| Perspectives on Texas

I began my career in public service as a member of the Texas House in the early 1990s. I later became the state’s first female agriculture commissioner and then served as Texas comptroller from 2007 until this year.

Now, my 20-plus years of public service have come to an end. But I’m not done with politics in Texas.

In fact, I’m now pursuing two big initiatives. One is Lone Star Success, an online project of the Texans for Positive Economic Policy PAC devoted to telling the story of Texas’ success, particularly for our state’s newest residents. Texas does many things right, which explains our recent population growth and economic strength. Our state, for instance, experienced the fastest job recovery after the Great Recession. Strong economic policies have a positive effect on the lives of every Texan, and that’s critical to our state’s success and its future.

Our website, lonestarsuccess.com, presents the reasons why Texas’ economic policies have produced a strong climate in which to raise a family, start a business or pursue a good career. Launched last summer, Lone Star Success makes the case that prudent, conservative economic policies are the soundest basis for prosperity.

We’ve already produced several short videos on conservative economic principles that are geared toward hardworking men and women of all ages and backgrounds. Our videos, particularly “A Home for Practically Peanuts,” have been well received.

The second effort, through Friends of Susan Combs, will produce research-based written and visual information that lays out the principles that drove the creation of this nation and connects that to where we are today.

Our Founding Fathers’ views on the balance of power and the allocation of rights and duties — not only among the three branches of government but between the states and the central government — were cemented in our Constitution and Bill of Rights. The founders did a masterful job of steering a course for our collective ship of state, but we’re slowly losing these rights and the parts of our history that hold our country together and bond us uniquely as Americans.

We hope to present a short “back to basics” about who arrived on our shores, why they came and where they came from. These European settlers came for a brighter future and in some cases to escape famine, religious persecution or an overbearing government. This great American experiment has been remarkable in its durability and its ability to convince individuals that they can create a bright future for themselves and their families by seizing opportunity.

I believe that straying from the underlying principles of democracy, individual rights and limited government means that we’re straying from the American ideal. 

As comptroller, I used facts to give context to important policy issues for our state and its people. Lone Star Success and Friends of Susan Combs will work to do the same: giving Texans the basic facts behind the state’s continued success. Our work will continue through the next presidential election cycle and beyond.