The "Power of Collaboration" By South Texas Republicans

 
Republican Party of Texas Grassroots Training Seminar in Bexar County, 7/29 & 7/30, 2005
From Left to Right:  Freida Wright, President, Alamo City Republican Women;
Liz Rudd, Bexar County Susan Combs for Comptroller Grassroots Coordinator;
Chairman Tina Benkiser, Republican Party of Texas;
Connie Garcia, Member, Alamo City Republican Women;
Joe Solis, State Republican Executive Committeeman, Senate District 26, Republican Party of Texas   

South Texas Republicans strongly supports the Power of Collaboration as our party grows in Texas. Let us give you one example of how we successfully collaborated with Chairman Tina Benkiser and the Republican Party of Texas. In late July, South Texas Republicans was able to sponsor activists from 4 different counties in South Texas so they could attend the Bexar County Grassroots Training Session. The program was organized by the Republican Party of Texas.

We were also able to recruit leaders from local clubs including the Texas Republican Alliance and the Alamo City Republican Women. Thanks to two generous donors in Houston and Laredo, our delegation did not have to pay the $75 per student charge. 

Let us know if you are interested in collaborative efforts with local political clubs, churches, business organizations and grassroots activists. South Texas Republicans has financial commitments from supporters who will help underwrite our efforts. Please contact Schuylar Crist skyskyrider@hotmail.com for more information.
 

The constitutional amendment, providing that marriage in Texas consists only of the union of one man and one woman and prohibiting this state or political subdivision of this state from creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage, passed both houses of the Texas Legislature and was signed by Governor Perry!

Now it is up to us, the people of Texas, to do our part! Citizens for Proposition 2 is working to unite the religious houses of Bexar county in a Get-out-the-Vote effort that will ensure Proposition 2 passes by an overwhelming majority on November 8th. Governor Perry is stressing the importance of Proposition 2 to overflowing gatherings of clergy across the state. Citizens for Proposition 2 are following up on the Governor's message by contacting all those clergy in Bexar County who were unable to attend the speech in San Antonio. So far over 500 clergy in Bexar County have committed to support a Get-out-the-Vote effort.

If Proposition 2 and the Get-out-the-Vote campaign is not being talked about in your church or synagogue, Citizens for Proposition 2 can assist you in bringing this important issue to the attention of your spiritual leaders. You can reach Citizens for Proposition 2 by e-mail at mendoza.narciso@gmail.com

South Texas Republicans is presenting both sides of this important issue.  Many of our readers are fiscal conservatives, libertarians and anti-government conservatives who are concerned about the growth of our state and federal government. There are Republicans and conservatives on both sides of this important debate. That is the main reason we will continue to resist pressure to censor Terri Hall of The Texas Toll Party or any other conservative who is against Toll Roads. Thank you.
 

Segments of the The Scofflaw Swimmer by Peggy Noonan (September 27,2005) The Wall Street Journal

We are losing the balance between the rights of the individual and the needs and demands of the state. Again, this is not new. It's a long slide that's been going on for a long time. But Katrina and Rita seemed to make the slide deeper. 

It is hard for governments to be responsible, and take responsibility. It takes real talent, and guts. But authority? That's easier. Pass the law and get the cuffs. 
 

These two Republicans are impressive individuals who exude confidence, intelligence and a desire to serve the public. (Yes, we are blessed in this one.)  This brewing battle will be won by the leader who really wins the hearts and minds of activists at the grassroots level.

The Bexar County Republican Party is privately backing and unofficially endorsing Mr. Cleo Marshall in this race. South Texas Republicans will highlight information about both candidates in the upcoming weeks. These two Republican candidates deserve a fair and complete evaluation before the Republican primary in 2006. May the best man win!!!
 

Demos suing own party have hearing Tuesday

Web Posted: 10/01/2005 12:00 AM CDT

Rebeca Chapa
Express-News Political Writer

Before a Nov. 1 meeting designed to clear the air, local Democrats suing the Bexar County Democratic Party chairman must agree to an agenda and a set of rules before a judge Tuesday.

The hearing will be the latest turn of the screw in a legal battle between 33 plaintiffs and Chairman Rudy Casias. The suit, filed two weeks ago, contends that Casias has filled precinct vacancies without consulting members of the Bexar County Democratic Party County Executive Committee, or CEC, which is made up of precinct chairs.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA100105.03B.Demo_Lawsuit.20957606.html

Commentary by South Texas Republicans:  We have been told by high ranking Republican officials in Austin that most counties in Texas have all kinds of dysfunctional situations and competing factions. Bexar County is one of those counties. 

