These are divisive lies promulgated by a commie outlet of the lamestream media. Bible-based Conservatism and the Tea Party are ascendent in Texas.
Got out in the Texas deluge this AM to vote for TEA Party candidates in today’s run-off. Polls are open until 7:00 PM. One excellent reason to vote is to stamp out the dirty ads launched by GOPe candidates. They deserve a good thrashing for using Democrat tactics in this election cycle.
I went to 3 different places looking for where to vote in Ellis county 76065. someone should write a ap to message you and let you know where you go to vote.
I wouldn’t ask Dewhurst for squat. That man proved himself despicable in his campaign ads. I never heard a single policy statement in his ads, just dirt.
if they don’t it sure will be telling and I’ll be double glad I voted Patrick!
Let me give you guys a little background here.
I’ve been listening to Dan Patrick on the radio for around 20 years now here in Houston. He’s always come across as very conservative and very kind to everyone (unlike what some people say).
Around 12 years ago, he started getting phone calls from people that were seeing their property taxes DOUBLE, literally, in 10 years, and then be on the path to yet double again. This was due to our appraisal system. If your house was worth $100k when you bought it, but the values in the neighborhood pushed it up to $200k, your property taxes would, ultimately, double (assuming the rates stayed constant). There is a limit to 10% per year for homesteads, but that still means doubling every 7 years. So if you paid $3k in property taxes in 2000, you could well be paying $12k in 2014. That is our law, and it’s meant to have people pay according to how they live. But, obviously, if you’re 63 years old, with a fairly steady income and haven’t done anything radical to your home (like adding an addition, pool, or external garage), you probably cannot afford the increase, and therefore people were being kicked out.
Dan thought it was reasonable to cap appraisal increases to something near inflation, maybe 3%...5% at worst. Given that our legislature is 60+% Republican, he figured it was a no-brainer.
Boy was he in for a lesson in Texas politics. He organized one (maybe 2) busload of people (his listeners) to go from Houston to Austin, to testify about the effect these appraisals are having on people just trying to live out their lives, in their own homes. He was PROMISED, by his State Senator, that they would get to speak at the Senate hearing on the subject. So they quietly take their seats, and watch, and watch, and the people testifying are LOBBYISTS, only lobbyists. And then the hearing is over. Dan, understandably, blows his stack and lets them know what he thinks.
The lobbyists wound up being people (typically former legislators) that are hired by school boards and municipalities to make sure that there are NO APPRAISAL CAPS. In other words, the people that are being driven out of their houses by property taxes are also being forced to pay the lobbyists whose only job is to prevent appraisal caps. One thing to note here is that limiting appraisal growth DOES NOT stop property taxes from going up - but it does mean that towns and school districts have to increase TAX RATES, rather than have free money showered upon them through increased appraisals. They like their positions of power and did not want to have to do that.
Then the Republican state senator from Dan’s part of Houston retires, and Dan figures he’ll run. Being a Republican district, he has some well-known and well-financed opponents in the Primary, including a state legislator who was the favorite. Dan wins 70% of the vote in a 4-way race.
Needless to say he’s treated like crap in the State Senate - he is setup to make him look bad and gets limited results, although some good stuff did get through. Nearly everything he wants, including caps on appraisals are stopped, not by the Democrats, but by the Republicans, specifically, Dewhurst, answering to those lobbyists. So now he runs to replace Dewhurst...finally.
So that’s a summary, here in Texas.