Who’s your daddy? That might as well be the taunt coming from GOP social conservatives to the Texas Association of Business (TAB).
R.G. put out a take yesterday on the TAB and the GOP State Senate. TAB got zero votes out of them yesterday on the bathroom bill. What else is news? Here is how R.G.’s take starts out:
The business establishment has run Texas since before any of us were born. They were the robber barons of the oil industry, and the corporate executives, particularly of the insurance companies. They believed in government so long as it was lean and stayed out of their way. They often opposed President Roosevelt’s “socialist” New Deal, and they coined the anti-union phrase “right to work.” When the Democratic Party started shifting further to the left in the 1960s, the business establishment led the effort, over about thirty years, to turn Texas into a Republican state.
And along the way, the establishment Republicans—once called country club Republicans—formed an alliance with a necessary constituency group: unruly Republican cousins of the evangelical, fundamentalist Christian variety more interested in social issues than in the idea that what is good for business is good for Texas. The alliance has been fraying for years. This session, in the Texas Senate at least, business Republicans found that they have lost control to the social conservatives. Whether it was the so-called bathroom bill to restrict transgender access to restrooms or the sanctuary city crackdowns on illegal immigrants, social conservatives are treating Texas business like an enemy rather than an ally.
When the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce announced opposition to the bathroom bill, Senate co-sponsor Kelly Hancock of North Richland Hills resigned his membership. (Hancock decline repeated requests to comment.)
After the Texas Association of Business sent the Senate a letter of opposition to sanctuary city legislation, the leader of the right-wing Empower Texans publicly urged tea party conservatives to boycott the organization’s members. The TAB is the umbrella organization for local chambers of commerce as well as individual business members, including some of the largest corporations in Texas.
During a committee hearing on the bathroom bill, Senator Paul Bettencourt of Houston publicly dressed down Texas Association of Business President Chris Wallace over a flawed study on the potential economic impact of the Legislature passing a bill perceived as discriminatory. Even with shortcomings in the study, Wallace said, there is no doubt that the bathroom bill would negatively affect some businesses in the state. Bettencourt exploded at Wallace: “It is absolutely fake news for the president of the Texas Association of Business to be quoting a study that has an absolutely zero credibility rating.”
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and bathroom bill author Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham held a press conference with groups such as Vision America and the US Pastor Council to announce a self-proclaimed “Christian” lobby effort to force passage of the bathroom bill in the Texas House.
Here is all of R.G.’s take: http://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/great-republican-rift/.
Kuffer also weighs in here: http://offthekuff.com/wp/?p=79555.
It would be easy to say something glib like TAB made their own bed so sleep in it but I won’t. I really and truly hope that they are having discussions on rethinking their relationship with social conservative GOPers. TAB needs to forcefully draw a line and maybe look at helping some Dems who are taking on some of the social conservative GOPers in purple districts. This is a new era, so adjust.
Social conservative GOPers are absolutely showing no respect for groups like TAB. TAB, it is time to respond in kind. They are not your daddy!
The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is being played and Jose Altuve, Carlos Beltran, Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa and Luke Gregerson are some of the ‘Stros who are playing in the WBC. How many teams are in the WBC and can you name them?
When I read about State Rep. Jessica Farrar’s bill this past Friday “relating to the regulation of men’s health and safety; creating a civil penalty for unregulated masturbatory emissions”, I figured GOP retaliation was in store. You know, the truth hurts. So, yesterday’s antics didn’t come as a surprise. FYI: Rep. Farrar is Commentary’s state rep.
From The Hill:
President Trump is “extremely confident” that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will produce evidence that former President Obama wiretapped him last year, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday.
“I think he’s extremely confident,” Spicer said in response to a question about the accusation, adding that Trump believed the evidence would “vindicate him.”
“I think there’s significant reporting about surveillance techniques that existed throughout the 2016 election,” Spicer said at the daily White House briefing.
Here is the entire read: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/white-house-trump-confident-doj-will-produce-wiretapping-evidence/ar-AAolSJM?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=UE01DHP.
We are waiting! Let’s see what the FBI Director says today.
Drum roll please! The WBC teams are Australia, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, USA and Venezuela of course.
‘Stros backup catcher Max Stassi is 26 today. With Brian McCann and Evan Gattis in camp, Stassi won’t be on the team on Opening Day.
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