Democrat's immigration ad creates stir

AUSTIN – “We have to crack down on illegal immigrants who break our laws, escape unpunished and take jobs away from Texans.”

Is it a campaign ad by a Republican lawmaker who favors bringing an Arizona-style immigration crackdown to Texas? By GOP Gov. Rick Perry?

Nope. It's by state Rep. Patrick Rose, a Dripping Springs Democrat who belongs to the Mexican American Legislative Caucus — and that's why it's raising some eyebrows.

Caucus chairman Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, said the group wants to take a "measured look" at the matter. (He describes caucus membership criteria as "you either have to be brown or have a brown heart.")

"We have very diverse views when it comes to the issue of immigration," he said. "But there's one thing that we're unanimous on: We don't allow people to kick immigrants around like a political football so they can make political hay."

It's clear immigration is a key issue. The nonprofit, nonpartisan Texas Lyceum is the most recent to release a survey (margin of error plus-or-minus 3.75 percentage points) showing that 25 percent of Texans cite jobs and the economy as the most important issues facing Texas, but 21 percent call immigration more important.

"Immigration is going to be the issue that's going to determine, for instance, the next president of the United States, for heaven's sake," said political scientist Henry Flores of St. Mary's University.

Rose's legislative colleagues know its importance. They know Rose is fighting for re-election in a toss-up district against Republican Jason Isaac. But immigration is a sensitive subject for Hispanic Texans, and it's one that threatens a legislative meltdown if not handled with care. And Hispanic children make up the majority in the three largest school systems in Rose's district.

One Democratic lawmaker, who didn't want his name used, described Rose's rhetoric as "a bit of fear-mongering." House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rene Oliveira of Brownsville, a Democrat and caucus member, said the wording about jobs "is certainly on the edge of immigrant bashing."

"There's very little proof that undocumented workers are taking jobs away from Texans that they would ordinarily have or take. That is to me a bogus claim," Oliveira said. But he didn't condemn Rose: "I was surprised and somewhat disappointed, but the man I've worked with ... is a reasonable man and a trusted friend, and I'll certainly ... reserve judgment and give him the benefit of the doubt."

Rose has broken with the Democratic Party line before on issues like lawsuit reform. The political newsletter Capitol Inside reported that his campaign's tone is prompting speculation about whether he'll switch parties after the election.

Rose's campaign (which said he doesn't consider an Arizona-style law the right fit for Texas, in case you were wondering) said both parties will have a chance to shape immigration reform policy "for the benefit of all Texans."

"Representative Rose's record ... in the Texas House demonstrates that he is in Austin to represent the interests of his constituents, not political parties," campaign spokesman Mike Ruggieri said. As for the party-switch speculation, he said, "Representative Rose is a Democrat. Our campaign does not respond to other people's speculations on any matter."

Cost of voter education

Your tax dollars at work: The Texas Secretary of State's office reports the cost of the 2010 statewide voter education effort is $2.5 million, which comes from federal funds. The program includes advertising telethons, face-to-face outreach and the VOTEXAS.org website.

Perry's writer block

The battle between Perry and national editorial writers continues. Perry isn't meeting with Texas newspaper editorial boards, but he spoke at a national conference of editorial writers. Then he got slammed for not taking questions from them (although he stopped to give an interview to a TV reporter).

Perry campaign spokesman Mark Miner earlier said a strong letter from the editorial writers expressing their displeasure "shows their arrogance."

Dan Radmacher of The Roanoke Times in Virginia wrote recently, "What kind of politician thinks a roomful of journalists wouldn't be upset at the inability to ask questions - and wouldn't be observant enough to notice that the excuse of a tight schedule was bogus?"

Tax, debate watch

It's week 18 since Democrat Bill White released his income tax returns for the time he served as Houston mayor, one condition set by Perry for a debate.

Perry said he would not debate unless White, by Sept. 15, also released his returns from his time as deputy energy secretary and state Democratic Party chairman. White didn't. But we're still counting.

Source - http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7241038.html