Moderate Republicans such as state Sen. Bill Raggio (R-Reno) are telling conservative Republicans that the party has to move to the center if it wants to win elections – including support for tax hikes if Sen. Raggio decides they’re necessary…which he does. And any conservative Republican who disagrees with him is apparently an “extremist.” At least that’s how the good senator is describing “no new taxes” folks.
“We don’t need extremists running the Republican Party,” Raggio told host Sam Shad on “Nevada Newsmakers” this week, “and I think that today that’s what we have.”
Well, I guess we have to include Gov. Rick Perry in Sen. Raggio’s group of “extremists,” because the Texas Republican inked a column this week in which he declared the following:
“At every level, we need to find and promote candidates who are true conservatives, committed to defending the rights of the individual. We need leaders who will fight to let Americans keep more of what they earn by cutting taxes, reduce impediments to success by shrinking government size and spending, and invest in the ultimate civil right: educational opportunity.”
So much for moving to the center. As they say in Gov. Perry’s state, the only thing you find in the middle of the road is a yellow stripe and dead armadillos.
The governor goes on to explain that he closed a $10 billion budget gap in 2003 – the same year that Sen. Raggio infamously led the effort to pass that $836 million tax hike – by “reducing general revenue spending” and “without raising taxes.” Perry explains that Texas was able to do this “because conservative leaders did not abandon core principles or waver on our philosophy.” And he notes that Texas today “is one of only six states in the black.”
Cutting taxes. Shrinking government. Staying true to core principles. No move to the center. Yep, that Perry fella is definitely some kind of extremist.
We need more like him.
You can read Gov. Perry’s entire column HERE on Assemblyman Ed Goedhart’s “Nevada Straight Talk” blog.
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