing wisely in the priorities of the people.
Translation: how can we best screw the poor and downtrodden and make it look like we’re being fiscally responsible instead?
Then, Craddick comes out swinging for Voter ID:
I have asked the House Elections Committee to study the prevalence of fraud in Texas’ elections. Voter fraud has been an increasing concern throughout the United States since voting is a sacred right that needs safeguarding. State and federal law both require all voters to be citizens, but current state law requires no photo identification or proof of citizenship when registering to vote or when voting. We need to ensure that only U.S. citizens who are Texas residents are voting in our Texas elections. If you need identification to get through virtually any state regulated process, it makes perfect sense that it would be necessary to vote.
Note the language that Craddick’s message people have crafted for him: “the prevalence of fraud in Texas’ elections.” When you read that statement, if you don’t know anything about the real issues or the fact that this so-called “fraud” is something invented by Republicans to disenfranchise the poor and minorities, you just might think something is wrong with our election system. The prevalence of fraud. Strong, strong words–no doubt chosen very carefully by whomever is doing Craddick’s messaging these days. Once again, we’re not going to rehash our Voter ID arguments, but you can find them here.
Now, take a look at Craddick’s blatant thieving of a plank from the ‘06 campaign platforms of Hank Gilbert, Chris Bell, et al:
The ability of our citizens to own private property is a keystone to our democracy and economic strength. We want to make sure landowners are properly compensated when land is taken for public purposes, and that the eminent domain process is fair from start to finish. That is why I have asked the House Committee on Land and Resource Management to thoroughly examine this issue.
Hold up, playah. You are just now coming to this conclusion? Why didn’t you think of this when the Trans Texas Corridor was such an issue last year or last session? The bandwagon damned near was in the next county and ready to bed down for the night before Craddick decided to jump on this one.
And, of course, he has to pimp out the right-wing’s continued cause of property tax “reform” this time in the form of appraisal “reform.”
Finally, I have asked the House Local Ways and Means Committee to study systems to improve transparency and accountability in the county appraisal process. We will comprehensively review all aspects of the county appraisal process and leave no stone unturned. Taxpayers deserve better accountability and transparency in the process of how their dollars are taxed. It is my hope that these interim charges will shed some light on how we can find some lasting solutions that strike a balance between stronger taxpayer protection and the ability of local governments to collect necessary revenue.
Once again, look at the language Craddick uses: transparency and accountability in the county appraisal process. Those words are selected to give you the impression that there is neither transparency nor accountability in the appraisal process. Read Craddick’s missive and you might get the idea that county appraisers are running around out of control across the state. The fact is, however, this is a problem in only a few counties.
So, we know that Craddick wants some Voter ID and budget “reform” for Christmas. Here’s to hoping that the committees give him a big, fat lump of coal in his stocking instead.
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