June — Energy Drives Free Markets Says AFT-TX Director

Peggy Venable is Texas Director of Americans for Prosperity (AFP),  a free market advocacy organization with membership in Texas of 100,000, and nationally well over 1.7 million.  Peggy has guest hosted for syndicated talk show hosts around the Texas and appears as a guest on radio and TV.  

Read more:    Peggy Venable AFP-TX

Getting acquainted with Peggy was indeed a pleasure.  Peggy was just back from attending the AFP Right Online Conference (strategically placed across the street from Netroots) in Minneapolis (June 17-19) and was able to share a number of her experiences with some of us at lunch in the HR Grill.

Peggy is extremely well informed on a wide range of topics of interest to conservatives from energy to education.  She shared freely with us from that abundant and very current knowledge.  At the conclusion of the meeting many (of those few of us present) felt that Peggy was one of the best we have heard in the last year.  For those who weren’t present—you missed a good talk.  I would recommend that you listen to the audio of the meeting. (When we are able to figure out how to put it online. )  

First addressing education in Texas she pointed to the over $100 billion debt carried by school districts when only 50 cents of spending is going to instruction.  This was highlighted in her "Red Apple Project" which gives a snap shot of each individual school districts in the state.

Next was the role that energy plays in moving free market economies forward.  She explained why AFP opposed natural gas subsidies (it opposes ethanol subsidy too).  There also was the loss of jobs caused by the ban on off shore drilling. But now the slow granting of permits is keeping jobs from returning.  Apparently the Obama Administration EPA is greatly concerned with the sand dune lizard in the Permian basin.  If it is added to the endangered species list it could cost more jobs.

At the conclusion of her talk there were many questions which covered education in Texas and growing cost of higher education.  A number of questions focused on increasing productivity and utilizing or selling unused property.

There also were a few questions about what AFP is doing to limit the size of the federal government.  She pointed out that higher education, home funding via Fannie Mae and health care all share the common features that the user puts up very little, costs are growing rapidly, and the user ends up owing a lot.

For more information:  Minutes of the Meeting