The fight among Texas Republicans over who should be speaker of the state House of Representatives is getting hotter. We suggested on Tuesday that over-the-top efforts by far-right pressure groups and their extremist supporters to replace Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, may well alienate other Republicans. That point was made clearer in a letter from […]
Texas Legislature
Far Right Overplaying Its Hand in Lege?
A new e-mail to activists shows the religious right is narrowing even further its definition of a good Republican. An e-mail from the Houston Area Pastor Council on Monday demands that Republican members of the Texas House of Representatives base their vote for Speaker this month on three main issues: abortion, same-sex marriage and gambling: […]
Anti-Straus Forces Step Up Pressure
Religious-right groups are taking the highly unusual step of calling a public rally next month at the state Capitol in Austin to demand the removal of Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, as Speaker of the Texas House. This newest intimidation tactic comes after a weeks-long religious campaign against Straus in which Straus opponents have noted that […]
A ‘Christian, Conservative’ Speaker
That’s what one State Republican Executive Committee member says he — and, supposedly, other Texans — wants as the next Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. The Texas Observer reports that SREC member John Cook said the following to another committee member in a Thursday (Nov. 30) e-mail: “WE elected a house with Christian, […]
Elections Open Door to Radical Agendas
The Associated Press notes that the religious right is preparing to use the November elections to push a radical legislative agenda in states across the country starting in January. The religious right’s hit list includes women’s reproductive rights, embryonic stem cell research, divorce laws and equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans. The Texas Freedom […]
