Sunday, November 9, 2008

Would Chris Bell Please Go Away?

I'm tired of seeing Chris Bell's face. I was tired of him during his no-hope run for governor. (Yes, I know he came in second, but he lost despite the Republican vote being split 3 ways.) Now he's in a run-off for Texas Senate District 17 with Republican Joan Huffman. Even though I'm not in SD-17 and don't get to vote, I'm watching the race closely because the district starts 2 miles from my front door. Today, they had a short debate on Gary Polland's show on Houston PBS-8. An independent analysis would probably say that he won the debate with smooth talk, but what he said was ridiculous. When they talked about taxes, Bell suggested that we needed to raise property taxes, expand the franchise tax to get the few small business owners that are able to avoid it right now, and add a state income tax. It angered me most when he was asked about income tax. He said that he doesn't support it right now because of political realities, but "eventually, we have to start having mature conversations about funding government". All of this despite the fact that Texas has created the best business climate in the country by holding taxes down, and has funded the government just fine without an income tax. Apparently, in Chris Bell's little mind, ignoring reality and promoting oppressive Progressive policies is a sign of maturity.

I hope he does two things next month. I hope he loses, and he's good at that. Then, I hope he goes away and stays away, which he hasn't been very good at so far. I'd be happy if I never had to see Chris Bell's face after December. If we have to have Democrats representing Texas, they should be good, honest representatives like Al Green, instead of slick-talking partisan hacks like Chris Bell.

Edit: After reading what I wrote last night, I realized how petty it sounds. Although Chris Bell annoys me, and I would like for him to go away, he shouldn't feel like it's necessary. Conservatives can always win the battle of ideas with Progressive ideologues. As long as he can keep accepting defeat, let him keep running.

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