Corbin Van Arsdale's Agenda for Texas
Corbin Van Arsdale, State Rep in HD 130 in Harris, has a race on his hands, with Allen Fletcher running to oppose him. However, hey both are running on similar platforms. Van Arsdale has a long list of conservative endorsements, such as YCT, Texas Right to Life, CLEAT, Texas Home School Coalition, Texans For Fiscal Responsibility. Fletcher is supported by Senator Dan Patrick, and running in part on disgruntlement over the TTC. Here is Corbin Van Arsdale's Agenda for Texas, an agenda I'd like to see pushed by the Travis House members (yeah, good luck with that):
Agenda for the 2009 Session
- Combat illegal immigration
- More troopers, resources and technology for border security
- Require citizenship and photo ID to vote
- Require proof of citizenship for government benefits
- End sanctuary cities
- Prohibit illegal immigrants from getting in-state tuition
- Deport illegal immigrants from our prisons and jails
- Bigger, bolder ideas on property tax relief
- Abolish the school property tax altogether by replacing it with local spending accountability, dedicated surplus and statewide sales tax.
- Keep pushing to lower appraisal caps. In the Senate, there are roughly 8-10 votes FOR, and we need 21 (for constitutional reasons, not because of the "2/3rds Rule"). In the House, we probably have 84-85 votes FOR, and we need 100. While we need to keep pushing to lower the 10% appraisal cap, we also need to come up with better property tax relief ideas that: (1) only require a majority vote (i.e., easier to pass) or (2) do more than just slow down automatic tax increases.
- Require automatic voter approval for total property tax increases of 5% or more.
- Cut government spending
- Identify wasteful spending. Along with four other legislators, I helped Susan Combs create a new searchable Internet database for all state spending, grants, and contracts in the 2007 session. This will empower you, my constituents, to identify wasteful spending for us to cut.
Pass a true constitutional spending limit tied to inflation plus population growth, not the gimmick “spending cap” we have now that limits returning surpluses to taxpayers. - Provide simpler mechanism for returning surpluses to the taxpayers as an actual rebate.
- Additional cuts to the business tax
- Stop the Trans Texas Corridor and abuse of eminent domain
Use surplus, consumption taxes and reduced spending to add to the business tax cuts that were passed for small business in the 2007 Session
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4 comments:
Rep. Van Arsdale's constituents are angry that he not only voted in favor of the business tax in 2006, but that he enthusiastically supported the Republican leadership in passing the HB 3. This is costing Van Arsdale a lot of support in his district from angry small business owners.
This is a bell-weather race as it will give Republican incumbents a look at which issue is most important...the business tax or the plethora of other parts of the conservative platform.
Comment on Burka's bblog on that and the Corte race:
"I cannot belive that the toll road crazies are seriously trying to take out Corte.
Between their single issue insanity and the Dan Patrick Apostles who want to sink people over the margins tax, the Rebpublican party will be in bad shape.
You cannot govern if all you have is opposition to issues with no solutions. If you can't govern, you will get no say in the process. I would rather conservatives have alternatives and be part of the governing process than throw bombs from the fringe minority.
I have yet to hear either group of loonies propose serious alternatives to toll roads or to the margins tax."
Me - I'm rooting for Corte, Van Arsdale, King, and Macias... go incumbents!
I'm certainly not for every Republican incumbent (it is a stretch to think of Geren or Jones as Republicans, no matter their filing affiliation), and I wish more Republican incumbents had been challenged (Merritt, Truitt, Susan King all come to mind). It is a worrisome thing that good conservatives like Phil King, Jerry Madden, Corbin Van Arsdale, Betty Brown, and others are being challenged so vociferously. If we spent half as much effort weeding out the truly liberal Republicans, and stopping Democrats from crossing over to run in our primaries, we would be able to keep a conservative Texas Legislature.
There are some open seats that warrant attention, too. Dan Patrick's attention would be better spent ensuring we get conservative replacements for Robert Talton, Dianne White Delisi, and Mike Krusee. Delisi's seat is in special danger from Fred Hill's female doppelganger, Martha Tyroch.
It's sad to see that we're willing to go after good conservatives in an effort to avenge one wrong - Van Arsdale isn't the only rep. to have voted for the business tax, and that certainly isn't the worst crime a legislator can have perpetrated in the last few sessions. Does no one remember Rick Perry and the rest of the trifecta pushing for and getting in-state tuition for illegals? How about Geanie Morrison and Tom Craddick hoodwinking conservatives for tuition deregulation? Why haven't these transgressions been addressed?
Didn't Fletcher's past rep, Eissler, vote for HB 3 as well? Yet Fletcher, encouraged by Patrick, actually moved to a different house just to run against Van Arsdale, primarily because of the business tax (a statement Fletcher made in a forum in Tomball)? Why didn't he just stay put and challenge Eissler?
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