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Follow TURFMidterm elections: what's next? Hold their feet to the fire
By Terri Hall
Houston Examiner / San Antonio Express-News blog
November 13, 2010
It's clear from the election results that the people have spoken and want to be in charge of their government once again. So the people have spoken, now what? That's the question I was repeatedly asked after the election since the Republican wave that swept the state and the country November 2 left us with the biggest pro-toll tax Governor, Rick Perry, still in place and took out several anti-toll Democrat champions, most notably two State Representatives Jim Dunnam and David Leibowitz.
We've learned to weather each election cycle and work with each new legislature that arrives in Austin. Issue-based citizen advocacy works, no matter who's in office. Some say the obstacles will be greater with Perry's re-election and many of his cronies in greater control of the Texas legislature, but we'll continue to fight, un-phased, on behalf of the taxpayers and to beat back runaway toll taxation and the sale of our Texas roads to foreign entities and Wall Street banksters in government-sanctioned monopolies called public private partnerships (PPPs).
It's time to hold these "fiscally conservative" politicians' feet to the fire. It's not only NOT fiscally conservative to increase taxes on driving (anywhere from 25 cents per mile up to $1.50 per mile in places, averaging $2,000-$3,000 per year in new taxes per commuter), but also it's NOT fiscally conservative to sell out taxpayers in sweetheart deals that socialize the losses and privatize the profits and that prevent the building of free roads surrounding the toll roads (non-compete agreements), nor is it fiscally responsible to recklessly delve Texans into unsustainable debt to subsidize loser toll projects in double and triple taxation schemes.
Yes, it's time to hold their feet to the fire and test the mettle of these self-proclaimed "fiscal conservatives." Call me crazy, but with the electorate more engaged and the demand for accountability and fiscal restraint at an all time high, I'm more optimistic than ever.