Why many frustrate conservative reform in Austin

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Robert Pratt

On the DC-front Texas-born Rand Paul got something right in an interview when he said about Arizona’s John McCain: “You know, I think he makes a really, really strong case for term limits. I think maybe he’s past his prime; I think maybe he’s gotten a little bit unhinged.”

I think we’ve seen plenty of evidence to back that statement up. Then you have Lindsey Graham of South Carolina who patterns his every action after McCain. He may not be “past his prime” but he’s certain an unreliable grandstander who loves being in front of the cameras.

No matter what the Republican Party does in DC, even with weak moderate-leaning leaders in the Senate, you can count on Graham and McCain to obstruct and help the Democrats on matters when it will pull them the most flattery from the liberal manipulative media.

We have a similar thing going on in Austin but it is accolades of the full-time lobbyist and Austin crowd that is more sought than media attention.

…it’s because the end-game for most of these folk is a fat-cat job in the insider-Austin lobby industry when they leave office.

Almost every obstruction of reform called for in the Texas Republican Party platform or by large swaths of Republican voters is frustrated by House Speaker Joe Straus and his band of House managers. They most often use the proven method of process slow down to kill or significantly dilute conservative reform. And having the back room support of the Democrat caucus lets the Straus crew overwhelm the strength of a GOP caucus majority on issues.

When the professional lobbyist body is sufficiently bothered is about the only time Straus will publicly state his anti-conservative positions as we’ve seen with the Privacy Act, otherwise known as bathroom bill.

Why is this so prevalent? Aside from social peer pressure, it’s because the end-game for most of these folk is a fat-cat job in the insider-Austin lobby industry when they leave office.

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