The old guard of any party is interested in preserving the status quo by violently resisting change. Competing forces are always interested in growing the party and advocating for the authentic values of the party. South Texas Republicans believes in growing our party in a diverse manner with an emphasis on our conservative values. This can be done by utilizing technology and grassroots outreach with passion and energy.

Our leadership team is under the age of 37. We are diligent, patient and aggressive in everything we do at South Texas Republicans. 

The future of the Republican Party of Texas will be in the hands of those who lead today.
 

Hon. George W. Bush
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 

Dear President Bush,

We, as bipartisan Texas federal representatives, declare a state of emergency along our border with Mexico. Illegal aliens, many of which are Other Than Mexicans (OTMs), are crossing our border by the hundreds on a daily basis. They are presenting an immediate danger to the lives of people in every Texas community and beyond. We strongly urge you to take action now.

First, we demand the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stop raiding our Texas Border Patrol. There are five Border Patrol sectors in Texas (Marfa, Del Rio, Laredo, Rio Grande Valley, and El Paso). In 2005 alone, DHS has taken 165 agents from Texas and assigned them to the Tucson Sector in Arizona. This outrageous action is crippling border security in Texas. We demand that these agents be returned to Texas immediately.

With the signing into law of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act in March of this year and the expected passage of the FY06 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act in the near future, over one-thousand new agents will be funded. Rather than weakening the border region in Texas for short term public relations, we strongly urge that these new agents be used to reinforce areas in need. This will provide the necessary resources to those Border Patrol sectors at greatest risk.

We understand the task before the Border Patrol is immense, and that communities all across the US-Mexico border are demanding more resources. However, as a federal agency we expect the Border Patrol to deploy those resources in the most efficient manner.

The influx of OTMs into our Texas communities is an immediate threat and an embarrassment. Local officials across Texas, regardless of their politics or ethnicity, are telling us they are in a crisis. The mayor of Eagle Pass laments that 200 OTMs a day invade his city. The DHS policy of processing OTMs and releasing them with orders to appear in court has made a mockery of our border security. OTMs now seek out Border Patrol agents rather than run from them because they know they will be arrested, given a good meal, a nice place to sleep, medical care and then released. At some times, the number of OTMs is so great that agents have difficulty performing the required background checks before releasing them on their own recognizance.

This crisis includes alarming rates of illegal drugs crossing our border. Nearly 1.2 million pounds of marijuana and 11,000 pounds of cocaine have been seized by border patrol agents this year in Texas alone. The border patrol reports that Texas has the highest seizure rate of cocaine and heroin of any other state.

Border violence created by drug cartels and gangs on the Mexican side of the border has also created a new threat. Violence in cities like Nuevo Laredo has reached record levels with over 100 murders and no arrests this year. Two police chiefs have been murdered, one in broad daylight. This has destroyed the tourism and business on both sides of the border.

We know Secretary Michael Chertoff is developing a long term plan for securing our border. In addition to the Border Patrol personnel issues mentioned above, we encourage you to consider the following:

 Do whatever is necessary to create sufficient detention spaces for housing OTMs so they are no longer released on their own recognizance.
 Consider using unspent DHS funds to allow border counties to hire more sheriffs deputies to supplement the Border Patrol. This idea is almost unanimously supported by the sheriffs in all border counties.
 Expedite the repatriation process by reducing the judicial backlog. This can be accomplished by increasing the number of immigration trial attorneys and judges. 
 Use the State Department to encourage foreign countries to take responsibility for their citizens who enter our country illegally. One possibility would be to cut back on the number of Visas we issue to foreign visitors from countries who refuse to cooperate.
 Consider the use of any available technology recommended by law enforcement agencies. Nothing should be off the table.

 Mr. President, we feel the situation is desperate. Your leadership is badly needed. When you were Governor we recall how you deployed additional Department of Public Safety troops to the border when a similar crisis existed back in the 90s. The illegal immigration threat is now at least twice as bad. We are ready and willing to stand with you and do whatever is necessary to take back our borders for the benefit and safety of all Americans.

Sincerely,

Henry Bonilla (R-TX)
Kay Granger (R-TX)
Silvestre Reyes (D-TX)
Solomon Ortiz (D-TX)
Tom DeLay (R-TX)
Pete Sessions (R-TX)
Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)
Ted Poe (R-TX)
Michael McCaull (R-TX)
Kenny Marchant (R-TX)
John Carter (R-TX)
Henry Cuellar (D-TX)
Charlie Gonzales (D-TX)
John Culberson (R-TX)
Lamar Smith (R-TX)
Sam Johnson (R-TX)
Michael Burgess (R-TX)
Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
Ralph Hall (R-TX)
Michael Conaway (R-TX)
Kevin Brady (R-TX)
Loui Gohmert (R-TX)
Mac Thornberry (R-TX)
Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
Chet Edwards (D-TX)

Commentary by South Texas Republicans: We are encouraged that the authors of this letter are expressing their immediate concern about this issue. A few questions linger: Where in the world have these representatives been in the past 10 years? How did it come to this? Where was the congressional leadership on this issue before it became a train wreck? 
 

