Team Straus is desperate to distract from the fact that they preserve the political relevance of the enemies of tort reform in Texas – Texas Trial Lawyer’s Association (TTLA) and the Democratic Party.
First, let’s be clear: the Republican Party has carried tort reform and the Democratic Party has opposed it. While both Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR) and TTLA have made token inroads across the aisle, this activity amounts to weakening the opposing force. Both sides’ ball-carriers are their stronghold parties – the business party versus the sue-business party.
Under the guise of fairness, Straus consistently gives Democrats their largest possible presence.
For example, the Straus policy of being “pro-incumbent” in a time of Republican growth has the practical effect of minimizing damage to the political army TTLA rents – the Texas Democratic Party. It means Straus is not helping pro-tort reform Republicans to unseat anti-tort reform Democrats in the upcoming election. Of course, he’s manufactured an excuse for sitting on his hands, claiming he’ll be too busy helping Romney to help his own state.
Never mind the fact that Romney is a lock to win Texas. Never mind Texas GOP donors are well covered by the national GOP, which uses Texas as an ATM. Evidently we’re to believe the speaker’s days are too filled with wall-to-wall donor recruitment meetings to leave time to help replace anti-tort reform Democrats with pro-tort reform Republicans.
Furthermore, TTLA favorite Todd Hunter, one of TTLA’s few Republicans (a former Democrat convert heavy on the ‘Democrat’, light on the ‘convert’), was appointed chairman of the powerful Calendars Committee by Straus. Hunter boasted to a crowd less than a year ago that he was the “gatekeeper of legislation”.
Hunter was also the mediator of the giant TWIA settlement that provided Steve Mostyn millions. In turn, Mostyn was by far the biggest Texas Democratic donor in the 2010 elective cycle, and is now helping Obama significantly in his bid for re-election.
In addition to being the Texas Democratic Party’s sugar daddy and the former president of TTLA, Mostyn is an ally-on-ice of the Straus family business. The Straus family are longtime Texas gambling providers and Mostyn was recently one of the owners of the Lone Star Park racetrack license. Had Democrats done better in the 2010 election Mostyn would have been part of the pro-gambling power base in the Democratic Party. Had that happened, gambling and anti-tort reform would have developed significant visible overlap.
Instead the Democrats lost big and Mostyn was cut out, but he is positioned to jump back in if Democrats in Texas ever find their way out of the forest.
Mostyn employs Mark McCaig, the conservative turncoat who runs “Stop TLR”. “Stop TLR” is an effort to weaken TLR in the grassroots.
In addition, one of Straus’s golden boys, Lance Gooden, was almost entirely funded by TTLA in his initial run for office. Like Hunter’s conversion to the GOP, Gooden has since converted to TLR. Both men have flexible positioning.
Straus’s opponent in the speaker’s race is Bryan Hughes. Hughes has been a supporter of tort reform for the length of his public career. As a trial lawyer Hughes has been a yes vote on every major tort reform gain since 2003.
Plus, Hughes has common cause with pro-tort reform politicians (and against anti-tort reformers) on a host of issues near and dear to his heart, such as protecting taxpayers, protecting the unborn, and fighting for religious freedom.
The practical result is that Hughes’ connection to tort reform is more deeply reinforced than that of Straus, who wants to expand revenues like the Democrats, was pro-choice like the Democrats until his quiet-yet-miraculous conversion last speaker’s race (he still has a healthy lifetime score from NARAL), and has no history of support for religious liberty in Texas. Top Straus lieutenant Charlie Geren killed last year’s religious liberty amendment in committee. Meanwhile, Hughes the lawyer is fighting for an east Texas town’s right to keep “In God We Trust” displayed and the practice of opening prayer at the courthouse.
Straus keeps the anti-tort reform party on life support. As a result, Team Straus must go on offense against Hughes to cover their weakness and obscure the strength of Hughes. Nobody with sense will be fooled by this.