Will Texas Stay Conservative

The Red State
Texas

Posted on July 11,2011

Texas and Conservatism, how much longer can it last? The conservative Texas we know may be just a memory in a few years. How will that happen? It’s our success that creates the climate for change, let me explain.

The very nature of conservatism creates a business friendly climate. Business friendly climates create the need for workers. In the past few years, Texas has created 37% of the new private sector jobs in all of America because of a business friendly climate. Texas has been like a magnet attracting new workers to the state.

These new workers come from the Liberal or blue states where Liberal practices make it all but impossible for job creation to happen. It is important to note that the blue states were not always losing jobs; they became victims of their own success. When an area is flush with success, it starts a chain reaction of public spending at all levels of government. Of course, not all public spending is wasteful. There are certain expenses that cannot be avoided like roads, bridges, sewer systems, fire protection, police protection, and education to name a few. It is not the purpose of this article to define all wasteful spending or solutions to the problem; only to highlight that excessive and unnecessary public spending creep into the mix of necessary public spending in times of plenty.

This article seeks understanding for the nature of success and our unique desire for having our success distributed more equitably. You might say that our nobility and love for our fellow human beings drive a process that politicians avail themselves. When a state succeeds and is in the Sun of achievement, whether it is New York, Texas, or some other state, public revenue has to be increased to keep up with all of the new spending that success demands. There are countless public projects that enhance appearance, utility, or décor that public money can provide. But over commitment of the public money risks the need for more revenue.

Texas is not immune to these machinations. Already, Texas has started to decrease its spending to avoid having to raise taxes. The affected groups of the spending cuts are very upset and feel as though the state let them down. These groups garner a lot of sympathy and may attract enough votes to defeat the conservative majority now holding public office.

Texas’s success comes at a price. But when the voters are unwilling to pay that price, the voters elect politicians to continue feeding the beast. The beast is always hungry and needs more and more revenue (tax increases) to feed it. Increases in taxes starts the spiral downward from what was a good business environment to a poor environment. And, as the business climate declines, jobs and wealth leave the state, repeating the pattern that was present in those states that all of our new workers came from. We are not immune to the cycle.

There is no question that the process will change Texas from a job and wealth creator to just another state that can’t pay its bills.

Given enough time, the process will reverse course. The process seems to have a rhythm of its own. The one thing certain is that prosperity brings about the notion of equality for all – after all, we can afford it when we are prosperous. But well intentioned ideas are always taken to the extreme and success is bankrupted. The centerline of politics is never straight because people never remember the lessons and dangers of ‘going too far’. When a little bit of something does good, then a whole lot of it should do better – right? A drug overdose produces the same sad result as either extreme of political philosophy.

I hear a lot of talk about corruption. Well corruption does exist. The best hope for fighting corruption is to throw out the ones that are caught and try to teach those remaining that corruption will not be tolerated. Corruption is neither a Liberal nor a Conservative phenomenon. Corruption abounds where unearned money is in abundance. Unearned money is what tax revenues are. The politicians have done nothing to earn the tax revenues, but they get to spend it. Having the say-so of where and how to spend unearned money is a pretty good deal and an open invitation to corruption.

To my fellow Texans, the days of our success are numbered. Our liberties are slowly being chipped away. Liberals will inherit what we have built and tear it down - all in the name of humanity and equality. It is a dynamic that will have to run its course.

Robert welcomes your comment to this or any other of my commentaries.

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