Texas Liberty Movement Leaders United for a Strong Texas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 21, 2014 CONTACT: Undersigned Leaders

Coalition of TEA Party Grassroots Leaders Stand with Dan Patrick in an open letter to Jerry Patterson and his cohorts: Jerry Patterson You dont get to change the subject!
Mr. Patterson, In your ever predictable dont look at me look at Dan Patrick campaign tactics, youve made yet another desperate attempt to change the subject in the lieutenant governors race. Your strategy was two-pronged 1) to kick enough dust up in the air in early voting that you would weaken the strong and growing support for Dan Patrick, and 2) to distract and deflect scrutiny away from your own record and your own words. Mr. Patterson, early on, it was obvious that you were taking a page out of the Dewhurst US Senate race playbook for this campaign. Youve spent more time railing at Senator Patrick and working to personally destroy him than talking about the big issues facing Texas. How well did that work out for Mr. Dewhurst? Not well at all as we know from being on the frontlines and in the trenches with Ted Cruz. Every time the nasty attacks flew, we dug in deeper. So, Mr. Patterson, heres what we have to say to you nice try. You private investigation yielded fodder for mocking cartoons of Dan Patrick and blaring headlines in newspapers whose editors would rather drink strychnine than to write anything good about the solutions offered by a genuine conservative like Dan Patrick. While you are entitled to your opinions and to spend campaign funds to tear down Dan Patrick for allegedly hiring a worker in the 80s who allegedly was here illegally, you arent entitled to distort the facts about this matter and your own record. First, we wonder how many people on the ballot have ever hired an illegal worker or contracted with a service company that employs illegal workers? Quite a few, we imagine, but unlike today, back in the 80s it was not illegal to hire an undocumented person.

Second, unlike Dan Patrick, you have been openly derisive when questioned at forums about your amnesty-lite positions and your years of deafening silence about the security threats that come with sanctuary cities and the plethora of social service magnets that we can ill afford. When asked in debates to square your amnesty-lite positions with the 2013 Texas Public Safety Threat Overview and this comment from DPS Director Steven McCraw, Mexican cartels constitute the greatest organized-crime threat to the state, you sneered at the questions. [Source: Star-Telegram, 06/08/13, DFW now a command and
control center for Mexican cartels, Steve Campbell.]

Mr. Patterson, we find your lack of concern on this issue dangerous to law enforcement and dangerous to the future of Texas. You choose to scoff and to ignore the horrific facts laid out by DPS Director McCraw as he describes six of the eight major cartels operating in Texas: In the last half-dozen years or so, the cartels have expanded beyond drug smuggling to become multifaceted organized-crime groups dealing in murder, extortion, kidnapping, human trafficking, oil theft, money laundering, auto theft, weapons smuggling and corruption. McCraw said cartels are increasingly pushing back at Texas law enforcement with military tactics. [Source: Star-Telegram, 06/08/13, DFW
now a command and control center for Mexican cartels, Steve Campbell.]

Instead of focusing on these serious matters, you spend all your time catering to the cheap labor crowd and digging up dirt on Dan Patrick. Well, we are not distracted from the abysmal voting records and positions of you, David Dewhurst, and Todd Staples on the issue of illegal immigration and its impact on Texas. Mr. Dewhurst refused to champion a ban on sanctuary cities this past legislative session although we entreated him to do so. He failed to lead on any of these issues during the last two sessions and only recently took a stand to help law enforcement AFTER Dan Patrick made it a campaign issue. Weve seen this play before. Todd Staples has tried to position himself as strong on border security, yet his voting record shows he contributed to the problem. Mr. Staples record votes to give in-state tuition to illegals, to issue drivers licenses to illegal immigrants, and to expand beyond basic emergency care a free, taxpayer-funded healthcare system for illegal immigrants are what they are his record. In an interview with the El Paso Times (02/07/2013), you, Jerry Patterson, stated your support for giving illegal immigrants some form of legal status so they would be granted in-state tuition as a legal resident. Your words: I support the idea of fixing their status as opposed to trying to just sweep the status under the rug. I would not support an instate tuition bill for illegals. I would support a method of providing them a lawful status where in-state tuition for illegals wouldn't be a problem. The Jerry Patterson Plan to

provide everyone already here illegally with a legal status amounts to nothing short of de facto amnesty. You, sir, have made us more determined. Just as we stood with Ted Cruz in the face of unrelenting attacks from moderates and liberals, we stand again with Dan Patrick. Dan has been a consistent, reliable voice for reforming our broken system of entitlements and supporting law enforcement in its efforts to fight an open border. It was Dan Patrick who filed legislation and fought on the Senate floor with Sen. Brian Birdwell to repeal in-state tuition. It was Dan Patrick who has filed and fought for legislation to prohibit sanctuary cities, to provide penalties for the knowing employment of illegal immigrants, to end the practice of issuing them drivers licenses, and to end the social safety net enticements that are magnets. Finally, it was Dan Patrick who got us a meeting with Governor Perry to urge him to bring sanctuary cities back on a call for a special session to the 82nd regular session, and it was Dan Patrick who helped gather support from other Republican Senators so we would have the votes to pass the ban, if the governor acted (which he did not). Not one single statewide leader has gone all out to protect citizens, legal residents and the law enforcement tasked to keep us safe. Not one. It is Dan Patrick who has not once wavered on the need to ban sanctuary cities and put teeth to such a ban, but he has been stonewalled by political games run by the cheap labor lobbies and the 21-vote rule in the senate. As we have before, we stand with the real leader on the issue of addressing our dysfunctional immigration system. Dan Patrick has demonstrated a clear record of action and a plan that is best suited for the needs of a strong Texas. Jerry Patterson and company We Stand with Dan! The undersigned,

JoAnn Fleming, Executive Director, Grassroots America We the People PAC Chair, Advisory Committee to the TX Legislature's TEA Party Caucus* for identification only 903-360-2858 or 903-894-7204 Dawn King Parker County TEA Party, President* 817-360-8702 Chuck Molyneaux McKinney TEA Party, President* 972-442-1318

Toni Fabry Frisco TEA Party, President* 214-387-0051 Julie McCarty NE Tarrant TEA Party, President* 972-670-7692 Mike Openshaw North Texas TEA Party, Co-Founder*214-642-9383 Charles Lingerfelt North Texas Freedom Rally, Executive Director*972-533-3804 Danny South Amarillo TEA Party/Protest, Vice-President*806-236-9880 Maggie Wright Johnson County TEA Party, Founder* 817-480-3110 Larry Youngblood Leon County TEA Party, Founder*936-396-1220 Dean Wright Austin TEA Party, Founder* 512-518-4851 Bill Hussey Llano TEA Party, Founder* 325.423.1450 John Cook - Kaufman TEA Party* 214-212-8749 *Organization List for Identification Purposes Only

Where applicable, a political advertisement paid for by the GAWTP PAC, PO Box 130012 Tyler, TX 75713.