Barry Smitherman saved Texas Taxpayers OVER $130 MILLION – Slashed Spending, Cut Budgets – Attorney General Race Update

If you want to know what a fiscally conservative leader looks like, look no further than Texas Attorney General Candidate Barry Smitherman. As Chairman of Texas Public Utility Commission and the Railroad Commission, Barry Smitherman spent DOUBLE DIGET percentages UNDER BUDGET and gave over 130 million dollars back to the State of Texas. (see facts and numbers below)

I don’t care who you are or which candidate you support for the 2014 Texas Attorney General election, Smitherman’s conservative spending record is IMPRESSIVE!

It is rare for a politician or government agency to spend LESS than what they are given because they know they might not be given as much the next year if they do not spend the amount they have this year. It is even rarer for a politician or government agency to ask for a budget that is LESS than what the government agency had been operating on in the past. Smitherman has done both of those and more. Smitherman accomplished this by being a smart conservative and figuring out how to do more for the money.

Barry Smitherman’s campaign sent me the following statement, along with several eye popping facts and numbers to back up Smitherman’s fiscal conservative credentials:

“Barry Smitherman has always looked out for the taxpayers and managed their money as if it was his own.  Smitherman emphasizes and demands efficient management at state agencies, excellent service, and doing more with few taxpayer dollars.”

Overall Spending at Public Utility Commission and Railroad Commission

During Smitherman’s tenure as Chairman of the PUC, the agency spent 20% less than the amount authorized by the Texas Legislature.  Through shrewd fiscal management, under Smitherman’s leadership the PUC returned unspent over $110 million it was allocated in the budget to the State Treasury.  The final appropriation request made by Smitherman as Chairman of the PUC included an operational budget that was nearly 11% less than the agency’s operational budget when he assumed the Chairmanship. 

Under Smitherman’s leadership at the Railroad Commission, the agency’s actual spending was well below its operating budget by more than $10 million in FY 2012.  As a result of effective management, this trend is projected to continue in FY 2013.  The Commission is in the process of closing out the books for FY 2013, but a conservative estimate shows that the Commission’s spending can be as much as $6 million under its budget for FY 2013.

Overall Spending for Personal Government Office

In FY 2012 and 2013, spending for Chairman Smitherman’s personal government office also came in significantly below its operating budget, saving thousands of dollars of taxpayer money.  Additionally, this year, Smitherman rejected thousands of dollars for a budget increase for his personal government office, while the other two candidates for Attorney General approved budget increases for their personal government offices in the House and Senate. 

Contribution to General Revenue

In FY 2013, the Commission spent approximately $20 million of General Revenue (GR), while generating $33 million of GR for the State of Texas. 

David Bellow is a Texas SREC Member who Writes a Blog with Conservative Republican Information and Opinions

For clarification purposes:

All the articles I ever write are based either my opinion or my take on the facts involved. I am a member on the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) in Texas, and I am involved in the inner workings of the Republican Party of Texas and yet I am also an outsider because I am young and was just elected to the SREC with no ties to anyone in the State Party. I desire to keep people up to date with what is going on in the Republican Party of Texas. Heck, some people do not even know what the SREC is or what we do. Most people certainly do not know about the important issues that we vote on during our meetings. I actively stand up for Republican values and I want more people to be more informed and involved. I even filed a personal lawsiot against the Unconstitutional healthcare law! I want people to be involved and be heard and and I want people to be informed. For this reason, I send out email updates about what is going on. I routinely send out information and polls that request input from you, the Republican voters in Texas. I do not speak for the other members of the SREC and I am not the official Party Spokesman. I have NEVER declared that I was. I always thought it was pretty clear that I am just a member of the SREC who writes a blog to get information out so people can know what is going on. If anyone every wants to stop getting emails from me they just have to click a link at the bottom of one of the emails they get from me. The other members of the SREC might not always completely agree on everything I say or they might have a different take on thing. That is just fine with me. The entire SREC rarely ever completely agrees on things and there are many votes split right down the middle. I work with everyone regardless of whether not we agree on every issue. I am not going to stop sending out information though simply because someone else on the SREC does not like what I am sending out. If someone does not agree with me then they can write their own article about what is going on and post it online for people to read. The more information the better! At least I am trying to keep people informed. The way I see it is I will gladly be guilty of putting out too many articles about what is going on instead of being guilty for not informing people enough about what is going on or for not standing for Republican values enough.


