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Why? Many R’s and D’s have screwed the people with freeway tolls and the Trans Texas Corridor mass eviction plan (Mark Strama joined Mike Krusee to vote FOR tolls on roads we've already paid for in 2005). A few cultivated Independent R’s & D’s have fought for us (Eddie Rodriguez & Terry Keel said NO to freeway tolls).
Our mulitpartisan volunteers unanimously endorsed Bill Welch for House Dist. 47 in December. I've gotten to know Bill Welch since then, I consider him a good friend. Weeks ago, Welch actually called to ask me if he could accept the contribution for his campaign. I was impressed and surprised and really respected that call. I thanked him for asking me and told him to take the contribution - because I know how serious Bill is about keeping our freeways free. I've gotten to know Bill. I’ve invested my time as he’s phoned me for transportation counsel, just as some of our other endorsed candidates like Dem. County Commissioner candidate Sarah Eckhardt and Donna Howard has.
I explained all of this to the Valinda Bolton campaign when they called me days ago to ask us to redo our endorsement. I told the Valinda Bolton that we don’t redo endorsements.
Out of respect for my very close friends that work with the Bolton campaign, I offered to keep our group out of the active campaign fight (only including Welch in our long list of endorsed candidates) IF they promised to leave this non-issue contribution alone. The Bolton campaign promised to leave the issue alone and they said they didn’t want AustinTollParty.com to become active in the 47 race.
Frankly, I was shocked when the Bolton campaign took the low road and broke that promise. I saw the Bolton attack direct mail in the Snakesman yesterday. That lapse of judgment triggered us to jump into the ring to fight for our candidate.
So the gloves are off and it begins. Win or loose, this is the fun part.
Sal Costello http://www.AustinTol...
Hey Sal, why don't you go crawl over to Strayhorn and get some more funding so you can help your buddies in TLR, James Leininger, Tom Craddick, and the rest in supporting your good friend Bill Welch.
While you're at it, ask him about his stance on vouchers, since he never wants to tell the voters about it.
Is there a point reached when people don't care about your ranting and raving? Ladies and gentlemen, meet Sal Costello.
If you could step back from that big head of yours, you would know that Valinda is against the double taxing of existing toll roads. Isn't that YOUR stance as well? So why attack candidates--especially winning ones--who are on your side?
I guess because it exposes your double-standard and reveals you are not quite so righteous as you think you are. Welch has played you like a fiddle.
Why do you attack Valinda Bolton for exposing the hypocricy of taking money from People for Efficient Transportation and from taking money from people/real estate developers who will benefit from toll roads?
Apparently you haven't researched this thoroughly enough because you are working on LOSING Grandma's campaign for her.
I would understand if Welch had only taken $250 from one person, but he has taken over $20,000 from the very people you formerly attacked.
Your very own website attacks the following RECA members for laundering money to Police PAC in order to endorse someone who was against another one of your LOSER candidates for city council: http://www.austintol...
Of these people Welch has taken from Terry Mitchell, Paul Bury from Bury and Partners, Laura Beuerlein, Steve Clark, Patrick Flynnm Kirk Rudy, Carter and Burgess PAC, and Gary Farmer.
$20k may not seem like much to a corrupt politician like Bill Welch, but it is a lot to regular folk. I bet that would be a lot of money for your CRACKPOT organization to receive.
By the way, why did YOU choose to endorse a REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER for your poster-child against toll roads?
I know some of you guys are so deeply in love with Strama and other D's, you don't care how they vote, or lie.
Our AustinTollParty.com Endorsement List
Governor: Carole Keeton Strayhorn
Attorney General: David Van Os
Agriculture Commissioner: Hank Gilbert
US Senate: Barbara Radnofsky
US Congress Dist. 21: John Courage
US Congress Dist. 23: Lukin Gilliland
State House: Dist. 13: Lois Kolkhorst Dist. 20: Jim Stauber Dist. 45: Jim Neuhaus Dist. 47: Bill Welch Dist. 48: Donna Howard Dist. 49: Elliott Naishtat Dist. 50: Jerry Chandler Dist. 51: Eddie Rodriguez Dist. 52: Karen Felthauser Dist. 73: Nathan Macias Dist. 101: Tom Latham Dist. 122: Larry Stallings Dist. 125: Nelson Balido Dist. 117: David Leibowitz Dist. 118: Joe Farias
State Senate: Dist. 14 : Robert "Rock" Howard Dist. 19 : Dick Bowen Dist. 25 : Kathi Thomas
Travis County Commissioner, Precinct 2: Sarah Eckhardt
Hays County Judge: Elizabeth “Liz” Sumter
Bexar County Commissioner: Tommy Adkisson
Sal Costello The Muckraker http://salcostello.b...
I would rather back a real estate developer like Bill Welch who doesn't even have the GUTS to come out and say that he is really in support of vouchers and has instead chosen to run a misleading, Orwellian style campaign with "education as the #1 priority" although he never mentions the real idealogy behind his rhetoric.
So, I suppose then, that Bill Welch would stand up to Rick Perry and his party against toll roads. He would probably stand up against Tom Craddick too-oh wait, he has taken literally tens of thousands of dollars from him.
Sal, Sal, Sal. Even if he hadn't taken $20K+ from toll road developers, from the way his campaign has been run, obviously he doesn't have the guts to talk about his real agenda. He certainly wouldn't stand up to his party. Right, a commercial developer is going to stand up to commercial developers. MM hmm.
Luckily after November 7, hopefully we won't have to hear from this airbag. Oh yeah and Sal, if you'd like to not rip any more Bolton signs off their stakes to replace them with Strayhorn signs, it would be appreciated. Loser.
