State Rep. Sarah Davis of Houston — the only unabashed pro-choice Republican in the Texas House — remains adamant that “government has no place in the abortion debate.” It’s too bad she doesn’t apply that same philosophy to areas where government actually should be limited.
Rep. Davis published an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle recently to defend her recent votes against life, saying that:
“Personal freedom and limited government are the foundation of my political philosophy. I believe the proper role of government is to provide only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations and that the best government is that which governs least.”
Limited governments? Personal freedom? Hey, what’s not to like? Oh, right. Her mind-boggling inconsistency.
You see it would be one thing if Rep. Davis actually held true to this philosophy in all regards. But the only time she seems to believe government should be “limited” is when it’s acting in its most legitimate role… the protection of certain unalienable rights. The first of which is Life.
But let’s take a step back away from the debate about abortion and the merits of the pro-life bills she’s opposed. Let’s instead take a look at her record and see just how “limited” she really feels government should be.
Here’s just a partial list of votes cast by Rep. Davis during the 83rd Regular Session:
• Favored giving unelected bureaucracies new cease-and-desist powers (RV77)
• Favored removing oversight power from the UT Board of Regents, along with their ability to exercise independent oversight authority (RV145, RV146)
• Favored spending more money on corporate welfare slush funds, allowing the government to pick winners and losers in the marketplace (RV158)
• Favored opening the door for Medicaid expansion under ObamaCare (RV161)
• Favored wasting taxpayer dollars on government-funded art projects over volunteer firefighters (RV175)
• Opposed eliminating licensing requirements for interior designers (RV258)
• Favored new regulations on architects (RV262)
• Favored new regulations on “teeth whitening” services (RV276)
• Favored adding more regulations on plumbers (RV528)
• Favored new regulations on veterinary medicine and barriers to becoming a veterinary technician (RV545)
• Favored increasing taxes on small manufacturers at the behest of big business (RV577)
• Favored mandating new insurance coverages (RV647)
• Favored new nanny-state regulations on high-school sports (RV678)
• Favored new regulations on foundation repair contractors (RV747)
• Favored creating unconstitutional requirements on political speech while exempting labor unions from the new rules (RV811)
• Favored increasing state spending by $22 billion compared to the last legislative session, a 24% increase, and voted to increase her own legislative pension in the process (RV1334 & RV1336)
So in other words, when it’s a question of whether life should be protected, government should be “limited.” But Big Government is A-OK to Rep. Davis, so long as spending and taxes are increased, cronies in selected industries are protected from free-market competition, and unconstitutional political intimidation is the law of the land.
Yep, personal freedom and limited government is the “foundation” of her political philosophy. Except in all the cases where it’s not.
This first appeared at EmpowerTexans.com and is reprinted with permission.
