2012 Texas GOP Convention Report, Part 3

Ron Paul

There were a lot of Ron Paul supporters at the Convention.  Some people see that as a bad thing.  I do not.  Most of my discussions with other Republicans have gone something like this:

Me: I really like Ron Paul. I agree with probably about 85% of what he says.
Other Person: Me, too.
Me: His foreign policy scares the crud out of me, though.
Other Person: Me, too.
Me: I may not want him as President, but I wish we had about 250 of him in the U.S. House and 60 in the Senate.
Other Person: Me, too.

To be fair, there are some who find Paul to be completely scary and maybe even crazy.  Typically, those folks are what we fondly call "Establishment Republicans."  Traditional Conservatives and Tea Party types actually have far more areas of agreement with Ron Paul than they have areas of disagreement.

I am not thrilled with some of the deceptive tactics undertaken by the Paul supporters in their efforts to get elected as delegates to the National Convention, but I can understand their frustration.  If they tell the whole truth, they have almost no shot of being selected, and that would also be unfair.

The Republican Party needs to figure out how to reach out to Paul's supporters to bring them into the fold.  These folks will not be co-opted, so if that is the plan, it is doomed to fail.  Imagine how great it would be if we could harness that enthusiasm going forward.  On the other side, the Paul supporters who take the "nobody but Ron Paul" position should not be surprised when other Republicans aren't too enamored with them.

Ron Paul has pointed out some significant problems with the way we do government at the Federal level.  His proposed approach would be too much, too fast, but he is one of the few who stays true to the ideal of limited government, and that should be embraced, not feared.

2012 Texas GOP Convention Report, Part 2

The Platform

I am sure that there are other areas of disagreement about the Texas Republican Platform, but it seemed like the only plank people wanted to argue about was the one on Immigration.  The new plank in its entirety read:

The Texas Solution – Because of decades-long failure of the federal government to secure our borders and address the immigration issue, there are now upwards of 11 million undocumented individuals in the United States today, each of whom entered and remain here under different circumstances.  Mass deportation of these individuals would neither be equitable nor practical; while blanket amnesty, as occurred with the Simpson-Mazzoli Act of 1986, would only encourage future violations of the law.  We seek common ground to develop and advance a conservative, market- and law-based approach to our nation’s immigration issues by following these principles:

1. Secure Our Borders – The U.S. Border must be secured immediately!  We demand the application of effective, practical and reasonable measures to secure our borders and to bring safety and security for all Americans along the border and throughout the nation.

2. Modernize the United States Social Security Card – We support the improvement of our 1936 Social Security card to use contemporary anti-counterfeit technology. The social security card will not be considered a National ID card for U.S. citizens.

3. Birthright Citizenship – We call on the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches of the United States to clarify Section 1 of the 14th amendment to limit citizenship by birth to those born to a citizen of the United States with no exceptions.

4. Create an Effective and Efficient Temporary Worker Program – A national Temporary Worker Program should be implemented to bring skilled and unskilled workers into the United States for temporary periods of time when no U.S. workers are currently available.  The program should also require:

• Self-funding through participation fees and fines;
• Applicants must pass a full criminal background check;
• Applicants with prior immigration violations would only qualify for the program if they paid the appropriate fines;
• Applicants and/or Employers must prove that they can afford and/or secure private health insurance;
• Applicants must waive any and all rights to apply for financial assistance from any public entitlement programs;
• Applicant must show a proficiency in the English language and complete an American civic class;
• Temporary Workers would only be able to work for employers that deduct and match payroll taxes;
• All participants would be issued an individual Temporary-Worker Biometric Identification Card that tracks all address changes and both civil and criminal court appearances as a defendant.

This approach closely follows the suggestions of Newt Gingrich this year and Mike Huckabee four years ago.  It is within the mainstream of Republican thought and in no way paves the way for Amnesty now or in the future for those who have entered our nation illegally.

A softened approach to those who are already here (and who are being as productive as they can be in the shadow economy that is necessary for their survival) coupled with a commitment to securing the border is the most rational approach going forward.  I commend the Platform Committee and the Delegates who approved the new language overwhelmingly.

There are those who will claim that this language was slipped through because we didn't get to the Platform on the floor until late into the evening on Friday.  However, a reasonable analysis should lead to the conclusion that the vast majority of those opposed to the new plank would have been especially motivated to return for the 9:00 p.m. session.  Even so, the Texas Solution was approved by roughly a 2 to 1 margin of those present and voting.  I believe that if the entire delegation had been present, the ratio would have been closer to 3 or 4 to 1 in favor.

Maybe, just maybe, the Republican Party can stop antagonizing hispanic voters.  If we don't, the future of the Party in Texas will begin to look bleaker and bleaker.

2012 Texas GOP Convention Report, Part 1

There are so many things I could talk about relating to this year's Texas Republican Convention.  These thoughts will be somewhat random and will appear over the next several posts.

I was nominated by by State Republican Executive Committeeman (SREC), John Cook, to serve on the Temporary Rules Committee.  This meant that I was involved in the meetings that went on before the Convention actually opened on Thursday.  I was supposed to be there Monday at noon, but because of some mis-communication, I wasn't aware I had actually been appointed to the Committee.  I finally got there Tuesday afternoon, which was early enough to be involved in the discussion about most of the substantive rules.  I found myself on the minority side of a 22-9 vote on an issue that I felt pretty strongly about.  It was, and still is, my opinion that the then existing rule caused our Party to violate a provision of the Texas Election Code.  There are 31 Senate Districts in Texas.  Each one has a Caucus at the State Convention.  At the first meeting of that Caucus, each SD elects representatives for each of the Permanent Committees (Rules, Platform, Credentials, State Nominations).  I was elected without opposition, so I got to return to carry on with our work.  Four of our colleagues from the Temporary Committee had been defeated at their Caucuses.  After a few tweaks to allay some of the concerns from folks who had been on the Temporary Committee, the proposed rule change was presented again.  This time, my side was in the majority 17-14.  I was thrilled that we made the change to allow us to comply with the law.  I was flabbergasted that 14 people were more worried about practicalities and potential power plays than with complying with the law.

The major changes to the rules took out the term limits for Texas' members of the Republican National Committee; changed the procedure for the State Convention (the one I mentioned above); and eliminated one round for which our Delegates to the National Convention will remain bound to their pledged candidate.  The Ron Paul supporters had wanted us to change that rule to make our Delegates completely unbound at the National Convention.  First, even if we had, it would not have applied this year.  Second, there was no way we were willing to do that.  I'm not sure who in the room was actually fond of Mitt Romney, but none of us were willing to undermine the will of the majority of those who voted in the Texas Republican Primary.