Texas State Senator Slams Fellow Republicans, Admits Radical Conservative Policies are Ruining Texas

It doesn’t happen all that often, but every once in a while I’ll run across a Republican who said something that actually made sense.

It seems Texas Republican State Sen. Kevin Eltife is a little fed up with Republicans who seem more concerned with pandering to his party’s rhetoric instead of actually, you know, governing. 

He seems particularly bothered by a state debt that’s tripled since he was first elected in 2004. He also called out many of his fellow lawmakers for ignoring much-needed improvements to Texas’ infrastructure (particularly highways), and some towns that are running out of water.

“It’s real easy to run on, ‘We just need to cut spending, and we don’t need any new taxes,’” he said. “At some point, the public is going to demand that we fix these problems. We have cities that are about to be out of water, Wichita Falls is one of them.”

“If we’re so conservative, why are we doubling our debt?” Eltife asked. “You have to have leadership that lays out the problem and lays out the solutions. When you have leadership that is constantly running for higher office, you don’t address the problem. They are all running on ‘immigration.’ Who is running on water and TxDOT?”

And he’s exactly right. There are towns in Texas that are desperate for water, and roads that are in dire need of repair or expansion, but practically nothing is being done about either. Here in Dallas-Fort Worth almost all new highways being built are toll roads, which can often be quite costly to use.

I love how he called out Republicans for running on being anti-immigration (because it’s a “sexy topic”) but most seem completely disinterested in tackling some of the bigger problems the state is facing – like towns running out of water.

But this nonsense from Republicans isn’t just seen in Texas. You see it all over the United States. The Republican party is the ultimate talking points party. By that I mean they know what talking points to use to get their voters riled up, and that’s about all they care about. It doesn’t have to make sense, as long as it sounds right.

It’s how they still get away with claiming to be the party for “fiscal responsibility,” yet it’s been over five decades since a Republican president has actually balanced the budget.

But I’ll give credit where credit is due and commend Mr. Eltife for doing what most Republicans are too afraid to do – stand up to the radical, tea party nonsense that’s overtaken the Republican party.