Straus not running for a new term.

[mojo84]

There's a lot of people out there that do not give him a high grade when it comes to conservative principles.

https://texasmonitor.org/joe-straus-ste ... ign=buffer

[srothstein]

Just as a point to consider, who cares about conservative principles? Nothing in the TSRA or NRA ratings should consider conservative principles. Both are single issue organizations who should only reflect his performance on that one issue.

I am not a conservative. I am a libertarian. I support the TSRA and NRA for their stance on one issue that I am very concerned with as a basic liberty. I have not always agreed with either organization but I find the ratings from TSRA to be very helpful in making up my mind on some candidates. In the specific case of Straus, I found his lack of being a conservative on certain issues very beneficial to the concept of liberty. I do not want to go into those issues because they are irrelevant to the point of this forum.

My personal rating of Straus for his gun issues would be A- or B+ because I think he could have done more to get certain bills passed than he did. But he has also worked to kill a lot of bad gun bills so I will not punish him too hard for not supporting those bills. I tend to trust that TSRA knows more about the real political situation and what is possible than I do, and I am positive Straus also knows this. Since he is not a single issue politician, I am sure he made some decisions where gun bills were sacrificed for other positions he held dear also.

All I mean to say with all of this is that you may judge him as bad or good based on your mix of priorities, but the TSRA should only judge him for his position on a single issue.

[mojo84]

My point is that I am not sure the TSRA or NRA takes enough into consideration when they assign their ratings. I think one has to look beyond just voting record when it comes to the speaker of the house.

Not everyone is a single issue voter. I am a conservative with libertarian leanings. I see Straus as one of the purest RINO's there is. Regardless whether you are a libertarian, conservative or a combination, Straus has done significant damage to 2nd Amendment Rights and has hidden behind the fact he hasn't had to vote on the bills because he is the Speaker and he also controls whether or not bills get to the floor.

If you think Straus has been good for 2nd Amendment and other conservative or libertarian values, I suggest you dig a little deeper. He is a smart dude and figured out a way to advance his liberal democratic agenda without going on the record by appointing democrats to key committee positions. His lieutenants do his dirty work so he can maintain his high ratings. He mastered playing both sides of the fence.

I can assure you, the true libertarians in the House do not think highly of Straus. Some of them were the ones leading the charge to replace him as speaker.

[AJSully421]

Great! Hopefully we can get Phil King in there and crank the Conservativism up to 11 around here and chase off these liberal nut jobs.

Constitutional Carry.

Abortion only for mother's life in jeopardy.

Maximum limits on welfare duration, community service and job training requirements- plus drug tests and insanely stringent citizenship verifications.

30.06/07 do not apply to license holders, and only courtrooms, prisons, and secured areas of airports are off limits for license holders.

Let's make Texas Even Greater!

[tbrown]

Great! Hopefully we can get Phil King in there and crank the Conservativism up to 11

11 out of 100 may be better than Straus but don't you think Texas should aim a little higher?

[Charles L. Cotton]

. . . Straus has done significant damage to 2nd Amendment Rights and has hidden behind the fact he hasn't had to vote on the bills because he is the Speaker and he also controls whether or not bills get to the floor

I am not a Straus fan by any stretch of the imagination. However, he has not done any damage to Second Amendment rights. Not one anti-gun bill has passed while he has been serving as Speaker. We have passed many pro-gun bills during that same time, so Second Amendment rights have been advanced. It can be honestly said that more pro-gun bills could have passed had Straus supported those bills. The same could be true for Senate pro-gun bills and Dan Patrick, but I still support Dan Patrick.

Chas.

[AJSully421]

Great! Hopefully we can get Phil King in there and crank the Conservativism up to 11

11 out of 100 may be better than Straus but don't you think Texas should aim a little higher?

I was thinking cranking it up to 11... with 10 being the max.

So, out of 100, it would be like saying "Crank it up to 110".

Don't get hung up on the details, man.

[mojo84]

. . . Straus has done significant damage to 2nd Amendment Rights and has hidden behind the fact he hasn't had to vote on the bills because he is the Speaker and he also controls whether or not bills get to the floor

I am not a Straus fan by any stretch of the imagination. However, he has not done any damage to Second Amendment rights. Not one anti-gun bill has passed while he has been serving as Speaker. We have passed many pro-gun bills during that same time, so Second Amendment rights have been advanced. It can be honestly said that more pro-gun bills could have passed had Straus supported those bills. The same could be true for Senate pro-gun bills and Dan Patrick, but I still support Dan Patrick.

