Rodriguez Resigns for New Position; Tharp Takes the Reins
George Rodriguez, President of the San Antonio Tea Party, resigned this week to take a leadership position in a newly forming political action committee. Stepping up to lead the SATP is senior vice president Allen Tharp.
Mr. Rodriguez has been SATP President since his unanimous election by the Board of Directors in March 2011. In assuming that role, he became the first Hispanic president of a Tea Party. Born in Laredo, TX, and raised in San Antonio, he has dedicated his life to sharing conservative values with Hispanics. As a political appointee in the Ronald Reagan and George H. Bush administrations, Mr. Rodriguez worked with the Department of Justice in community relations and immigration outreach. He also worked with the White House Office of Public Liaison on community outreach, with Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) on judiciary legislation and Hispanic-related issues, and with Congressman Tom Delay on Hispanic outreach. He was part of the 1988 Bush Presidential Campaign and then worked for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as a special assistant to HUD Secretary Jack Kemp and later as an office director. Mr. Rodriguez was part of the Katrina Recovery Program as an anti-fraud compliance officer and then worked for the City of San Antonio as a real estate director before retiring in 2010. He served as the Harris County GOP Chairman of Outreach from 1999 through 2000.
In his resignation letter, Mr. Rodriguez stated, “In this important political season, there are numerous activities in which I am involved and others that I am currently pursuing, and I do not feel that I am able to properly devote the necessary time and energy that the SATP deserves as its President. I have thoroughly enjoyed…
Tea Party Poised for Gains in Senate
As tea partyer Richard Mourdock appears set to win Indiana’s Republican Senate primary Tuesday over incumbent Richard Lugar, things are looking up for the tea party movement in the Senate.
Mourdock, currently state Treasurer, represents one of six tea party-backed candidates in Republican Senate primaries. And if several of them are able to score victories, the movement could gain great power in the Senate, The Hill reports.
Other strong tea party candidates include Rep. Jeff Flake, who is favored to win the Arizona Senate Republican primary; Josh Mandel, the GOP nominee in Ohio; and Ted Cruz, who may be part of a runoff election in Texas.
The leading tea partyers currently in the Senate are the chamber’s Tea Party Caucus founders Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Mike Lee of Utah. DeMint’s Senate Conservatives Fund has endorsed Flake, Mandel, and Cruz.
“In the middle of a campaign season that’s been dominated by talk of [the] presidential race, there has been a group of independent conservative candidates that is gradually building momentum and gaining support,” Matt Hoskins, a spokesman for the Fund, told The Hill. “We could have another election with an injection of the new blood of tea party conservatives in the Senate.”
Erick Erickson, editor-in-chief of RedState.com, believes that the tea party will have serious influence in the next Senate. “I don’t think they’ll have a majority of the conference, but they will have enough…
Congressmen Complain as IRS Harasses Tea Party
Congressmen from 63 districts have challenged the IRS to explain a series of events indicating a systematic harassment of Tea Party chapters around the nation.
As disclosed on a major Tea Party website, beginning in January and February, chapters around the country reported receiving unusual letters mailed from the same Ohio IRS office. The letters requested identification of all volunteers and donors, even though contributions to a 501(c)(4) tax exempt organization are not tax deductible. This led members to worry about harassment audits to chill Tea Party participation.
Representative Tom McClintock (R, CA), in remarks presented on the House floor earlier this week, spoke of the difficulties experienced by Tea Party volunteers attempting to obtain 501(c)(4) status for their new chapter:
“A Tea Party group in my district is typical of the reports we are hearing from all across the country. This group submitted articles of incorporation as a non-profit to the state of California, and received approval within a…
Hope for a Slogan Change
In 2008 a first-term senator, who had very little political experience, chose a campaign slogan that was designed to play upon the emotions of potential voters. We all know that slogan: Hope and Change. The campaign slogan worked because no one could remember the slogan that John McCain selected, Country First. Even though the Hope and Change slogan now seems like a joke, it was effective enough to capture a sufficient number of votes to put the least experienced man running into the oval office.
So far this year Comrade President Barack Hussein Obama has selected at least two slogans hoping that the change will catch on. The first slogan was Win The Future. This slogan could not have been staffed very well or, at least to say, there were no veterans involved in this selection. The initials, WTF, are associated with a call sign in military parlance that the situation is more than just a little confusing. The military has many such expressions; but WTF is not as well known as let’s say SNAFU, which according the official Dictionary of Naval Acronyms, is the acronym for…
TX Superintendent Salaries
Hats off to the Texas Tribune for their article on how much Superintendents in Texas make. It’s a touchy issue for superintendents, and perhaps for good reason. Over 200 Superintendents make more than the salary of the Governor of Texas. And that’s their base salaries, not including perks and lifetime benefits including a cushy retirement.
It’s worth a peek.
Though the Beaumont ISD superintendent’s salary is the top salary in the state, we wonder if equal attention should be paid to Terlingua CSD where Superintendent Kathy Killingsworth makes $178,399, which figures out to be $1,578.75 per student.
Or Kenedy County Wide CSD where Noemy R. Garcia is superintendent making $149,248 with 89 students, figuring out to be $1,755.86 per student. …
Cruz Closing on Dewhurst
Raleigh, N.C. – Every time PPP polls Texas the Republican Senate primary gets closer and closer. What was a 29 point lead for David Dewhurst in September has now been cut all the way down to 12 points. Dewhurst is at 38% to 26% for Ted Cruz, 8% for Tom Leppert, and 7% for Craig James.
Cruz’s support has increased from 12% to 18% to 26% over our last three polls. Meanwhile Dewhurst has remained stagnant in the 36-41% range. Cruz’s name recognition has increased from 29% to 48% with Republican primary voters since January and the change has almost all been positive. His favorability’s gone from 15/14 to 31/17.
It is the furthest right segment of the Republican electorate where Cruz is gaining momentum. Among Tea Party voters he and Dewhurst are tied at 35%. Dewhurst is winning easily, 41-20, with non-Tea Partiers. There’s also a bit of a generational divide with Dewhurst leading by 26 points among seniors but ….
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