Thought I'd post this here...
Help Shine a Light on the Investigation of Craddick and DeLay!
Knock off Ron Wilson!
Support Alma A. Allen
Well, thanks to the efforts of CleanUpTexasPolitics.com and others, the corrupt practices Tom DeLay and Tom Craddick used to steal 18 state rep races in 2002 are finally starting to get the attention they deserve.
On Monday, the New York Times reported that a Travis County grand jury is focusing on DeLay's political action committee, Texans For a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) because of the illegal corporate contributions is raised and funneled to right-wing state House candidates. This was a serious violation of state law. A felony, as a matter of fact.
Then, the Austin American-Statesman followed up with reports detailing how Craddick, a candidate for House Speaker at the time, violated state law by passing out TRMPAC checks to his favored candidates. That's illegal, too -- thanks in part to a state law to prohibit Speaker candidates from buying votes that Craddick himself voted for three decades ago! Read all about Craddick and his Cartel's continuing controversy of corruption. Today the Statesman editorial board called for an investigation of Craddick.
Now, I know a lot of rumors are swirling around about Gov. Rick Perry's personal life. But no one has ever questioned his faithfulness to the Texas Association of Business (TAB), which also happens to be under investigation for possible criminal violations of state campaign finance laws. Rick Casey wrote a compelling column in the Houston Chronicle about Perry's failure to listen to the Dallas, Austin, and Houston Chambers of Commerce when they advocate for more school funding.
Nope, one Rick points out about the other, Perry's gonna dance with the ones who brung him -- TAB. After all, they pay Perry's tab. And if they say we don't need more money for Texas schools, that's the end of the debate, as far as Perry's concerned. After all, as the other Rick notes in his Houston Chronicle column, "TAB bought the Legislature fair and square with $1.9 million in corporate funds."
And the Dallas Morning News is reporting that TRMPAC sent the Republican National Committee $190,000 in CORPORATE CASH and the RNC two weeks later the RNC funnelled that money back to 7 Texas State House Races. Fred Lewis, director of the citizens interest group CleanUpTexasPolitics.com, wonders why a Texas-based group trying to elect state legislators would suddenly send $190,000 to Washington, unless it knew it couldn't donate it to races itself.
The implications of all this are wide-ranging:
1) DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority used corporate money to illegally influence 22 state rep campaigns in 2002. They won 18 of them. This got DeLay the majority in the Texas House that passed his ultra-partisan redistricting bill.
2) Craddick personally delivered TRMPAC checks to 14 candidates, in direct violation of state law. This got Craddick the Speakership he needed to help DeLay ram redistricting through.
3) DeLay plans to use the new partisan map to knock off at least five sitting Democratic congressmen. If he succeeds, he will have used illegal corporate cash to steal the Texas House and, then, steal a majority of the U.S. Congress for a decade to come.
Campaigns for People/CleanUpTexasPolitics.com has done heroic work in helping bring these scandals to the attention of the media. They've also got a video online with former State Rep. Ann Kitchen describing how corporate money was used against her.
Please help by supporting the effort to CleanUpTexasPolitics This is as important as any political candidate you can give to this cycle.
And while we're at it. Democratic turncoat and Craddick pal Rep. Ron Wilson has a very qualified primary challenger, National Association of State Boards of Education President Alma A. Allen. Please help her so the people of her district can have a real Democrat representing them in Austin. Her site can accept online contributions via credit card at
http://www.almaaallen.com If you're sick of sell out Democrats, help a real Dem fight back!