Chas.

I consider him taking steps that thwart the passage of pro gun legislation as doing damage.If I recall correctly, some very good bills you strongly supported and maybe even helped write never had a chance because they couldn't get out of committee. Do you not believe his committee appointments and the fact some pro gun bills died in those committees are directly attributable to Straus and have had a negative impact on the passage of pro gun legislation?

Also, like I said, I'm not just basing my opinion of Straus solely on 2nd Amendment efforts. I have direct first hand experience on which I base my opinions of Straus and some of his cronies.

[CleverNickname]

Great! Hopefully we can get Phil King in there and crank the Conservativism up to 11

11 out of 100 may be better than Straus but don't you think Texas should aim a little higher?

I guess you've never watched Spinal Tap and missed the reference.

[Charles L. Cotton]

. . . Straus has done significant damage to 2nd Amendment Rights and has hidden behind the fact he hasn't had to vote on the bills because he is the Speaker and he also controls whether or not bills get to the floor

I am not a Straus fan by any stretch of the imagination. However, he has not done any damage to Second Amendment rights. Not one anti-gun bill has passed while he has been serving as Speaker. We have passed many pro-gun bills during that same time, so Second Amendment rights have been advanced. It can be honestly said that more pro-gun bills could have passed had Straus supported those bills. The same could be true for Senate pro-gun bills and Dan Patrick, but I still support Dan Patrick.

Chas.

I consider him taking steps that thwart the passage of pro gun legislation as doing damage.If I recall correctly, some very good bills you strongly supported and maybe even helped write never had a chance because they couldn't get out of committee. Do you not believe his committee appointments and the fact some pro gun bills died in those committees are directly attributable to Straus and have had a negative impact on the passage of pro gun legislation?

I guess our definitions of "damage" differ. When I say "damage," I mean it in the traditional usage context, i.e. "injury or harm that reduces value or usefulness." Apparently, to you "damage" means "failure to improve," or more accurately "improved, but not improved enough." That's a new one on me.

Many bills I wrote never got a hearing. If Straus had wanted them to pass, they would have passed the House, then there's the Senate. I haven't seen you blasting Lt. Gov. Patrick for his failure to promote the very bills you condemn Straus for not supporting. Why the double standard?

Chas.

[mojo84]

. . . Straus has done significant damage to 2nd Amendment Rights and has hidden behind the fact he hasn't had to vote on the bills because he is the Speaker and he also controls whether or not bills get to the floor

I am not a Straus fan by any stretch of the imagination. However, he has not done any damage to Second Amendment rights. Not one anti-gun bill has passed while he has been serving as Speaker. We have passed many pro-gun bills during that same time, so Second Amendment rights have been advanced. It can be honestly said that more pro-gun bills could have passed had Straus supported those bills. The same could be true for Senate pro-gun bills and Dan Patrick, but I still support Dan Patrick.

Chas.

I consider him taking steps that thwart the passage of pro gun legislation as doing damage.If I recall correctly, some very good bills you strongly supported and maybe even helped write never had a chance because they couldn't get out of committee. Do you not believe his committee appointments and the fact some pro gun bills died in those committees are directly attributable to Straus and have had a negative impact on the passage of pro gun legislation?

I guess our definitions of "damage" differ. When I say "damage," I mean it in the traditional usage context, i.e. "injury or harm that reduces value or usefulness." Apparently, to you "damage" means "failure to improve," or more accurately "improved, but not improved enough." That's a new one on me.

Many bills I wrote never got a hearing. If Straus had wanted them to pass, they would have passed the House, then there's the Senate. I haven't seen you blasting Lt. Gov. Patrick for his failure to promote the very bills you condemn Straus for not supporting. Why the double standard?

Chas.

I should have chosen my words a bit more carefully. I should have said "damaged the efforts to restore and expand gun rights and 2nd Amendment agenda issues". I am not interested in getting involved in a word parsing argument with you. As an attorney and long time political operative and advocate, I am confident you will win.

