Tag: texas

Re-Meet Michael Williams (R CAND, SEN-TX Primary).

Long-time readers of RedState are familiar with Michael Williams, of course: he was of the candidates for replacing Senator Hutchison, back when she looked ready to vacate her Senate seat. Now that she’s retiring, Michael is officially running for Senate. We talked last week:

Michael was until quite recently a Texas Railroad Commissioner, which (as Texas Railroad Commissioners soon learn to explain, over and over and over again) has nothing to do with Texas railroads; it actually oversees Texas energy policy, which is why it’s an elected position. His Senate campaign site is here.

Moe Lane (crosspost)



RedState Gathering: Dr. Donna Campbell (R CAND, TX-25).

We had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Donna Campbell at the RedState Gathering. Dr. Campbell is running against Lloyd Doggett in the 25th district: Doggett, of course, is a favorite of the radical antiwar Left for his extensive and consistent anti-military voting record. Nasty piece of work, all in all, so it was nice to talk with his challenger:

Dr. Campbell’s site is here.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Eddie Bernice Johnson (D, TX-30) diverted scholarship money to family members.

So. We have a legislator named Eddie Bernice Johnson (D, TX-30), member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and thus one of the people whose responsibility it is to hand out partial college scholarships to worthy recipients. A worthy project, to be sure: good policy, good politics, good publicity. There is – sensibly – a non-nepotism rule; and there is – also sensibly – a rule that this money is to be given to students in your district. But there is apparently no oversight at all over who gets the money, which is why Rep. Johnson was able to use this money gave 15 scholarships to six ineligible kids – four grandchildren and two kids of an aide – and none of them live in the district. Important point, there: even if grandchildren and children of aides don’t count under the anti-nepotism rule (an argument which the CBC itself rejects), the point of the whole thing is to foster local education. Rep. Johnson’s defense? She’s a nine-term Congresswoman who somehow missed the fact that she wasn’t supposed to give CBC scholarships to out-of-district family members.

Seriously:

Two days later, she acknowledged in a statement released by her office that she had violated the rules but said she had done so “unknowingly” and would work with the foundation to “rectify the financial situation.”

Initially, she said, “I recognized the names when I saw them. And I knew that they had a need just like any other kid that would apply for one.” Had there been more “very worthy applicants in my district,” she added, “then I probably wouldn’t have given it” to the relatives.

Continue reading Eddie Bernice Johnson (D, TX-30) diverted scholarship money to family members.

Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D, TX-23) gets cranky.

Ah, to be an Entitlement Democrat these days. Apparently, Rep. Rodriguez is not particularly happy with the idea that his constituents are checked out on the CBO’s revised scoring of Obamacare. Or that they feel entitled themselves to talk back to the man.

Shouting, smacking a newspaper against the table, a general ‘Do you know who I AM?’ – is this what Nancy Pelosi meant when she encouraged Democrats to go home and push back on health care? If so, by all means: keep doing it.

Moe Lane

The TX GOP reports (via the Francisco Conseco campaign) that this isn’t the first time Rodriguez has lost his temper.

Crossposted to RedState.

Michael Williams on the Gulf Oil Spill.

I had the opportunity to talk with Texas Railroad Commissioner* Michael Williams (R) today on the spill in the Gulf:

It’s a shame that he’s not a Senator right now, but it’s always a pleasure to talk with Mike.

Moe Lane

*For those unaware: the RRC doesn’t involve itself with railroads; it oversees Texan energy development. Hence the interview subject.

Texas and New Jersey: perfect together.

No, really.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers. And Campaign Spot readers.

The New Ledger sat down with Governor Rick Perry a few weeks ago, and in the course of talking about Perry’s success (and his working principles of governing) came this exchange:

TNL: …do you think Republicans will win if they embrace that sort of approach in other states with all their challenges? And what does that look like?

Perry: Well, look at a state like Virginia, where Bob [McDonnell] just won by doing something very similar. He said we’re going to stop spending irresponsibly, we’re going to cut taxes, we’re going to encourage and enable those who risk their capital — job creators — and having what I would describe as a progressive energy policy, where he’s going to drill offshore in a way that’s environmentally sensitive and happens to be supported by his two Democratic senators.

That’s all pretty simple. These are not complex things — they’re challenging, but they’re straightforward. It’s not about understanding what you need to do as much as it is about having the courage to do it.

You look at a state like California. There are going to be some really tough decisions that have to be made to save that state. If Jerry Brown gets up and says “I’ve figured out a way to make this less painful,” well, here, smoke this — because at the end of the day, it’s going to be painful. Because that’s a state that has for too long made the easy decisions instead of the hard decisions.

If you are a state that has just said yes all the time to everything, there is a comeuppance, a day of reckoning for you. It’s right now.

It’s ‘right now’ in New Jersey, too. Continue reading Texas and New Jersey: perfect together.

A quick CPAC sitdown with Michael Williams.

He’s running for the Senate seat that Senator Hutchinson is going to vacate (assuming that she ever does), and I was able to touch base with him in between his speaking appearances at CPAC. Michael’s site is here: for those of you unaware of the odd nature of Texan nomenclature, a “Texas Railroad Commissioner” doesn’t actually have oversight over railroads. The position instead involves oversight over oil and other types of energy production, which is why it’s one of the most powerful elected positions in the state.

Crossposted to RedState.

“You say a Texan is from the East. I DARE you.”

That dare comes from my wife, who has this annoying habit of finding the one piddling inconsistency in what is otherwise a veritable symphony of my plausible nonsense.  In this case, we were discussing weather patterns across the United States (and how it relates to jumping a dead car battery).  So.  Fine.  Texas is part of the East.  It’s on the Gulf of Mexico; that’s part of the Atlantic Ocean.  Hence, Texans are Easterners.

Texans may now declare kanly upon my House and hunt me down at their leisure.  I accept my fate; but what could I do?  She dared me.

Newt Gingrich endorses Michael Williams for Texas Senate.

Now that I may comment: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has endorsed Michael Williams for Kay Bailey Hutchison’s soon-vacant Senate seat. It’s a strong endorsement, too (that link also leads to contribution information)

Having been a part of the last effort to retake the congressional majority, I am convinced we don’t have to wait 40 years this time to regain power. Democrats in Congress offer the same old, tired recipe of Democrats past — big government hand-outs, bloated bureaucracy and big-time deficit spending.

The kind of change they offer is simply a return to the discarded practices of the pre-Reagan era.

Our problem is not Americans are newly attracted to Democrat ideas, but that Republicans simply failed to live up to their own ideas.

Let me illustrate my point this way: while conservatives continue to embrace the conservative label, liberals have been re-marketing themselves as progressives. You can call a used car pre-owned all you want, but I will be just as worried about the engine going out.

We do not need to change our ideas, we need to live up to them. And when I talk about modernizing the Republican brand, I mean using tried and true Republicans principles in new ways to solve new problems.

The key to building a new Republican Majority is not simply branding Democrat policies as the destructive and discredited ideas of the past…but offering real alternatives that meet Americans where they are. And offering new leaders not bogged down by the old fights of the last decade.

We need conservatives willing to engage the Democrats on the field of ideas…willing to speak of a 21st Century conservatism…willing to stand and fight on principle. We need leaders like Michael Williams.

The full endorsement is at Michael’s site.  And, obviously, I agree.

Moe Lane

Full disclosure: I am in regular contact with the Michael Williams campaign, and I endorse him as a replacement to Senator Hutchison, once she resigns her Senate seat.

Crossposted to RedState.