Conservative Texas Speaker - Who would the Tea Party Pick?

While across the country there may be some debate about whether voters were voting FOR Republicans or AGAINST Democrats, one thing is clear in Texas. Texans want Conservative leadership and they have given the Republican Party an overwhelming majority to work with. This, of course, creates a question. Who should lead the Conservative movement in the Texas House?  Speaker Joe Straus would like to keep his job. Warren Chisum has thrown his hat in the ring. But neither of these men can be tagged with a label of being a champion of the principles that were campaigned on by the candidates and voters of Texas in this election. So, this begs the question, who would the Tea Party pick?

If I might be so bold, I would like to throw a name into the ring for consideration. The name will shock you because most of you probably have no idea who he is. And, I am not proposing it because he is necessarily the best choice for the job. But rather, I am nominating him because he perhaps best reflects the spirit of the 2010 election and could, possibly, lead our state to actually taking action on Conservative principles.  

Okay, who is this person, you ask? Thank you for asking... I would like to submit the name of freshman State Representative Elect, David Simpson from the 7th District of Texas. He hails from Longview, Texas.  

I met David Simpson at the Nullify Now Conference in Fort Worth earlier this year. I listened to him talk to the group of Conservatives who were gathered to learn about protecting state sovereignty. They were also there to learn about protecting our state from an over-reaching, over-spending, over-taxing, ever-growing federal government. Simpson had recently defeated a long-term, outdated Republican Legislator in the Primary election (see VIDEO below). He defeated a Legislator who never understood, or perhaps forgot the meaning of the US Constitution and the Texas Constitution and the limitations these documents place upon government. David Simpson ran his campaign on a platform of reining in a rapidly-growing Texas government and using little known constitutional principles like, well you know, the 10th Amendment, to protect Texas from the federal government. And then... HE WON!

Isnt this, after all, what this election was about? Doing away with the way things were being done and bringing in Conservative representatives to restore our representative republic? Okay, maybe the idea of a freshman representative as speaker is a bit unusual, but think about this - if not David Simpson, then how about we find someone "like" David Simpson. (Side note:  David doesnt know I am writing this article, so please dont think this is his idea. Just thinking outside the box here folks!)

David Simpson on Running on Constitutional Principles:

Speaker Joe Straus:

Speaker Straus is neither a social Conservative, nor a loyal Republican. With praises from NARAL and Planned Parenthood, it is hard to imagine how the Pro-Life base of the party could ever line up behind him. And clearly with his previous "coalition government" where he was elected speaker by ALL of the Democrats and just a few Republicans, it is hard to call him a Republican at all. After appointing several Democrats to committee chairs and allowing very important legislative measures to die through procedural tricks by Democrats, he then went on the road this year actually campaigning for and supporting several Democrat candidates who had Republican challengers.  Texas did not elect 99 Republicans to the House to have a "Republicrat" Speaker.

And now, with the revelation that Straus is using the kind of strong-arm tactics he allegedly opposed when he ran for Speaker, threatening to redistrict out of existence, any member who doesnt support him; we have all the more reason to have an open and honest discussion about who should lead this legislative body.

Representative Warren Chisum:

As hard as it is to make the case for Straus being a social Conservative, it would be equally hard to pin the label Fiscal Conservative on Representative Warren Chisum. During the 2007 session, Chisum was responsible for a 17.6% growth in General Revenue Spending and he inserted more than $23.5 million in pork barrel spending for his and Speaker Craddicks districts. This is CLEARLY not the kind of leadership we need in the Texas House for a year where serious budget cuts must be made.

New Leadership:

We have 99 Republicans in the Texas House for this coming session. We need a speaker who will be fair with the members and not rule by an iron fist. The open discussion of ideas is what the legislature should be about. Surely we can have a caucus of Conservatives and come up with 76 votes for a true Conservative Speaker. I suggested one name: David Simpson. Who do you have in mind? Be creative. Dont be "safe". Lets find REAL LEADERSHIP!

What say you?