Not surprising then that Nathan Macias is a little miffed that he lost his seat after one session to Doug Miller and his buddy Tom lost the dias.
On January 12, Macias opined via e-mail to an undisclosed list about Straus' conservative credentials (the same conservative credentials Dewhurst is trying to solidify in the Senate).
From: Nathan Macias
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2009 4:57 PM
Subject: My Perspective on The Apparent New Texas House Speaker
Friends:
As your outgoing State Representative I feel compelled to let you know my perspective and some facts about the apparent Speaker of the Texas House.
It appears Representative Joe Straus will be the next Speaker of the Texas House. I served with Joe Straus and have some true concerns. He is not conservative. Therefore, I don't think he will be the best representative of leadership for conservative Republicans or our great state. Below are just some of those concerns:
Rep Straus made his initial move by garnering the support of 70 Democrats and 15 Republicans. This alone will require his strong allegiance to the liberal Democratic Party and moderate Republicans. Shouldn't the Republican Speaker be elected by Republicans and not by a predominance of Democrats along with a few moderate Republicans? Now that would be best for our district and state.
Rep Straus has very limited experience, having served only one and a half sessions in the Texas Legislature. What organization would elect a Chairman of the Board with four years of experience? The Texas House needs an experienced, proven leader at the helm. That would be best for Texas.
The Heritage Alliance, a prominent conservative values organization, gave Rep Straus a 52% conservative score (the second to the lowest score earned by a "Republican"). That's not conservative. To give you a gauge this same organization gave me a 91% conservative score.
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (limited government/lower tax group) rated Rep Straus at 71%, roughly 4% below the Republican average score. That's not conservative. As a gauge I earned a 93% rating from TFR.
Not a single pro-life or pro-family group endorses Rep Straus. As reported in the news, he was one of 23 lawmakers who opposed a bill to block the government order requiring the HPV vaccine for all sixth-grade schoolgirls. He also opposed a bill to ban gay foster parenting.
Let me also note that Straus supports statewide gambling and opposes school choice for parents. Both of these positions are in opposition to our State and National Republican Party Platforms. Joe Straus will not advance our conservative cause.
I strongly encourage each of you to contact our Rep-elect, Doug Miller, who at first opportunity chose to align himself with the 70 Democrats and 15 moderate Republicans. Let him know that the people of our district (his constituents) are overwhelmingly aligned with the conservative values and principles of the Republican Party of Texas that have made our state so grand, and that we expect him to represent our district in that manner.
Finally, please forward this message to others you believe are conservative and may not be aware of this recent development.
Serving You,
Nathan Macias
State Rep, District 73
Bandera, Comal, Gillespie, Kendall Counties
This seems to be a sign of things to come for Straus and a possible rematch between ultra-conservative Macias and the reasonable Republican Miller.
Also, it might be important to Mr. Macias, he isn't serving anyone and he is no longer the State Representative from District 73. That job has been filled but the people of District 73 are taking applications and interviewing again around 2010.
