07/02/2011
Things looked bright when the Texas Legislature convened this year. As a result of the 2010 election, the Republicans held a super majority in the State House (101-49) and were only one vote short in the State Senate (19-12). Democratic prospects were so bad some Hispanics switched to the Republican side (where they immediately began ethnic spoils-seeking).
Hopes were high for some meaningful action on immigration reform. It is desperately needed in Texas, where the Hispanic inundation is close to depriving Anglo Texans of their heritage by arrogant Reconquista and also plunging the state into the California abyss.
All this has crumbled into ashes, mainly it seems because of the treasonous activities of two enormously wealthy men — Bob Perry of homebuilder Perry Homes and Charles Butt of grocery chain H-E-B.
A so-called "sanctuary cities" bill that would have allowed a crackdown on cities providing sanctuary to illegal immigrants died when the Texas legislature adjourned for another two years without passing it …
"I don’t, for one minute, blame the Democrats for this one," an angry Mike Openshaw, Texas Tea Party activist, told Reuters on Wednesday. "The clubbing was done by the Republican Austin machine establishment this time, which is just absolutely stunning considering the election of 2010."
Business lobby helps scuttle immigration curbs in TexasBy Karen Brooks Reuters.com Wed Jun 29 2011 This story is unusually frank:
Two powerful Texas businessmen joined the lobbying against the bill, legislative sources told Reuters.
Houston homebuilder Bob Perry and grocery chain magnate Charles E. Butt hired one of Austin’s most powerful lobbyists to oppose the legislation.
"They had real reservations about it," Bill Miller, the lobbyist hired by the influential businessmen, told Reuters … Miller would not say what those concerns were, and calls to homebuilder Perry for comment were not returned late Wednesday. But lawmakers said business interests worried that the law would allow police to harass their workers.
What appears to be the only other MSM account of this disgrace — written before failure was definite — was even more direct:
Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, who sponsored the measure, expressed frustration that the two businessmen are "trying to kill the bill" at such a late hour … "I don’t know where they've been for six months."
Asked why he thought Butt and Perry opposed the measure, Solomons said … he is aware that some members of Texas' business community rely heavily on the work of illegal immigrants
’sanctuary cities' bill loses momentum By Patricia Kilday Hart Chron.com June 24, 2011
The legislature will not convene again until 2013.
So elections count for nothing against the wealth of two selfish plutocrats — the same process as in Arizona and Florida.
Remember, this was merely a measure to curb local jurisdictions from ordering their Police to ignore immigration issues. It did not seek to actually enforce Federal law, like Arizona’s or Alabama’s.
The Texan elite of course has long had an attitude of brutal and contemptuous exploitation towards other Texans which would seem more suited to Czarist Russia than America. Steve Sailer quite plausibly felt this influenced G.W’s world view.
Ivy-League educated Butts inherited his business and perhaps it is predictable he should not identify with unwealthy Texans. Bob Perry made his fortune manufacturing urban sprawl in Texas which has probably made him reflexively subservient to the predilections of the local political class — his website boasts of enthusiasm for affirmative action as well as open borders. Politico says he was the biggest GOP donor in 2010.
This fiasco of course shreds any credibility Governor Rick Perry might claim as a Patriot on Immigration reform — or for that matter as a political leader. He claimed to be in favor of the Bill, his party overwhelmingly controlled the legislature — yet he let it be silently suffocated without a fight. Perry has received large donations from Bob Perry, to whom he is said not to be related.
It also raises serious issues about Governor Pawlenty — his 2006 campaign is said to have been rescued by heavy expenditures by Bob Perry: Tim Pawlenty’s ties to "Swift Boat" Bob Perry By Delal Petkas and Kelsey Sheehy The Huffington Post 6/30/11
In general the lesson is that William Houston is right — the Business Establishment is a distinct, active and dangerous enemy on immigration reform. Anything it approves of has to be viewed askance.
This is a content archive of VDARE.com, which Letitia James forced off of the Internet using lawfare.