Source: San Antonio Bar Association

Gov. Perry Appoints Price as Judge of 408th District Court in Bexar County (8/23/05)

We are Americans First

Alicia Rodriguez, President Cordially invites you to our General Membership Meeting Luncheon Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

Guest Speakers: Mr. Robert Sanchez-Candidate for Congressman 20th CD joined by Mr. Joe Solis-State Republican Executive Committeeman Senate District 26, Republican Party of Texas 

Topics: The heart of the City and an Update and The Future of the Republican Party

Saturday, October 15th at Don Pedro Mexican Restaurant, 1526 S.W. Military Drive, 210-922-3511

1:00 P.M.  Social

1:30  3:00 P.M. - Program

Please, RSVP by October 14, 2005

$16.00 with RSVP; $18.00 w/o RSVP, at door

Marlyn 496-5024 Jane 691-9695 Alicia 682-3569                

Marlynfeliciano2005@yahoo.com
 

New:  Susan Combs for Comptroller Bexar County Grassroots Meeting

Hosted by Joe Solis, Susan Combs Bexar County Co-Chair and

Liz Rudd, Bexar County Susan Combs Grassroots Coordinator.

When:  October 19th, 2005 (6:30 p.m.  8:00 p.m.)

Where:  Mama Margie's (210) 561-0400, 9950 W Ih 10 , San Antonio , TX 78230-2238

Cost:  FREE (Everybody who is interested in the Combs for Comptroller Campaign is encouraged to attend. Live music after the meeting.)

SAVE THE DATE:  San Antonio Fundraising Reception for Susan Combs, Candidate for Comptroller

When:  Monday, November 14th from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Details:  Please contact Sarah at 512-327-3345 or sarah@susancombs.com

For political or non-official inquiries:
Friends of Susan Combs Committee
P.O. Box 160956
Austin, Texas 78716
Ph: 512-327-3345
Fax: 512-328-2194
www.susancombs.com
 

A Traffic and Revenue Report for a highway in Austin revealed that the toll road is not feasible once gas hits $3 gallon. Not only did we hit $3 with Katrina, we hit it again this week. It was $3.04 a gallon (jumped 30 cents overnight) on the 281 corridor! Why are we building toll roads when they're not even feasible at these gas prices? We need to demand our elected officials put a moratorium on toll projects until the impact of high gasoline prices on the viability of toll roads can be thoroughly studied and assimilated into our transportation plan.

The taxpayers will have to bail out these private companies if the toll roads fail, and there won't be enough political cover for such a massive financial collapse! There are also questions about the legitimacy of TxDOT's expenditures. Twenty states have lower gas tax than we do. Texas is second only to California in terms of disbursements. Caltrans spent $9.3 billion while TxDOT spent $6.8 billion. CA has a greater population than Texas, so it works out to be that Caltrans spent $259 per person to TxDOT's $306 per person. Caltrans spent 24% of it budget on local roads and TxDOT only spent 6.5% on local roads. TxDOT spends $88 more a person than Caltrans spent on its road system, and remember CA is more populous!

As if the price at the pump isn't bad enough, now we're going to be priced off our freeways due to toll rates as high as $1 a mile! That's right. One toll feasibility study for the interchange of Wurzbach Parkway at US 281 would charge $1 a mile! TxDOT plans to do the same thing on I-35 as they're doing on US 281tear up the existing highway and turn it into an ALL toll way leaving only frontage road as the non-toll lanes. Toll rates for US 281 are slated to start at 14 cents a mile, but on I-35, toll rates will be 20 cents a mile. Some studies for Wurbach Parkway show 33 cents a mile and 78 cents a mile. Residents in that area know that the extension of Wurzbach Parkway has been on the books for 30 years and funded for 15. Just like with US 281, TxDOT wants to turn it into a toll way instead and charge per mile in perpetuity to drive on it!

