By Jason Moore SREC Dist. 31
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Apparently the simple things in life are in serious need of being made more complicated. I recently authored a resolution as a member of the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) simply asking fellow Republican legislators to caucus together this upcoming legislative session & decide from among themselves who their choice is for Speaker of the House. After speaking with several current legislators I moved forward buoyed by their enthusiasm for such a stated principle.
I am sure the motivations are too numerous to list but I would dare say that it is in the interest of mankind that we return to a fundamental respect for written words and thought.
Simply put I and other grassroots workers are out of patience with politicians who ask us to help them get elected so that they can then pursue their own agendas.
I know of numerous elected Republicans who are committed to seeing the will of conservative people in Texas enacted into legislation but are constantly thwarted by a handful of others making deals for themselves with the minority party while the majority party is left to water down good conservative legislation (if any is passed at all) to have any prayer of accomplishing anything.
The 2003 session is a great example of the conservatism we wanted needed and saw passed into law. Tort reform spending & tax cuts and a redistricting plan that allowed the majority of conservative voting Texans to have their representation reflected with a majority of U.S. Congressmen & State House members for the first time in decades.
Now that we need expansive voter protections (including increased penalties for voter fraud) spending restraint and another round of accurate and fair redistricting 
we are in danger of having a Republican majority that is as shackled as the 2009 legislature instead of having the freedom to represent the will of the people of Texas.
In 2003 the Statewide Republicans and the Texas House and Senate were unified as one team and we succeeded in advancing common sense conservatism that was long overdue. We need that kind of unity again in a time of fiscal and political chaos facing the United States.
The language of the resolution (defined as ... often used to express the bodys approval or disapproval of something which they cannot otherwise vote on due to the matter being handled by another jurisdiction or being protected by a constitution") is a clear and simple statement of fact and a humble request that our Republican legislators sign on in agreement with a principle that if you run and are elected as a Republican then you should caucus together to make your first important decision together as Republicans; that being the election of the Speaker of the House.
In reality most members of the SREC wholeheartedly agreed with the principle but some were concerned that the media would take it and turn it into something it was never meant to be.
You see it is Utopia on earth when Democrats unite and flee to other states to (again) thwart the will of the majority but apparently it is evil incarnate when Republicans are asked to unite to find the best possible candidate for Speaker of the House.
The resolution clearly does not disparage any individual nor does it promote any specific individual. However sadly a few members of our body outright called the resolution divisive!
Really? Someone please help me understand how asking for a unified caucus meeting 
of Republicans can be considered divisive?
Instantly some began to mischaracterize and disparage the resolution before they had even read it (sound familiar?)!
Most of us after reading the actual resolution asked what the counter argument was to prevent the same mistakes of the past. The answer apparently is simply more of the same.
If the events of the past two years are not enough evidence of the disgust the conservatives have about putting people and personalities ahead of principle then maybe evidence produced by an unlikely source will; a Baker Institute Rice scholar named Mark Jones.
Mr. Jones asserts in his recent study that:
In 2009 Republican Speaker Joe Straus replaced Craddick with the backing of a handful of moderate Republicans and an overwhelming majority of Democrats. The apparent price paid by Straus for this Democratic support was the delegation of a great deal of his agenda control powers (especially negative agenda control) to the Democratic Party House leadership. This speculation would help explain why the roll rate of the minority Democratic Party was a mere 3 percent in 2009 but the roll rate of the majority Republican Party was 32 percent. While it would appear the Democratic House leaders worked to ensure that legislation that was opposed by a majority of Democrats never made it to the floor for a FPV one cannot say the same thing about their Republican counterparts...
...They the figures used by Mr. Jones to score legislators as Liberal/Conservative also underscore the very curious situation in 2009 where even the Democrat with the lowest win rate still had a higher win rate than all but six Republicans with the more conservative Republicans faring especially poorly.
http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog/2010/08/the_democrats_stealth_influence_in_the_texas_house_1.html
So in the end conservative Republicans simply want to reverse the trend shown by Mr. Jones study. The resolution passed by the SREC simply seeks to have a more conservative Joe Straus (to be evidenced by his chairman appointments and conservative legislation that makes it to the floor for a vote) OR a more conservative yet to be named other
Republican. The goal is simply to unshackle the next Speaker from having to make a less than desirable deal with people who seek a polar opposite agenda as our grassroots by caucusing with or own Republicans.
Is it really that unheard of for the base of a party to expect their guys to unify to work out a plan for legislating as the people have given them a mandate to do? Is it really absurd to expect that as more conservatives are elected that we expect more conservative leadership and legislation?
If after twenty years of conservatives consistently winning in this state we cannot expect fruits of that labor to be harvested this year (or any other year we continue to win) then we can only expect that the grassroots conservatives will (rightfully) begin to look elsewhere for legislators who will have the courage to stand up for our convictions. I dare say that had the democrats held a 76-74 majority they would have run the house...well actually as they ran it last session (according to Mr. Jones study) but with more of their guys as chairmen because apparently they are truly committed to their agenda.
I believe that if we encourage Republicans to stand strong together this session starting with them signing on to the principle of the SREC resolution we will see the most conservative legislation passed in quite some time.
Make no mistake the other side knows this to be the case and will double their efforts to see our side divided.
It is (once again) up to the grassroots to express their will to their Republican candidates and legislators if they want to see conservatism advanced. Until then it will just be business as usual.
Grassroots conservatives and Republican legislators can sign on to this resolution at www.unifiedrepublicans.com
Jason Moore of Odessa is an elected member of the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) for State Senate District 31.
