“There’s a whole lot of ‘No’ that needs to be said to President Obama.”
Interview with Texas Republic News
March 13, 2009
In 1999, then-governor George W. Bush surprised some by picking a relatively unknown African-American Republican to fill a job on the Texas Railroad Commission, the highly-powerful body that regulates oil, gas and energy issues for the State of Texas.
Michael Williams has since grown to be one of the more visible Republicans in the Lone Star State, and is now setting his sights on the U.S. Senate, should Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison step down to run for governor.
Interview Video - Part 1
Williams joins a crowded field of semi-campaigns which are waiting for Hutchison’s next shoe to drop. Also eying a bid are fellow Railroad Commission member Elizabeth Ames Jones, former Secretary of State Roger Williams and State Senator Florence Shapiro (R-Plano). Lt. Governor David Dewhurst’s name has also been put into the mix.
For his part, Williams says he fits the mold of what his experience tells him Republicans want to see in Washington, D.C.
“Our voters are telling us, and what they’re telling me is that what they’re looking for is a consistent conservative, who’s courageous, who’s a fighter and has a vision to apply conservative principles to the new challenges of the day,” he said.
Interview Video - Part 2
The “consistent conservative” line is aimed at the perception that some have that many Republicans talk conservative back home, but become big spenders once they get to D.C. Williams is quick to distance himself from that criticism, and points to his record on the Railroad Commission.
“Since I’ve been on the commission, I’ve had the opportunity to do some of the things you’d expect from a conservative: reduce the size of the commission – from over 1,000 employees from the day I became commissioner to less than 700 today,” he said. “We’ve always been able to sort of keep our spending within a small range.”
Of course, one other competitor – fellow Railroad Commissioner Ames Jones – can also put that feat on her resume. Williams, who does not disparage any of his rivals, points to other issues as well. He turned down a $45,000 pay raise for statewide elected officials – the only one to do that. He’s fought to hold the line on spending, regulating “with a small ‘r’ as opposed to a big one” and recently signed the Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection plan.
Beyond Energy Issues
But Williams has been getting out the argument that he is a conservative on more than just fiscal issues. As a young lawyer in the Department of Education, Williams said he fought against race-based university admissions, something few African-Americans were willing to do.
He supports tougher immigration laws, including sanctions on employers who intentionally hire illegal aliens and measures to encourage immigrants to learn English. Immigration reform, he said, begins with the border.
“Of course, we are a welcoming state and a welcoming people, but our first response is to control that border, to protect that southern border,” he said. “Our first responsibility in doing that is that we have a combination of physical fences, virtual fences and boots on the ground to do that.”
Williams added coming to America is about more than coming to “get a job.”
“It’s about coming to be an American,” he said.
Williams knows that as a Railroad Commissioner, he’s not always as visible on these issues, as opposed to simple energy policy. He’s also aware that a standard question of minority Republicans – rightly or wrongly – is whether or not they are committed to conservative principles. He thinks he’s beat those perceptions, and connected with Texans on a variety of issues.
The way he’s tried to do that, is through aggressive outreach. Williams, who’s a gifted public speaker, has seized on many opportunities to address the Republican Party faithful, addressing state conventions and groups such as Americans for Prosperity, which gives him an opportunity to connect with the core of the conservative movement.
He’s also been very active on the Internet, by blogging and embracing social networking opportunities. In fact, Williams was recently voted the winner of a social media award by the Austin American-Statesman.
The issues Williams knows best, of course, continue to deal with energy.
“You cannot have economic growth without affordable electricity,” he said. “The best way to get affordable electricity is the Texas way, and that is you use all of the above.”
Williams says Texas has been successful at integrating natural gas, clean coal, nuclear power, and complementing it with wind, solar and biomass. Although he disagrees with global warming polemics, he thinks reasonable efforts that include the free market can be utilized to reduce the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere.
“The best way to reduce CO2...is to release the power of entrepreneurs and innovators, so that they go about the business of innovating the next generation of energy solutions,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been doing as Railroad Commissioner for the last few years.”
On Obama
Williams doesn’t consider himself an African-American first, but an American first. But like many people, he was willing to watch President Barack Obama’s term with somewhat of an open mind. He has not been impressed with what he’s seen.
“My impression is one of disappointment. There’s no doubt that the president is someone who is young and artistic,” he said. “But unfortutunately, the president has been nothing more than a traditional Washington liberal. Think about some of the first things he’s done in his first several weeks.”
He pointed to Obama’s closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison for terrorists, his executive order using tax dollars to fund international abortions, his order funding embryonic stem cell research, the expansion of the reaches of welfare, and the possibility that he might challenge the right to bear arms or the right to a secret ballot in union elections.
“So I have to admit, in seven weeks, I’ve become quite disappointed,” Williams said. “All you have to do is look at the market as well. The market is betting forward about what may happen in the future.”
As for what he would do in Washington, Williams added, “There’s a whole lot of ‘No’ that needs to be said to President Obama.”
The most important task facing the next U.S. Senator from Texas, he said, is finding ways to make America competitive. Williams said that the way that works is not the Obama way.
“That’s one of the reasons why you’ve got to hold down spending. That’s one of the reasons why, as a country, we really need to look more seriously at establishing a flat rate tax,” he said. Our competitors around the world are doing the same thing, so we’ve got to do that to compete.”
Comments
Shawn Dec 29, 2009