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Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Sibley says Anderson should be ‘gone with the wind’ in TV ad
With six days until Texas’ March 4 primary election, Jonathan Sibley has begun a televised ad assault in his attempt to oust state Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson from office.
Beginning Monday, the Sibley campaign started running a new ad accusing Anderson of remaining silent in explaining his votes on issues ranging from drug crimes to the Trans Texas Corridor to “bills benefiting his own business.”
Let’s take a look at the ad and examine a few of its claims. Here’s the audio portion of the script:
Announcer: Why is Doc Anderson afraid of a few questions? Y’know what he said about voting to decriminalize drug crimes?
Sound Effect: HOWLING WIND
Announcer: Nothing… . Supporting the Trans Texas Corridor?
Sound Effect: HOWLING WIND
Announcer: Why he authored more bills benefiting his own business than cracking down on immigration?
Sound Effect: HOWLING WIND
Announcer: Why he voted to take money away from public schools to pay for vouchers?
Sound Effect: HOWLING WIND
Announcer: Why is Doc afraid to tell us? With Doc’s refusal to answer these questions, isn’t it time he was …
Sound Effect: HOWLING WIND
Announcer: Gone with the wind.
So let’s break down the issues:
Decriminalizing drug crimes: This is referring to Anderson’s vote to support HB 2391, which gave law enforcement agencies the authority to issue citations for low-level, non-violent misdemeanor offenses, including possession of four ounces or less of marijuana. Anderson has said he supported the bill because law enforcement agencies requested the discretion to issue citations in certain misdemeanor cases to cut down on jail overcrowding. Anderson has said he was not alone in supporting the legislation. In fact, the Texas House passed the bill with 132 votes in favor, none against and two lawmakers registered as present and not voting. HB 2391 was supported by a number of groups during a committee hearing, including Texans for Public Safety Solutions, Texas Public Policy Foundation - Center for Effective Justice, Travis County Commissioners Court, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Texas Fair Defense Project, Texas Conference of Urban Counties, ACLU of Texas. No groups registered to oppose the legislation in committee.
Trans Texas Corridor: Sibley has alleged that Anderson once said in a Tribune-Herald article that he might conditionally support the controversial project that would cut through Eastern McLennan County as the eight-lane toll road stretches from Laredo to the the Oklahoma border. During the 2007 legislative session Anderson supported a two-year moratorium on such public-private road building projects. Critics of the moratorium said the temporary moratorium did not go far enough and want to see the project halted completely. Anderson has said he would like the future of the project, pushed by Gov. Rick Perry, to be settled in a statewide voter referendum.
Bills benefiting own business: Sibley has alleged that Anderson, a Waco veterinarian, has authored a number of bills aimed at benefiting vets financially. Anderson, vice chairman of the Texas House’s agriculture committee, has authored several bills related to veterinarians, including HBs 2346, 2850 and 3401 in the 80th legislative session as well as HBs 1426, 2066 and 3311 in the 79th session. However, Anderson says none of these bills would have benefited him financially.
Private-school vouchers: Sibley alleges that Anderson’s 2005 vote to support a pilot voucher program reflects a philosophical difference between how the candidates view public education. Sibley said the vouchers, which would help parents pay for private school education with public funds, would have taken millions of dollars away from public schools across the state to pay for the pilot program. Anderson has said that opponents of the pilot program, designed to be implemented in eight urban school districts, were “defending the status quo” in “chronically poor performing schools.”
