A Texas party is pitching extreme policy ideas, and it’s not just the one you think | Opinion
The Texas Republican Party’s platform — its statement of beliefs and policy proposals — always gets a ton of attention.
This election year is no different. The platform is nonbinding, and elected officials do not necessarily follow it. It’s an important sign of where the most fervent party faithful are on issues, worth scrutiny — especially with a party likely to soon reach three decades of dominating state politics.
Democrats create a platform, too. Not that you would know it from news coverage. The party’s lack of power and failure to win elections seem to earn it a pass. But this is a mistake, especially from those who hunt so diligently for “extremism” in the GOP.
In their 30 years in the political wilderness, Texas Democrats have wandered to the far left just as Republicans have moved to the edge of the right. That’s polarization for you. If extremism — literally, deviation from the mainstream — is the concern, you don’t have to read far into the Democrats’ 69 pages of platform to find it.
Republicans have drawn attention for proposals to curtain democracy (for their own voters, oddly enough) and codify their theology with ever-escalating restrictions on abortion and sexual freedom.
For Democrats, though, there are few areas of Texas life in which government shouldn’t intervene. The document’s hundreds of planks add up to a prescription for a state-dominated economy. There are few causes upon which Democrats wouldn’t lavish tax money. And when it comes to controversial issues, they are far from most Texans.
Abortion? Of course, Democrats would repeal Texas’ ban and protect what they define as a “human right.” But if there are any limits they would accept on the procedure, the Democrats don’t spell them out.
Requiring photo identification to vote? Huge majorities of voters, including minorities allegedly hurt by the rule, favor it. Not Texas Democrats. They would repeal a law that is a sensible first line of defense against voter fraud.
Illegal immigration? The Democratic platform is practically a brochure inviting unlawful entry. Texas Democrats would reduce fines and fees, expand Obamacare coverage to those here illegally and issue state driver’s licenses regardless of status.
The platform’s education section is a jeremiad against choice, promising crackdowns on charter schools and even homeschooling. Democrats would pay off student loans for some Texas students, because that’s worked out so well at the federal level. They would drop the SAT and/or ACT as an admissions requirement, a throwback policy that universities everywhere are rethinking.
Democrats would provide free meals to every schoolchild, apparently even the wealthy ones. Hey, it’s not their money!
At every turn, Democrats offer policies that would crush the state’s decades-long economic success.
The party demands a “living wage” that rises with inflation. How much is that? Democrats don’t say, but one estimate has it starting at about $21 per hour (more for families with children, of course). The party wants every job to come with health and retirement benefits and all sorts of paid leave — oh, and to redefine full-time work at 32 hours a week. Goodbye, Texas Miracle.
Texans have enjoyed protection from mandatory union membership for so long that they take it for granted. Texas Democrats will have none of that — they seek to repeal right-to-work laws, which the platform tells you are doubly evil by tagging them “so-called” and putting scary quotes around the long established phrase “right-to-work.”
On energy, Democrats pretend that the oil and gas industry isn’t a key driver of Texas’ prosperity. They embrace the fantasy of every vehicle being battery-powered by 2035 simply because the government demands it. They’ll tax you to build recharging stations, just as the Biden administration has spent billions to build all of seven such stations so far.
At least some of these 1970s-style ideas are specific. Time and again, Democrats solve complex social and governmental problems via vagueness. The phrase “fully fund” appears nine times, never with a specific dollar figure or source of money.
And when all else fails, Democrats just promise utopia. Elect us, they say, and we’ll “eliminate” traffic deaths. Descendants of slaves will be paid reparations. The government will pay for all health care through a “single payer” system.
Why that last one would even be necessary if every job must come with health insurance, the party doesn’t say. This isn’t exactly the place to look for coherence.
Platforms are only so important. Few voters will dive into them at all. Party identification and specific candidates drive votes more than policy proposals.
But it’s important to pay attention to what the major parties say, even one out of power for more than a generation. Especially if extremism is your thing. If you think it’s only on the right, even in Texas, think again.
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