Sincerely,

Michael “David” Bellow Jr.
State Republican Executive Committee SD3


http://hardincountyconservatives.blogspot.com/
http://texasgopvote.com/users/david-bellow/track

Brandon Darby Brings Andrew Breitbart’s Fighting Style to the Texas Ring

Darby speaks on media, Breitbart vs HuffPo, and organizing in Texas

I recently caught up with Brandon Darby in Silsbee, Texas. The former prominent Leftie community organizer turned hero and patriot was working on bringing attention to what has been dubbed the Silsbee Rape Case. I took this opportunity to ask him about the stir he’s been creating and the stir his friend, Andrew Breitbart has been creating with the whole Huffington Post/AOL ordeal. I really want the reader to understand how the leftist media works and how they can fight it here in Texas using the Breitbart Model that Brandon Darby explains to us. Here are some excerpts from my interview with Mr. Darby.


Brandon, How have you been able to fight off the leftist attacks against you? You’ve been gone after more than most, yet you’re still standing? How has this been possible for you?

Yes. The ad hominem has been heavy. I implore what I affectionately call the Breitbart model. That is, I identify their framing, what interests where behind the framing, and I expose them. I refuse to operate within the confines of their narrative.

Can you give our readers some examples of this?

Take the brilliant work James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles did on Acorn. When Breitbart released the Acorn tapes on biggovernment.com, Acorn’s funding was teetering on the cliff’s edge. It just so happened that Acorn’s founder, Wade Rathke, had been attacking me and publically made the comment that it was a shame I had snitched on the two anarchists who had intended to firebomb law enforcement and delegates at the 08’ RNC. On the day of the vote to cut funding, I was part of an effort to reverse Rathke’s statement about me and make sure lawmakers saw Rathke’s true colors. The headline became “Acorn’s Founder Wade Rathke Expresses Regret that Republicans and Cops Didn’t Get Burned and Maimed.”

The Left is a huge fan of using character assassination instead of discussing the issues at hand. They made constant efforts to frame me as a womanizer with a voracious sexual appetite. I grew tired of defending this and doing interviews about whether or not I was this or that. I just started saying outrageous statements to them and it shut a lot of that down. When they ask if I’ve had sex, I usually respond by saying that I didn’t have as much as I would’ve liked to have had. Sometimes I’ll just bring it up in an interview with them because it feels good to express that their attack doesn’t bother me. It’s probably not the best thing to do, but it is empowering and they always get a strange look on their face.

Brandon, How can this style of talking back expose the truth when all the leftist media is trying to twist the truth?

It’s simple. It uses the attacks of the institutional Left Media as fuel to go after their bias. It is impossible for them to attack you and not provide you a platform at the same time. Use the platform. Identify how the platform can best benefit the ideology you believe in. Find others who agree with you and always talk back. When they express their dislike of me having worked undercover with the FBI, I respond by expressing my disgust at their being more upset by my undercover work than they are with the fact that their Left movement spawned violence and bomb making. Sometimes the only point needed to be made is that there are other perspectives that would see their framing as biased.

Brandon, Texas is pretty conservative; Do you feel that Media in Texas is out of step with Texans?

Though most of the citizens in Texas are conservative, most of the Texas Mainstream media is not. There are minor examples and more egregious examples. Take Texas Monthly, a minor example. Many on their staff are patriotic Americans and proud Texans. They do wonderful work on sharing our great state’s culture and heritage. The magazine did a reasonable piece on issues surrounding immigration and Illegal entry into our state. They fairly presented several different perspectives. Yet in terms of their coverage of Texas law enforcement, the matter gets more complicated. Some of the political writers are out of step with Texans in the subtle disrespect they showed the Texas Rangers. They did a profile of the Rangers in the same issue they profiled the Banditos in. The subtle implication was that the two organizations were somehow comparable. In addition to this, they were very unkind to the FBI in a piece they wrote regarding a case I was involved in. They took the Austin Chronicle narrative and it was that of the cop-hating radical Left. Speaking of the Austin Chronicle, they are a great example of raging liberal bias. The nexus between them and the Texas Observer is a strange one where law-enforcement are routinely defiled and voice is given solely to those who strongly dislike our country. No one calls them out for having reached into their little ideological diapers and smearing their proverbial leftie feces on the men and women who serve in law enforcement.