In one of the toll plans for Wurzbach Pkwy, the cost of tolling equipment equals the construction costs. That's plain OUTRAGEOUS! When the average traditional built as a turnpike toll road in the U.S. is 9 cents a mile (found in Comptroller Strayhorn's Report on RMAs which everyone needs to read: (http://www.window.state.tx.us/specialrpt/ctrma05/), we need to be asking why TxDOT wants to charge toll rates from 14 cents up to a $1 a mile and that's before a private company gets a hold of the toll rates. A recent Central Texas Tolling Authority poll shows that only 13% of Central Texans said they'd pay the new higher toll rates of 18 cents up from 15 cents a mile. Wait till they get hit with 33 cents or up to a dollar a mile as was revealed in Austin and that we've found in the Bexar County toll plans! It begs the questions, why are we building toll roads people can't or won't use when we can build them as free roads for 30 cents on the dollar?

Considering the public-private partnerships TxDOT's so fond of, perhaps the way above national average toll rates are for self-enrichment and corporate enrichment and not the brass tacks purpose of building and maintaining sensible roads. Instead, TxDOT is mandating mammoth-sized toll corridors expending billions of dollars in extra right of way to build excessive numbers of lanes in order to skirt around the law prohibiting the tolling of existing roads.

TxDOT is actually big business. It takes in more money than Southwest Airlines and Starbucks! If Southwest Airlines can keep people moving, keep 'em happy, and stay in the black year after year despite a steady increase in passengers, terrorism, and soaring fuel prices, surely TxDOT can. The trouble is TxDOT is a government monopoly with NO competition! It's a bloated bureaucracy that needs to be reigned in. It sucks money from local property and, now, sales taxes and yet cities and counties are expected to come up with their own funding for local roads as well as contribute to state road projects.

Haven't we learned that if you feed a money hungry government bureaucracy they only keep coming back for more? It's time TxDOT gets put on a diet and learns to manage its funds in a more sensible fiscally responsible way that the public can trust and that doesn't leave local officials with an unfunded mandate. We're all tightening our belts due to skyrocketing energy costs, TxDOT must be made to do the same.

People are clearly changing their behavior based on increasingly out of reach transportation costs. It's increased our cost of goods and blasted a hole right in the center of the family budget. People change their behavior when you put a toll on a road as well. These realities must be considered in light of fuel costs and changes in driving habits before we're forced into a wholesale shift to tolling our roads (including placing tolls on roads we drive on today without paying a toll).

For more information, contact Terri Hall, San Antonio Director of the Texas Toll Party, at terrih@gvtc.com. Go to our web site to email the Governor, our state representatives, and local elected officials in one email at: http://www.TexasTollParty.com. Add personal comments asking for a moratorium on tolls until the impact of high gas prices on toll feasibility is evaluated and assimilated into our highway plans.
 

Congressman Jim Collins was down from Dallas when Tom Loeffler was running for Congress in 1978. He was making a speech to a Republican Womens group. He said, The Republican Women are the best street walkers in the world.  I dont think it came out quite like he meant for it to.

He will be learning a great deal from the best conservative minds in the country such as Vice-President Dick Cheney, U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, and Senators Mitch McConnell and George Allen. There will be hands-on sessions from grassroots activism to cutting edge media strategies. There will also be national TV, radio, and newspaper reporters covering the entire conference.

While there, Schuylar expects to:

1.) Recruit nationally recognized speakers for our Rough Riders of Bexar County Educational Series

2.) Build new relationships with national conservative organizations and individuals for South Texas Republicans, P.A.C.

3.) Utilize these contacts to gain support in terms of resources and finances for the P.A.C., and our South Texas Candidates at the state and federal levels

4.) Demonstrate the strength of the Republican Party in South Texas at the grassroots level

The costs to attend this event will be about $1,400. The package to attend all 3 conference days (including the Presidential and Reagan dinners) and gain admittance to the exhibit halls/book signings, will cost $425. The hotel room on location (Omni Shoreham in D.C.) will cost $555 (plus tax) for all 3 nights. Roundtrip airfare is expected to run about $400 (plus tax).

Ideally, he would like the funds available before November 1st, 2005. This would allow for plenty of time planning arrival and transportation while in our nations capitol.

It would take only 28 people giving $50, 14 people giving $100, 7 people giving $200. Of course any amount you can give will put him that much closer to his goal.

Checks can be made out to Schuylar Crist, and mailed to:

9570 Autumn Shade

San Antonio, Texas

78254

You may also reach Schuylar by phone at (210) 663-6093 or via e-mail at skyskyrider@hotmail.com

To find out more about the conference, go to cpac.org
 

The following clubs will be holding important events and South Texas Republicans encourages participation by local activists:            

Do you have event information?
You can reach Schuylar either by phone at (210) 663-6093 or via e-mail: skyskyrider@hotmail.com

Click here to view the calendar for details on these and other events