Thread: Friedman addresses immigration, crime, taxes, state spending

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.

Way to go kinky.....
Kinky has always said he is not a politician
he's a Texan

has my vote...

Go Kinky!!

Wake Up Texas....you need someone willing to stand for something besides getting elected.....well....in that regard...WE ALL DO!!

I wish him good luck.

And if there is a shortage of National Guard in Texas, this agenda would I bet increase recruitment tremendously.

To stand the guard of your own state's border?

Golly....what could be better than that?

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/n ... watch.html








SAVE THIS | EMAIL THIS | Close





CAMPAIGN WATCH
Friday, September 08, 2006
Perry camp: Friedman flip-flops


Apparently, there is a limit to how much you can beat up on Carole Keeton Strayhorn, because Gov. Rick Perry's campaign, in a rare move, turned its fire Thursday on independent candidate Kinky Friedman.

This is hardly the first shot. Friedman hits hard at the state of affairs at the Capitol and in the governor's office. But the Perry camp has generally left Kinky alone, reacting when shot at but otherwise treating his candidacy as a joke that even they enjoy hearing from time to time.

Well, not Thursday. The Perry campaign put out a list of some of Friedman's positions on immigration and the border. They even called him a "flip-flopping politician." Their evidence:

He said in July 2005 that he would divide part of the Mexico-Texas border into five jurisdictions, appoint a Mexican general to each one and hold $1 million in a bank account for each one. And the state would withdraw $5,000 every time an illegal immigrant was caught coming in through his jurisdiction.

He would later change his mind to say that $2 million, or $10 million, should be put in the account. And he later said the penalty, instead of $5,000, should be $10,000. Or $25,000. Eventually, when The Dallas Morning News asked whether he was sticking to the plan, he said no.

Also, the El Paso Times recently quoted Friedman as saying he did not have a plan for securing the border. But on Wednesday, he called for 10,000 National Guard troops on the border.

Friedman campaign spokeswoman Laura Stromberg said Perry's shot shows he's worried about his poll numbers, which generally show him ahead but with far less than 50 percent of the vote. (He doesn't need 50 percent to win.)

"We're not offended that they labeled Kinky a flip-flopper," Stromberg said. "We're offended they called him a politician."

—Jason Embry








Find this article at:
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/n ... watch.html


SAVE THIS | EMAIL THIS | Close


Check the box to include the list of links referenced in the article.

"We're not offended that they labeled Kinky a flip-flopper," Stromberg said. "We're offended they called him a politician."

That's hilarious!