Why is it important to combat this Bias?

When subtle smears are constantly unchallenged in the Left’s desire to frame Texans reality and perceptions, they eventually do. It is important to identify the Left’s efforts and to expose them for what they are. Allowing an untruthful narrative to go unchallenged is detrimental.

Brandon, how can Texan's use the Breitbart model to combat leftist media in a way that can truly challenge the status quo?

Fighting back smart is definitely part of what I call the Breitbart model. Another aspect that is just as important is replicating the manner in which Breitbart builds conservative activists. Where most conservative media outlets have sought out writers, Breitbart not only does this, he also does what could only be called “community organizing.” I try to replicate this by travelling to various counties across the state, identifying where there are patriots who show heart by fighting against liberal corruption, and then doing everything possible to support and encourage them to write and blog. I try to connect them with other patriots so they know they are not alone and can build upon each other’s ideas and efforts. That’s what Breitbart did for me and my values, so now I try my best to replicate this. Hopefully, those folks will do the same too.

How has the Left gotten away with this for so long?

There’s a lot behind the how and why of it all. Mostly it has to do with two things. Patriots haven’t paid attention and just assumed that most people wouldn’t listen to the Left narrative due to the insanity of it, and patriots have historically not seen the need or recognized the value in organizing. Thankfully, those days are coming to an end.

There’s been a lot of commotion lately regarding the Huffington Post going after Breitbart and calling him a “race-baiter.” They even said his posts can’t have prominent placement any longer. What are your thoughts on all of this?

First of all, the Huffington Post is AOL. They are to be held accountable as much as Arianna Huffington is. What they did was clever. Huffington sold out to AOL, thus showing that disdain for capitalism is profitable and capitalistic. The Left was pissed. The website was under attack from many camps on the Left. They agreed to let him post on their site. They figured he would say the same critical comments of race-baiters like Van Jones as he usually does. They waited for him to call out Van Jones and then made a huge issue out of calling Andrew out. Thus, they are no longer under attack from the Left and they were able to reclaim their solidarity with the Left. I think they set him up for that and I think it was short sighted to say the least. Did I mention that I think Van Jones and his support of cop-killers is vile and stinky?

Thanks for taking the time to talk and good luck with what you’re working on. Anything else you’d like to say to our readers about your style of journalism?

I’m not a journalist. I’m an advocate, like most journalists. I just wish most journalists would admit that too.

Joe Straus Re- Elected – Still a GREAT year ahead!

Joe Straus Re- Elected – Still a GREAT year ahead!

Joe Straus was re-elected today. Congratulations

It was no secret that I was in favor of a new speaker because I am elected to the State Republican Executive Committee to protect and preserve our Republican platform and beliefs. I believed that someone who agreed most of the time with the Republican platform would be better suited to be the lead the Republican majority than someone who sometimes agrees with the ideas of the Republican Platform. Anyone in politics knows that it is hard to oust the person in power and that proved to be true today.

That being said, Joe Straus was elected and I respect that he is the speaker and we need to come together and move forward. That does not mean we have to forget come next State Rep election cycle which of our representatives did not listen to their constituents. But right now we certainly must move forward and come together and try to have a productive legislative session. The Speaker election is over so let’s come together on the Republican Ideas that we agree on and work together to make things happen. It is ok to have different opinions about people or ideas, but at the end of the day we MUST come together and get through the legislative session.

To be honest, this might be a GREAT legislative session. You see, when Straus got backed up against the wall with claims that he was not conservative enough, he started making huge conservative promises to conservative reps to secure votes. Promises he might never have made before. I believe he will hold to those promises because he will be working extra hard to prove he is conservative. On top of that, all of the conservative State Reps who voted for Straus against the desire of their constituents will now have to work extra hard to push conservative legislation this session to make their constituents happy and not want to kick them out of office.

So at the end of the day, If Joe Straus keeps his conservative promises, and if the conservative State Reps are working extra hard to make their constituents happy again, then this can be a great year for Conservative Republican legislation. But it took conservatives standing up and making noise to get these promises made so thank you everyone who stood up and said we need to stand more closely to our Republican values.

