This guy sure is making the news lately there.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/ ... TE=DEFAULT

Sep 6, 5:17 PM EDT

Friedman addresses immigration, crime, taxes, state spending

By MICHAEL GRACZYK
Associated Press Writer

HOUSTON (AP) -- The number of National Guard troops on the Texas-Mexico border would jump from 1,500 to 10,000 under a plan to combat illegal immigration proposed Wednesday by independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman.

"We've waited 153 years for the feds to help us," Friedman said. "They haven't yet. We have our own army. I want 10,000 Texas National Guard troops on the border and I want them now."

The immigration proposal was one of four broad policy issues outlined Wednesday by the populist entertainer and author in his first detailed public policy announcement.

The independent is running against incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Perry, Democrat Chris Bell, and another independent, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the state comptroller who won that office as a Republican. Also in the race is Libertarian James Werner.

Friedman also addressed crime in Houston, state spending and state taxes at a Houston news conference called to put "political red meat on the bone."

"I'm just kind of stunned other politicians are not talking about this stuff and are not doing anything," he said. "These are issues that affect Texans."

Besides the boost in troop strength on the border, Friedman would require foreigners working in Texas to have a tax identification card issued by the Department of Public Safety or the Texas comptroller's office. Businesses or contractors using people without the card would face a $25,000 fine for the first violation and $50,000 for the second violation.

On crime, Friedman would give $100 million in state money to Houston to address a spike in violence. The money would pay for police overtime and for hiring more than 1,000 new officers fight crime, particularly violent crime blamed on Katrina evacuees. Hurricane refugees who broke the law or refused to find jobs should be sent back to Louisiana, he said, describing some of them as "just sucking the system."

A sharp increase in retirements, a drop in new cadets and a higher crime rate caused partly by hurricane refugees have caused a severe shortage of officers in the Houston Police Department.

"Crackheads and thugs have decided they want to stay in Houston," Friedman said, adding that if another Texas city experienced a sharp increase in violence, he'd make state money available to help there, too.

Friedman also said he would cap state spending at current levels, with any increases adjusted for inflation, population increases and unforeseen disasters. He'd also cap property tax appraisals at 3 percent annually, down from the current 10 percent.

On taxes, Friedman would abolish the state business tax, which taxes gross business income and was a key element of the school finance reform passed by the legislature in a special session earlier this year. The tax, he said, "amounts to nothing more than a personal income tax in disguise."

Friedman would use an existing state budget surplus of at least $11 billion to make up any shortfall.

Perry campaign spokesman Robert Black said authorities in border counties are using their command and control capabilities to help stem the flow of illegal immigrants and crime. Perry deployed guardsmen to the border after President Bush asked border governors to do so.

"Leadership is not giving folks pie-in-the-sky ideas with no way to pay for it," Black said. "The border issues speak for themselves. We have applied unprecedented state resources to what is a federal problem."

He said it wasn't clear if the 10,000 troops Friedman wanted even were available for deployment.

"He needs to be reminded these guys are firemen, police, EMTs, people who have jobs and lives and already are working and serving their communities," Black said, noting that some are serving in Iraq.

On the tax and spending issues, Black said using surplus money "would be fine for about a year, then what do you do?"

"He's calling for massive property tax increases, for abolishing all business taxes in the state, and for additional spending he wants to do," Black said. "He cannot have it both ways."

And on Friedman's crimefighting proposal for Houston, Black said Perry already had helped the city obtain millions in federal aid.

"He's sounding more and more like Pat Buchanan everyday," Bell spokeswoman Heather Guntert said. "I'd be very interested in someone figuring out the implications of freezing all the spending. It's not a serious response to a serious problem."

Strayhorn spokesman Mark Sanders described Friedman as "a lot of fun" but said the comptroller's campaign is focused on Perry.

"It's a two-person race," he said.