EXCLUSIVE: Texas Senate Candidate Steve Toth...UNCENSORED!!!

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice!"
Proverbs 29:2(a)

UPDATE: An earlier version of this story names an incorrect Beaumont ISD official as having been indicted.  It was actually Director of Finance Devin McCraney and Comptroller Shakira Allison.  We have temporarily pulled the video, and will post a corrected version shortly.


[Author's note: This interview was conducted last Thursday in the Woodlands; unfortunately, due to technical issues, we weren't able to post the interview until Tuesday in Austin.]

The Woodlands, TX -- Last Thursday, Cahnman's Musings interviewed Texas Senate Candidate Steve Toth.  Toth is running in a special election to finish the term of the disgraced Tommy Williams, who resigned following the budget debacle of the 83rd Texas Legislature.  Toth's district stretches from the Woodlands to Beaumont.  Turnout is expected to be very low.  Election day is May 10, Mother's day weekend, 17 days BEFORE election day in the statewide runoffs.

Highlights:

• Was personally recruited by Texas Homeschool Coalition.

• "We started this session [the 83rd] with an $8 Billion surplus and still grew spending by 26%."

• 2012 Race:
• Outspent 13 to 1
• Didn't find a single supporter of his opponent, out of 7000 doors personally knocked, until the Sunday before the election.
• Won by 15 points
• Applying the same principle to this race.

• Election Day: Saturday, May 10 (Mother's Day Weekend)
• Expecting 3% turnout.

• District: "A tale of two cities."
•  Wealthy Woodlands to poor Beaumont.
• Personal Note: When Toth says the Woodlands is a wealthy community, he's not kidding; the Austin equivalent would be Westlake on steroids!!!
  
• TWIA: Texas Windstorm Insurance
• 30% of the diesel fuel in the United States comes from the Texas Gulf Coast.
• Insures the homes of refinery workers.

• Medicaid:
• "58% of babies born in Texas are Medicaid babies."
• Expansion under Obamacare: Rejected by Texas House GOP 93-1
•  "There was no heavy lifting involved in keeping Medicaid expansion out of Texas.
• 15 years ago, 2.3% of budget; now, 23%
• Block Grants to the States
• Toth put a bill before the Federalism committee that was killed by his opponent.
• Supports opting out of Medicaid if the Feds don't grant us a waiver.
• "We can stop taking the money."
• If we stop taking federal Medicaid blood money, we'll take a hit at first, but we'll come out ahead after five years.

• CSCOPE:
• In over 800 school districts in Texas.
• Hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried.
• "There's no such thing as local control when parents can't see what their kids are being taught."
• It's coming back under new names.
• SBOE can't control the content in CSCOPE

• 2nd Amendment:
• Canary in the coal mine.
• The way you can tell tyranny exists in a system is when they take your guns.
• Got let out of Committee too late to pass.

• Leadership: "The Texas House is run by 30 liberal Republicans and 55 D's."
• Relationship w/ Straus: "It's a little fiery."
• "We're not going to preserve Texas if we roll over and play dead for current House and Senate leadership."
• "We had an 8 billion surplus, we increased spending by 26%, and we still had to raid the Rainy Day Fund to pay for roads and water."
• Straus: "Everyone's running from him right now."
• "The speaker is not helping us, he's fighting us; he's fighting us tooth and nail."
• We couldn't get spending caps out of committee.

• Ken Paxton: 
• "The Attorney General is the moral barometer of our state."
• Leadership is about when you find someone in their garage before they launch a cause.
• "He just flat out will not bend."
• Who he is in public is the exact same person he is behind closed doors.