So Joe Straus, I did not support you for speaker, but if you hold true to your promises you made to allow fiscal AND social conservative agenda to move forward, then this could be an amazing year for the Republican Party and I really look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together now that the speaker race is over.

Now let’s get to work!

Sincerely,

David Bellow

State Republican Executive Committeeman – Senate District 3

www.DavidBellow.com

Hardin County Republican, David Bellow, has been Elected to serve on the board that Governs and Manages the Republican Party of Texas

This past weekend at the Texas Republican State Convention in Dallas, Hardin County’s own, David Bellow, was elected to serve as a member on the State Republican Executive Committee. The 62 members of the SREC act as the governing body of the Republican Party of Texas. Over the next 2 years, David Bellow and the other 61 SREC members from around the State of Texas will establish policy for the Party (including placing propositions on the Republican Party Statewide ballot), be responsible for the supervision and management of the Party, and to foster growth in the Party.

On top of the general statewide duties of and SREC member, David Bellow, and his fellow Committeewoman, will serve directly over the 16 counties of State Senate District 3. This area covers from Hardin County up to Tyler and back down to Conroe. Bellow will serve as the liaison between the Republican Party of Texas and the County Chairman of these 16 counties.

Bellow is the youngest Member on the SREC.


From State Senator Robert Nichols:

“Congratulations on your election! You handled yourself very well in your presentation and had everyone excited with your comments. I look forward to working with you in the District as you go about your work. We have a lot of opportunities in SD 3 to convert the remaining primarily Democratic counties to Republican.”

From SREC Member David Bellow:

“I am truly honored to have been elected to serve on the SREC by my fellow Republicans of Senate District 3. I am very excited about this opportunity to re-energize the Texas Republican base in the wake of the election of Liberal President Obama. I will faithfully manage the 16 counties I serve over and will work with the County Republican Chairmen to ensure they have the strategy and resources needed to build the Party within their county and to elect Republicans within their county. Thank You!”

Any Republicans interested helping to build and promote the Republican Party of Texas are welcome to contact David Bellow for further information. You can Be part of the new Republican Revolution as we take back America and restore her to the Christian conservative values she was founded upon!

David Bellow contact info:
409 656 5128
mdbellow@gmail.com
www.DavidBellow.com

Hardin County - May 2009 Election Info

Cities and School Districts all over Hardin County have already started going to the polls to vote. So get out there and make your voice heard! And remember, getting our country back to its conservative roots of less taxing and spending and less government control starts here locally. So get involved and get informed and vote conservative!

HARDIN COUNTY

City of Kountze
Early voting
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays through May 4, City Hall, 1025 N. Pine.
Ballot items
Place 4: Geary "Sonny" Overstreet, 39, USPS route carrier; Lawrence Brown (I), 60, industrial hygienist

City of Lumberton
Early voting
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays through May 2, Lumberton school district administration building, 121 S. Main; exceptions, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 4 and 5, same location.
Ballot items
Mayor: Don Surratt (I), 69, DuPont retiree; Gene Stewart, 46, ExxonMobil systems engineer

Kountze ISD
Early voting
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, school district administration office, 110 Vaughn St.
Ballot items
Place 4: Cody Williford (I), 31, Daniels Construction project manager; Wayland Whisenhant, 35, Modern EPC business development manager
Place 5: Donna Moody (I), 56, Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church Southeast Texas District administrative assistant; Lloyd James, 59, , Richard Construction vice president.

Lumberton ISD
Early voting
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays through May 2, Lumberton school district administration building, 121 S. Main; exceptions, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 4 and 5, same location.
Ballot items
Place 1: Bill Nelson, 79, retired; Jace Retherford, 20, ranch hand; Jeff Rhea, 43, Gulf Credit Union chief financial officer and vice president
Place 3: James Glenn, 47, engineering manager; Gene Pickering (I), 49, safety professional
Place 4: Julie Walker (I), 45, business owner; Raymond Jones, 57, retired

Hardin-Jefferson ISD
Early voting
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays through May 5, school district administration offices, 520 W. Herring, Sour Lake; or 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., China Elementary School, 717 N. Broadway, China.
Ballot items
Place 1: Michelle Yentzen, (I), 47, Sour Lake, attorney; Joel A. Luna, 52, Kountze, control valve technician