WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AN AUSTIN REPUBLICAN?
OUR COST OF LIVING GOES DOWN DRAMATICALLY
Property taxes are primarily how we fund services in Texas, but they are far too high and far too much of our hard-earned money is wasted on non-essential government bloat. We also must hold local governing entities in Travis County to a higher standard. For example, the City of Austin allocated nearly $300 million to homelessness “solutions”, but almost nothing has been done. We’re fighting to audit this spending -- which is $300 for every man, woman, and child in the city. Taxes in Travis County are simply too high. We believe in excellent schools, transportation systems, and public safety, but excellence in all of those requires nothing close to the amount we’re being charged today.
WE END UNREGULATED ENCAMPMENTS
Our public parks, sidewalks, trails, and other spaces are not unregulated campsites. Local decisions in Austin to completely deregulate camping and aggressive panhandling have wreaked havoc on public safety, cleanliness, and pride. This is the classic example of an experimental far-left policy that simply would never happen under a Republican-endorsed mayor. We don’t believe in imposing social experiments on citizens — we believe in carefully evaluating public policy and ensuring that it benefits the greatest number of people before it’s introduced. We support the enforcement of Proposition B!
WE TRUST SCIENCE & LIBERTY TOGETHER
Science is one of the bedrocks of human progress. When human liberty is combined with intellectual curiosity and scientific discovery, we work and invent to make life infinitely better for one another. Not every issue should become political. The claim that Republicans are “anti-science” is abhorrent: We know vaccines work for most, but we also don’t support government mandates. We know the climate is changing, but we also don’t support government coercion to force changes in how we live our lives. We as citizens must rise up to the challenges that face us, and only when we’re free to do so are we likely to do all of which we’re capable.
WE REMOVE REGULATIONS THAT IMPEDE HUMAN POTENTIAL
Everyone has encountered regulations that they feel impede their potential. Governments are just the largest corporations, but with a monopoly on force: They have irrationally self-interested parties running them and imposing rules on the rest of us that only benefit their special interest benefactors. Regulations must be reviewed judiciously and cautiously.
WE UPHOLD THE RULE OF LAW IN TRAVIS COUNTY
The rule of law means holding everyone - elected officials, corporate executives, and the rest of us - accountable for respecting the rights of everyone else. The rule of law with human liberty as its’ objective, is the reason that America has become the most successful country in the history of the world. The rule of law must apply equally to everyday citizens and to (elected) potential tyrants, and when we sacrifice it for either, we do so for both. In current events, that implies many things: For example, it means that Republicans do not believe District Attorneys should experiment with the non-prosecution of violent crimes in the name of “equity” concepts.
WE FIGHT TO IMPROVE OUR CHILDREN’S EDUCATION SYSTEM
An educational system that prepares children for tomorrow's workplace regardless of race, wealth, or geography. We believe a fantastic, accessible education is the cornerstone of a free society, freedom, and the gateway to opportunity and upward mobility for all. In contrast, we do not believe that ideological experiments should be imposed at school; we don’t believe in the foundations of “Progressive Education” (such as rejecting the transfer of knowledge and skills in favor of a focus on attempting to make social activists out of children). Merit matters. Regardless of belief, everyone deserves to find a school that meets their values.
WE MAKE LIFE MORE AFFORDABLE
Government imposes a vast array of restrictions on housing development, from mandating certain types of housing be built to restricting the size, shape, and number of units of housing. Typically, these types of restrictions on where and how we can live only serve special interests. All reasonable zoning laws notwithsdanding, these restrictions do nothing to bring down the cost of purchasing a home nor do they reduce rents. We must lower the cost of living in Austin and Travis County and only Republicans have the solutions to do so.