The Republican Civil War — the Texas version, that is — has come to fruition. As you might expect, the main protagonist is Michael Quinn Sullivan of Empower Texans. Here is Sullivan’s take on the war:
As we have come to expect, advocates of big-spending corporate-cronyism are rushing to the aid of liberal Republicans. They may have succeeded in the past, but taxpayers won’t be fooled again.
A new group called “Texas Future Business Alliance” is mailing into the districts of moderate and liberal Republicans, trying to convince voters that their pro-bloat legislator is a conservative. But doing so requires that they re-define the word as synonymous with corporate cronyism.
What this is really all about is that the business community in Texas, as is true of the business community nationally, has had their fill of the tea party and is prepared to fight back and elect mainstream conservatives instead of the denizens of the far-right, who care only about their ideological battles.
When Sullivan refers to corporate cronyism, what he really means is that he opposes spending that could improve the lives of most Texans: better schools, better health care, better highways, enhanced water supplies. Sullivan has never had any interest in the services that drive the state’s economy. All he cares about is electing politicians who will slavishly follow his organization’s agenda. Which is: Don’t invest in schools. Don’t invest in roads. Don’t invest in water projects. Don’t dip into the Rainy Day Fund. Don’t do anything that might actually invest in Texas’s future.
Who are the advocates of “big-spending corporate cronyism” of whom Sullivan speaks so disdainfully? They are the businesses who are busy laying concrete, extracting oil from the earth, and building homes for the newcomers who are flocking to our state.
If shots are fired in a Republican Civil War, Sullivan may find himself in over his head. The business community has deep pockets — deeper pockets, perhaps, than MQS has. They are going to go after the candidates and officials Sullivan is protecting, and vice-versa. It’s going to be nasty, and there will be casualties.
