Phillip Martin at the Burnt Orange Report posted an excellent article today about the fight to retake the Texas House. He thinks that Texas Dems are spending too much time and energy in the fight over House Speaker Tom Craddick, and that they should be talking more about the issues, and I couldn't agree more. My guess is that a sizeable number of Texas voters, particularly younger voters, probably don't even know or care who Tom Craddick is, much less have an opinion about whether or not he should be speaker of the Texas House. Getting bogged down in an inside-baseball argument about Craddick isn't going to resonate with the voters that we need to win in November. But these voters can be reached if we start talking more about our solutions for the nuts-and-bolts issues that affect them in their daily lives, like health care, or the size of their utility bills, or the cost of sending their kids (or themselves) to college.
Martin addressed several key areas where he thinks we should be hitting the Republicans:
Our purpose is to pass better health care laws. Our purpose is to make higher education more accessible to graduating teenagers. Our purpose is to figure out a way to lower electricity costs, improve our environment, and increase support for teachers and children in the classroom.
Lest we forget what's happened recently, here's a quick reminder:
- Public Education - House Democrats fought tooth-and-nail for an across-the-board teacher pay raise last session. Republicans continued to fight for a merit-based approach --- an approach that failed in Houston, when only 58% of teachers received a pay raise averaging $1,800, while the HISD Superintendent got a $67,000 bonus. Republicans ended up only allowing a $425 a year pay increase for teachers (approximately $6 per week), that -- thanks to Governor Perry's TEA -- will be swept into existing salary schedule step increments, and thus amount to absolutely nothing.
- Higher Education - The average cost of tuition, statewide, has increased by 44% since Republicans took over in 2003. That includes a 55% increase at Texas A&M, a 61% increase at UT-Dallas, and a 70% increase at the University of Houston. Meanwhile, the Texas Tomorrow Fund could be $3 billion short in its funds, and fewer students are receiving Texas GRANTs today than five years ago.
- Health Care - There are still over 125,000 fewer children enrolled in CHIP today than 5 years ago. There is still too much red tape for children's Medicaid and CHIP enrollment. And Texas still has the highest percentage of uninsured citizens in the country, no thanks to the continued efforts by Republicans to privatize health care and force Texans to miss regular doctor visits and make emergency room visits that are more dangerous to the health of Texans and more costly to local taxpayers.
- Environment - Texas emits more carbon dioxide gases than any other state in the country -- more than CA and PA (2nd and 3rd) combined. We are home to 5 of the dirtiest coal plants in the country, including two in the top ten, and emissions from the already existing coal plants cause up to 1,160 deaths per year. Republicans solution? Build more coal plants.
- Utility Rates - In 2007, the average TX consumer that bought power from deregulated markets paid $200 more than the average TX consumer buying power municipalities with regulated markets. (Source).
These are all areas where we can gain traction with voters, but I think that addressing soaring college tuition rates can be a particularly big winner for us in November. Overall, statewide tuition is up by 44% since 2003, and the problem is even more acute at schools in the UT System, where tuition has increased by 68% in the same time period. This is an issue that will obviously resonate with parents, but it's also a big issue with college students themselves, many of whom have to pay their own way with student loans that they'll be repaying for years after they graduate. Higher tuition costs mean that these students either have to borrow more money, or work harder to cover what their student aid doesn't. Young voters are more energized this election cycle and will be a significant component of any winning strategy for Democrats this fall - addressing their concerns will ensure that these voters care more about the down-ballot races and have a better understanding of what the stakes are in these contests.
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