*Corrected 2/11/11 2:30PM
As Kevin Derby reported for Sunshine State News, Al Cardenas, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, was named Wednesday to head up the American Conservative Union (ACU), succeeding conservative icon David Keene who led the group for more than 25 years.
Cardenas, who had served as the ACUs treasurer, was elected as chairman without opposition, despite grumblings from some social conservatives who maintained he did not share their commitment to traditional values.
The American Conservative Union has a long and proud tradition of espousing and promoting the conservative goals of limited government and fiscal responsibility, and its my honor to do all I can to help further these worthy objectives, said Cardenas.
High-speed rail opponents here in Florida may recognize Cardenas name. His firm represents one of the consortiums angling to bid for the high-speed rail contract, and he does lobbying work for Associated Industries of Florida, whose president chairs the recently formed High-Speed Rail Coalition.
Which begs the question, can the chairman of ACU, an organization that promotes "limited government and fiscal responsibility," also head an effort to promote high-speed rail using federal dollars at the same time? Is there a conflict of interest going on here?
Amid the grumblings that Cardenas is not "committed to conservative values" is his willingness to spend money that this nation does not have, which only adds to the national debt, further solidifying those concerns?
Republican Congresswoman Sandy Adams of District 24 referred to the rail initiative as a misguided attempt to expand the reach of the federal government and spend limited taxpayer dollars on projects that our nation cannot afford.
Cardenas takes over just in time for the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which begins Thursday in Washington, D.C. No word yet if there will be a high-speed rail promotion in the lobby.
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Tom Tillison is a member of the Central Florida Tea Party Council and edits the Florida Political Press from Orlando.
*An earlier version of the guest column, "Al Cardenas' Push for High-Speed Rail Soils His Conservative Credentials," contained an error. The error has been corrected in the column shown here. To clarify, Barney Bishop, president of Associated Industries of Florida, chairs the High-Speed Rail Coalition.