In regards to why I am less critical of Patrick than Straus, I have stated I have direct personal experience with Straus, his lieutinents and business cronies that have helped me form my opinions of him. As far as Patrick, I agree with him on many more issues than I do Straus. Again, I am not a one issue voter, nor do I base my opinion of a politician based on any one issue. Staus and I have opposing views and beliefs in many areas. Also, this topic is about Straus. I have been scolded in the past for getting off topic and I am trying to abide by your rules.

Charles, you and I agree on a lot of issues and I support you and your efforts. Just because I apparently have a different view of Straus than you do and believe he hides behind his lack of voting record and his lieutinents doing his dirty work, it doesn't mean you and I are on different teams. I firmly believe one the reasons Republicans do not enjoy as much success in advancing our agenda is because we spend too much time arguing and debating one another rather than our common opponents.

Straus, while he has thrown the republicans a few bones and allowed some bills to pass, is not a Republican, Conservative or Libertarian. He is a pure RINO that outsmarted the Republicans by running as a Republican to get elected and then endeared and aligned himself with the Democrats to obtain the Speaker position. He has demonstrated his true beliefs by his committee appointments session after session.

I am not trying to be adversarial and am trying to voice my opinion with all due respect while avoiding sarcastic personal attacks. However, my opinions are my opinions and believe there is nothing wrong with me expressing them.

[ninjabread]

I haven't seen you blasting Lt. Gov. Patrick for his failure to promote the very bills you condemn Straus for not supporting. Why the double standard?

Is there a Dan Patrick topic where we can blast his failure to promote the bills we wanted?

[Charles L. Cotton]

. . . Straus has done significant damage to 2nd Amendment Rights and has hidden behind the fact he hasn't had to vote on the bills because he is the Speaker and he also controls whether or not bills get to the floor

I am not a Straus fan by any stretch of the imagination. However, he has not done any damage to Second Amendment rights. Not one anti-gun bill has passed while he has been serving as Speaker. We have passed many pro-gun bills during that same time, so Second Amendment rights have been advanced. It can be honestly said that more pro-gun bills could have passed had Straus supported those bills. The same could be true for Senate pro-gun bills and Dan Patrick, but I still support Dan Patrick.

Chas.

I consider him taking steps that thwart the passage of pro gun legislation as doing damage.If I recall correctly, some very good bills you strongly supported and maybe even helped write never had a chance because they couldn't get out of committee. Do you not believe his committee appointments and the fact some pro gun bills died in those committees are directly attributable to Straus and have had a negative impact on the passage of pro gun legislation?

I guess our definitions of "damage" differ. When I say "damage," I mean it in the traditional usage context, i.e. "injury or harm that reduces value or usefulness." Apparently, to you "damage" means "failure to improve," or more accurately "improved, but not improved enough." That's a new one on me.

Many bills I wrote never got a hearing. If Straus had wanted them to pass, they would have passed the House, then there's the Senate. I haven't seen you blasting Lt. Gov. Patrick for his failure to promote the very bills you condemn Straus for not supporting. Why the double standard?

Chas.

I should have chosen my words a bit more carefully. I should have said "damaged the efforts to restore and expand gun rights and 2nd Amendment agenda issues". I am not interested in getting involved in a word parsing argument with you. As an attorney and long time political operative and advocate, I am confident you will win.

In regards to why I am less critical of Patrick than Straus, I have stated I have direct personal experience with Straus, his lieutinents and business cronies that have helped me form my opinions of him. As far as Patrick, I agree with him on many more issues than I do Straus. Again, I am not a one issue voter, nor do I base my opinion of a politician based on any one issue. Staus and I have opposing views and beliefs in many areas. Also, this topic is about Straus. I have been scolded in the past for getting off topic and I am trying to abide by your rules.

Charles, you and I agree on a lot of issues and I support you and your efforts. Just because I apparently have a different view of Straus than you do and believe he hides behind his lack of voting record and his lieutinents doing his dirty work, it doesn't mean you and I are on different teams. I firmly believe one the reasons Republicans do not enjoy as much success in advancing our agenda is because we spend too much time arguing and debating one another rather than our common opponents.

Straus, while he has thrown the republicans a few bones and allowed some bills to pass, is not a Republican, Conservative or Libertarian. He is a pure RINO that outsmarted the Republicans by running as a Republican to get elected and then endeared and aligned himself with the Democrats to obtain the Speaker position. He has demonstrated his true beliefs by his committee appointments session after session.

