[JeepersFreepers]

Straus was first elected to Speaker of the Texas House in 2009 when a "gang of 11" turncoat Republicans joined with all 65 Democrats to oust the current conservative speaker. Straus then appointed Democrats to 16 of the House's 34 chairmanship positions. He was able to undermine the conservative agenda of the Republican majority. Now, with the dramatic gains from the recent election, there is a super-majority of 101 Republicans out of 150 members in the House. Inexplicably this majority bypassed two conservative candidates to reelect this RINO as speaker, the 3rd most powerful position in Texas. They don't call the Republicans the Stupid Party for nothing. The most likely consequence of this re-election will be in how the House deals with the Texas budget deficit. Spending cuts will likely be stymied and tax increases enacted instead.

[freekitty]

They didn’t listen to the voters.

[Alex Murphy]

Straus was first elected to Speaker of the Texas House in 2009 when a "gang of 11" turncoat Republicans joined with all 65 Democrats to oust the current conservative speaker. Straus then appointed Democrats to 16 of the House's 34 chairmanship positions. He was able to undermine the conservative agenda of the Republican majority.

Related thread:
Priest, the bishop and Sunshine [retired Catholic bishop: voting for TX Rep. Joe Straus is a sin]

[Gadsden1st]

It is going to be a long, hard fight to straighten out the mess we have allowed. We have the same problem in state houses as we do at the Federal level. We must get involved at the local level and clean house from the bottom up. The RINO’s and Old Boy Network will not go quietly.

[montag813]

Can someone please explain to me how any Republican could support Straus after he appointed Democrats to head half of all committees?

[Frantzie]

LBJ Republicans. They s*ck.

[BillyBoy]

>> Straus was first elected to Speaker of the Texas House in 2009 when a "gang of 11" turncoat Republicans joined with all 65 Democrats to oust the current conservative speaker. Straus then appointed Democrats to 16 of the House's 34 chairmanship positions. He was able to undermine the conservative agenda of the Republican majority <<

Man, those state legislative leaders are great! Such wise leadership in those "red" states. Thomas Jefferson would love this guy! I'm not sure who is better, Straus, Kent Williams of Tennessee, or the RINOs who lets the Dems run the Alaska Senate despite Republicans far outnumbering them. If only Straus could be choosing the state's U.S. Senators instead of the lowly voters, we'd have true statesmen in office. Obviously professional politicians are sooo much smarter and better than the citizens of their state.

Yessir, most state legislatures are truly inspirational. And of course, in the rare circumstance you don't like your state legislator, you should just "pay closer attention" to the candidates and produce a better one (not sure how this works if you're in a state like Ilinois where all the districts are gerrymandered, or in Arkansas where the system is rigged so the incumbents run unopposed), but oh well. And of course, if Texans don't love their wonderful state legislature, there's another "solution", they can just pick up overnight and "move!" to a new state -- as some "abolish the 17th" advocate told me when I explained to him my state legislature sucks.

(I suppose I should add the < /sarcasm> tag in case anyone thinks I actually like the Texas State House.)