Straus continues to show fear

"He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck,
Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
Proverbs 29:1

[Author's Note: We were at the TAB event yesterday, but arrived after Straus spoke.  It's a shame; we wish we could have observed his body language.  That being said, his words speak for themselves.]

Following his laughable attempt to appear tough last week, yesterday Joe Straus spoke at TAB's legislative conference.  He hysterically warned about "emotional" and "divisive" issues.  San Antonio Express News reports:

AUSTIN - House Speaker Joe Straus urged business interests Wednesday to make an aggressive push at the Texas Capitol for improving education and transportation, warning that core legislation could otherwise be eclipsed by "emotional and divisive issues."

Straus, R-San Antonio, lauded the Texas Association of Business for its focus on fundamentals 

.... 

But with other issues already taking the spotlight this session, Straus said a disciplined focus is necessary: “If the business community doesn’t speak up, I assure you that someone else will fill that void.”

Straus, while not naming the issues he considers divisive, made reference to Capitol protests, which notably have involved people pushing for open carry of handguns and a contingent upset about Texas Muslim Capitol Day.

“In a political system that often promotes only the loudest and the most outrageous voices, keeping the focus on issues like education and roads is not always easy,” Straus said. “We’ve seen it already in this young session. The media can’t resist writing about the most outrageous protests, or the so-called wedge issues that divide Republicans from Democrats and even Republicans from Republicans, but our state is growing too fast and our economy is too big for us to be consumed by the most emotional and divisive issues.”

 Read the whole thing here.

Translation: I'm losing control of the caucus and I'm going to need a lot of help from the legacy GOP donor class if we're gonna pass crony legislation this session.