Politics just got VERY LIVELY here in Texas.
Governor Perry essentially used RINOs and RINO-lites to limit what the legislature was able to put on his desk. Perry is no conservative and the last thing he wanted to see was stuff like real welfare reform, real education reform, Arizona-style immigration laws, etc. Some good stuff did pass, but the Republican-dominated legislature would have done much more, had there been been a conservative governor willing to push for it.
But then two things happened:
1) Lt. Governor Dewhurst single-handedly killed our TSA Anti-Groping bill, after it passed unanimously in the State House and was about to do the same in the State Senate (Lt. Governors are very powerful here) - although Dewhurst and another Senator tried to play footsie to hide the culprit (i.e., they kept blaming each other). This infuriated Senator Dan Patrick, who blamed Dewhurst by name (and he is very careful about calling out Republicans this way).
2) The Dems decided to run out the clock on a state budget and force a special session. Special sessions can cover any topic and the Republicans have decided to eliminate the veto power the Dems have in the State Senate (i.e., it takes a 2/3’s vote to pass anything there - and the Republicans are one seat short). It was this veto power that prevented the budget from passing. For special sessions, it’s MAJORITY RULE, for one.
Now you add into the mix that US Senator Hutchison is retiring (not a day too soon, for many here)...and Dewhurst was the easy favorite for the Republican nomination...everything was in place.
But then, (State) Senator Patrick decides to start an “Exploratory Committee” to look into running for the US Senate seat. Patrick is our version of Sara Palin, with his connections to the grass-roots. He was (and is) a radio talk show host and has a huge following in Houston, Dallas, and (I think) San Antonio. When he ran for the State Senate, it was his first run for office. He was not the favorite in the primary (safe Republican seat), as there was a sitting State House member that the party backed and was expected to take it. Patrick won that primary against that party guy and 5 others with 70% of the vote. So he gets some respect when he talks about higher office.
So Dewhurst has a mortal threat from the right...and guess what, he’s BEGGING the governor to let him make this special session into something useful and take on Sanctuary Cities, Groping, and who knows what else. It could get very interesting...
We shall see.
Thank you for the detailed explanation. We need to do something. Fort Worth is infested with illegals who are driving property taxes sky high.
“So Dewhurst has a mortal threat from the right...and guess what, he’s BEGGING the governor to let him make this special session into something useful and take on Sanctuary Cities, Groping, and who knows what else. It could get very interesting...”
Except now it’s in stark relief that Dewhurst don’t do squat without serious pressure from the right. He kisses babies and waves the flag with the best of them, but when it comes to walking the walk, he’s just another pol. I’m not alone in hoping Patrick really does run against Dewhurst, regardless of what this special session produces.
DAN pATRICK KNOWS HOW TO TALK THE TALK BUT HE IS NO FRIEND OF GROUPS FIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. HE WILL BE ANOTHER NWO WATER BOY.