Betty Brown Goes Bye-Bye
The campaign season has begun, and Betty has started to reinvent herself. If you have a
record as lousy as Betty's, it's an understandable thing to do, but it's not right and it shows a lack of respect
for voters. Hillary's working hard to do it, but even Democrats are seeing through her. The first line of
Betty's new and improved campaign website home page says the following: "State Rep. Betty Brown is currently
serving her fifth term in the House of Representatives, representing Henderson and Kaufman counties. Betty has become
a recognized conservative leader in the Texas House."
Yes, she is serving her fifth term. In 1996,
she promised to serve only four terms, but apparently for Betty, that's neither here nor there. 4, 5, 6--what's
the difference? She promised to limit her terms, but hey, times have changed. Particularly odd about this new
stance is that the Terrell Tribune reported recently that Betty keeps a card from 1996 that lists all the reasons
she was running then. She brags that she is running for the same reasons now. Which brings up a couple of questions:
1) Why hasn't she addressed the issues that first spurred her to run? Why should 10 years of failing
to solve them inspire our confidence?
2) Why is the card she wrote for herself still relevant, but not the
contract to limit her terms?
These are questions we must ask ourselves, because Betty doesn't answer
them.
Ah, but Betty isn't finished. Betty has become a "recognized conservative leader."
The big question: by whom? I thought that her consituents should be the people who decide that sort of thing,
but Betty doesn't seem to agree. TORCH recognized her for helping pass legislation, but her consultants were working
for TORCH when she did it. Who else is "recognizing" Betty? Tom Craddick, the Speaker of the House,
desperately wants Betty re-elected, because she will carry water for him, but that doesn't really count because Betty
is supposed to represent us, not him. Who else? Texans for Lawsuit Reform endorsed Betty, but they were given
$250,000 by T. Boone Pickens, who wants to take away people's land to build a water pipe from the Panhandle, and Betty
voted for a bill making it easier for him to do so, not to mention taking $96,000 from them before that vote.
Betty doesn't get to be a "conservative leader" just because she says so. I would argue that Betty isn't
much of a leader in any sense, but that's my opinion and, as always, subject to individual interpretation.
However, Betty is equally as dissembling in the mail she sends to our homes. On January 28, I received the first piece
of mail from Betty Brown's re-election campaign. I could not believe my eyes. Her new slogan is "Promises
Made. Promises Kept." I was shocked. Surely she cannot be talking about promises she has already
made, because it's obvious she does not keep all of those. But I think Betty Brown is actually suggesting she
keeps her promises, and she wants us to believe her. How could a woman who has such a poor track record on this issue
put forth that motto with a straight face?
Let's look at Betty's "promises,"
and see if she has kept them:
-1/3 Property Tax Reduction--did your property taxes
decrease by one-third?
-Term Limits--Betty promised four terms and is running for her sixth (see
below her contract with voters)
-Record Votes--at first they were "cumbersome," then
Proposition 11 was "important," but she still won't sign off on recording ALL votes of the legislature
-Holding the Line on Government Spending--state spending has increased by billions of dollars
-Responding to Constituents--that's laughable; she doesn't even try to respond
-Look
through the rest of the website. Betty's promises are about as long-standing as smoke in the wind.
You won't find the above mentioned in her campaign material. They are horribly inconvenient for Betty and do not
jive with her new slogan. It's surprising that she thinks slogans are going to fool us. Most voters look
at candidates' records which prove whether or not promises were indeed kept. It's a lot harder to pull
the wool over our eyes than Betty thinks it is, because we are intelligent people whether Betty recognizes that or not, and
we don't vote based on pithy phrases printed on campaign material designed to make us feel good.
Putting the phrase on paper doesn't make it true, as desperately as Betty wishes otherwise.
Term
Limits. I had my fingers crossed!
Betty is running for a sixth term of office.
Below in italics is an exact duplication of the information Betty mailed to voters in 1996. None of Betty's words
have been changed, added or left out. Some phrases have been put in bold letters for added emphasis.
My Contract With The People of Texas
I, Betty Brown, do hereby affirm that, upon my election to the Texas House of Representatives
from the 4th District on November 5, 1996, I will faithfully execute the following actions:
1) I will sponsor
legislation during the 75th Legislative Session limiting the terms of office for all legislators.
