Smithee’s “Guest Column” allegedly describes what he “intend[s] to accomplish for [his] constituents in the upcoming legislative session.” Okay. Worthwhile, if a bit late since the election, as I recall, was in November. I sat down to learn what was in store for Smithee’s constituents.
I still don’t know. Smithee’s piece was infested with platitudes and truisms such as: “There is no easy answer” and “We will not support any plan that is not fair to Panhandle citizens.” Two-thirds of the column describes the various methods of financing schools and the shortcomings of each, while providing no clue what Smithee thinks ought to be done. Most of the rest of the column deals with closing an insurance loophole. And the final paragraph reads thus:
Locally, my legislative agenda involves four primary issues: enhancement of higher education opportunities at Amarillo College, West Texas A&M University and Texas Tech Health Sciences Center; a long-term plan for preservation and stewardship of Palo Duro Canyon, including the development of a first-class visitor's center in the park; improving our Panhandle highway system, including the appearance of Interstate 40 in Amarillo; the development of a roadside rest park west of Amarillo; and ensuring that no Panhandle county is required to pay a constable unless the citizens of that county determine a constable is needed.
That’s all very nice, but rather short on specifics. So, I spent a little time checking out Rep. Smithee’s voting record.
Suffice it to say that the jury is still out, but the future doesn't look good for liberal voices on the AGN Opinion page. Check comments for specifics or to add your own observations about Smithee's record.
SPACEDARK
Smithee's voting record:
ReplyDelete- Voted against House Bill 2 to reform campaign finance by requiring out-of-state PACs to report their expenditures; contributors of more than $200 to disclose their employer and occupation; 24-hour reporting of all contributions of more than $1,000 received in the last nine days of an election; disclosures of who paid for all candidate-specific ads run in the last 60 days of an election campaign and for the the Texas Ethics Commission to include donors’ street names in its electronic disclosures posted on the Internet.
- Voted for an amendment to HB 1245 adding language to define spouse to mean a husband, who is a man, or a wife, who is a woman.
- Voted to echo existing state law that already bans recognition of same-sex unions.
- Voted against increasing the age a person could be eligible for the death penalty.
- Voted against increasing the standards of the defense counsel offered to indigent defendants and sets strict time limits for a magistrate to appoint an attorney for an indigent defendant.
- Voted against enabling juries to sentence convicted capital felons to either death, life without parole, or life with parole.
- Voted against the creation of a commission to study capital punishment in Texas and to a moratorium on executions.
- Voted against the JAMES BYRD JR. HATE CRIMES ACT to enhance penalties for hate-motivated violence directed against people because of their race, religion, or sexual preference.
- Voted against prohibiting discrimination against students in Texas public schools based on ethnicity, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, and national origin.
- Voted for TEXAS DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT prohibiting the state from recognizing civil unions or marriages between persons of the same sex, including those performed in other states.
- Voted for parental notification on abortion (test vote)
- Is considered by various organizations to be anti-choice, anti-family planning, pro-gun, and anti-gay.
Great post spacedark.
ReplyDeleteAlso 2 more "Damn those liberals" hate LTE's this am.
Gues the AGN needed to clear up more space for dear leaders supporters.
-PS
Great post.
ReplyDeleteIman
Public schools? State parks? Highway system improvements? Smithee's closing paragraph is rife with liberalism and stands in stark contrast to his con$ervative voting record.
ReplyDeleteRife w/ liberalism if you count vague support for popular entitlements without specific commitments as liberalism.
ReplyDeleteMost conservatives I know support lots of "liberal" ideas. They have some type of cognitive dissonance with the world they want to live in and the political party they vote for. I just haven't yet figured out how to convince them the conservative Utopia they're voting for does not reflect their values. Gays, gods and welfare queens override everything else.
ReplyDeleteIman