I am not trying to be adversarial and am trying to voice my opinion with all due respect while avoiding sarcastic personal attacks. However, my opinions are my opinions and believe there is nothing wrong with me expressing them.

You and I agree that Straus has blocked efforts to expand Second Amendment rights further and that's one reason I'm not a Straus fan. I also don't like his liberal leanings on other issues and I assume you and I agree on those issues also.

My concern comes from the efforts of perennial NRA-bashers to diminish voters' trust in NRA and TSRA candidate ratings with such claims as "Straus is anti-gun," etc. (I'm not saying you are in the anti-NRA club, I'm speaking generally.) I realize that some folks want the NRA to grade people on issues other than their record on Second Amendment issues, but the NRA is a single issue organization. Our members are all over the political spectrum and taking a position on abortion, gay rights, taxation, immigration, etc. will alienate a segment of our membership and weaken our overall efforts to preserve and expand Second Amendment rights. I talk to a lot of NRA members at various events. While most share at lease some if not most of my conservative values, many do not. On those issues, we would be political/legislative enemies and I would fight them as hard as I do anti-gunners. I don't do that because I've dedicated my entire adult life to expanding gun rights and being publicly active on other hot button issues would damage that effort. Heck, I disagree with most planks in the Libertarian Party Platform, but we agree on the Second Amendment.

Straus is leaving and I am thrilled! Hopefully we can get a true conservative in the Speaker's Chair and Phil King is the best hope for that result, at least for the present.

Chas.

[mojo84]

Charles,
I appreciate your position and believe we do agree on many, if not most issues. I also want to re-affirm I am not an NRA basher. While I may not agree 100% with everything they do or how they do it, I do not bash them or slam the organization. Like I've said many times, there is no one on earth, including the NRA or my wife, that I agree with 100% on everthing.

When I asked about Straus' NRA grade, I truly did not know what it was as I do not follow the NRA grades that closely. In my mind I suspected it would be a "b" or "c" as that is about what I think it should be based on what I have seen him do to bury gun legislation. With that said, I understand how the NRA could have a different grade for him as their criteria on which they base their grades is apparently different than mine. I look beyond just his voting record since he typically does not vote and he is able to effect whether bills even get to the point of being voted on. Even with my difference of opinion with the NRA on Straus, I do believe their grading of him is too generous, I do not take it upon myself to publicly bash them or criticize them over it. I also understand the NRA is a single issue organizaation. However, them being a single issue organization doesn't mean I have to be a single issue voter or commentor.

Since you brought it up, here is an example of why I am more critical and adversarial toward Straus than I am Patrick. I ran across this this morning.

https://texasmonitor.org/joe-straus-new ... ign=buffer

Formed by conservatives angry over the House’s failure to enact reform measures supported by Gov. Greg Abbott, the New Leadership PAC launched this week.

“It has become clear that leaders in the Texas House have lost contact with the core principles of the majority of Texans,” said NLP treasurer Don Dyer. “It is time for a new force for change that will remove these barriers to progress.”

During the month-long special session, the Texas Senate passed bills on all 20 of the governor’s initiatives, while the Texas House only passed 11. The NLP noted that the House failed to get many important bills out of committees and to the floor for a vote, which Dyer said reflected a lack of will by House Republican leaders to advance conservative, reform-oriented priorities.

Among the bills killed in the House: property tax relief, school choice, limits on city and county spending, and ending forced collection of union dues by local governments.

Even in the portion I quoted above, I could possibly take issue with Dyer's comments about the "majority of Texans" as I am not sure who makes up the majority today. However, rather than going to battle with him over that, I agree in principle and support his efforts to have a positive impact on the House leadership.

[BBYC]

What is Straus' NRA 2nd Amendment rating? Were the bills that were killed in committee factored in to his rating?

NRA PVF Grades You can decide for yourself if Joe Straus deserves the grade he was awarded.

I assume that the TSRA-PAC grades reflect the NRA-PVF grades?

As a NRA member, I suggest people decide for themself what grade Straus deserves for impeding or promoting laws to restore gun rights. Then look at the grade the NRA gave Straus. Use that to calibrate the NRA grades with their own gun rights priorities. Some hunters don't care about carrying at schools and sporting events and some LTC don't care about hunting from balloons. Those two groups might grade Strais very differently.