2) I will
work to the best of my ability to enact term limits legislation until such legislation is enacted.
3) I
will seek no more than four terms as representative for the 4th District.
Should any provision
of this contract be violated, I will tender my resignation to the people of the State of Texas, never to seek elective office
again.
[signed] Betty Brown
September 25, 1996
Send Betty Brown to the Texas
House!
Page Two of Betty's
1996 Campaign Flyer
Isn't it funny
how politicians say they're for term limits during an election year? Then, when they get back to Austin with all
their good old buddies, suddenly they forget their promises to the voters, figuring they can use clever rhetoric to explain
it to the folks back home. Then, they go on increasing your tax burden, putting more regulations on you, and
ignoring your private property rights.
You won't get that kind of treatment from me. I am a rancher and
homemaker from Terrell, not a career politician. And there is no stronger proponent of term limits than I am.
I believe in term limits because:
--Term limits fit the intent of Texas' founders, who wanted
a citizen legislature.
--Term limits will help Texans take back control of their government.
--Term limits
will eliminate the arrogance that comes from long tenure in Austin.
--Term limits will break up the insiders'
monopoly on the Legislature.
--Term limits will give voters more competitive races from which to choose their
leaders.
Support for term limits is about more than just a single issue. This is a question of how
our government is going to be run. Is government the domain of an elite few, who spend their lives feeding
at the public troughs and treating citizens in a condescending manner? Or is government to be of the people, led by
ordinary citizens who share interests, concerns and goals with the communities they represent? The current power
structure in Austin believes in the first view of government. I believe in the second.
But don't
just take my word for it. Instead, take the contract I have completed on the opposite page [listed above].
With my signature, I pledge that I will introduce term limits legislation during my first term in office and work for
its passage. And regardless of the outcome of my term limits legislation, I will not seek more than four terms
of office as your State Representative.
I invite you to detach this contract and keep it in a safe place.
If I'm elected and I fail to fulfill any of the promises of this contract, please send it to me and I will immediately
resign my office.
This may seem like a very serious act. It is. I am very serious about giving
you back your government. And that starts on Election Day.
Let's take our government back!
That was then; this is now . . .
You have seen what Betty said in 1996. Take a look at what she said in 2005 when it was time to
honor that pledge. The following quotes were reported in the Athens Daily Review (9/25/05):
The decision I made 10 years ago was based on the limited knowledge I had . . . It's like
the Speaker said when he came; they don't appoint freshmen to the appropriations committee . . . Since then I have learned
there's a definite advantage to having experience and seniority in the legislature. The advantage is for the people
I serve, because I can be more effective for them.
That statement strongly
resembles the "clever rhetoric" Betty mentioned in her campaign material, only this time Betty
had forgotten her promise to voters, figuring she could use clever rhetoric on the folks back home.
She explained the turnaround by saying her supporters "didn't consider that a problem." She
went on to say "I considered it part of the '96 campaign only. At that time, term limits was a big thing.
It was really important to us. There was also the fact I was challenging an 11-year incumbent, Keith Oakley."
Okay . . . so when Betty is challenging an incumbent, term limits are important, but when she is the incumbent,
then suddenly her "Contract with the People of Texas" became a one-time campaign promise she is not obligated to
honor because the promise was made in 1996 and she didn't win until 1998. Huh? Excuse me? What happened
to principles that stay true whether they are convenient or not? What happened to "there
is no stronger proponent of term limits than I am"? What happened to respecting voters enough to tell
us the truth? Betty's explanation is a mind-boggling display of political double-speak.
Her greasy explanation
is a real jaw-dropper, but the truth is a lot tougher. Betty used to say one thing, now she says another:
*Eliminating "the arrogance that comes from long tenure in Austin" used to be important to
Betty, now "seniority" is more important.
*The "intent of Texas' founders,
who wanted a citizen legislature" used to be important, now being appointed to the appropriations committee is more important.
*The "interests, concerns and goals" of average citizens used to be important, now
whatever her "good old buddy" Speaker Craddick says is more important.
Somewhere
along the way, Betty became one of those "career politicians" she used to criticize, and she would make them very
proud as she sweeps principles under the rug to benefit her political career.
Folks, if Betty won't keep her promises voluntarily, then we can keep them for her.
It's time to send Betty home.