Burnt Orange Report

Texas Dem Congressional Delegation Calls for Cancellation of State Lobbying Contract

By Damon McCullar

Surprise, surprise, there seems to be a connection between the K Street Project and the Governor's mansion. The K Street Project is/was a DeLay/Abramoff scheme to get the lobbying companies that populates Washington's K street to only do business with Congressional Republicans.

In today's Statesman, the Texas Democratic Congressional delegation called on Gov. Perry to cancel a contract with Todd Boulanger and his firm. It has come to light that the state has awarded a $330,000 contract to represent the states interest on legislation. Todd Boulanger is a close contact of Jack Abramoff, who has plead guilty to charges that he defrauded clients.

The Dems argue that Todd Boulanger and Co worked exclusively for Republicans and that the company duplicates the job that what the state's seven-person state-federal relations staff in Washington is already paid to do through state taxpayer dollars. They conclude that these contracts are waste of taxpayer money.

According to Congressman Doggett (D-Austin) Texas is the only state that hires outside lobbying firms and that the money is just kickbacks to DeLay/Abramoff machine.

The Bryan-College Station Eagle is carrying an AP report that indicats that the contract to Cassidy & Associates (Todd Boulanger's lobbying firm) might have been a no-bid contract (why does the government love these so much?).

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bob Gammage added to the chorus of criticism Wednesday, saying the Office of State-Federal Relations operated fine for years using its state employees without putting private lobby firms on retainer.

"I don't think we need to line the pockets of our cronies," said Gammage, who's been accusing Perry of being part of a "corrupt political machine" stretching from Texas to Washington.

Democrat Chris Bell, also a candidate for governor, had a similar view, saying that when it comes to ethics Perry "just doesn't get it."

"Apparently Rick Perry has a much higher tolerance for corruption than everyone else in the country," Bell said.

It's still too early to tell what the fallout from the scandal will be but it seems that this cancer in Washington has deep roots. We are probably at the tip of the iceberg in this scandal.

State Lobbyist Once Worked Closely With Abramoff

By Vince Leibowitz

Todd Boulanger, a lobbyist representing Texas's interests (or, at least, the Republican's interests) in Washington has deep ties to Jack Abramoff, according to a story in Tuesday's Houston Chronicle:

Boulanger was a member of what was known as "Team Abramoff" while working at the law firm of Preston, Gates & Ellis, and he followed Abramoff when he moved to Greenberg Traurig LLP. Then in March 2004, they both moved to Cassidy & Associates.

Along with Abramoff, Boulanger was a registered lobbyist for Indian tribes in Mississippi, Michigan and Louisiana, as well as the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. The Mississippi and Louisiana tribes wanted to halt expansion of Indian gaming in Texas because it competed with their casinos.

Boulanger and his current firm, Cassidy & Associates, were hired by the Texas Office of State-Federal Relations under a $330,000 contract. Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick sit on the advisory policy board for that state office.

It's the second time the state has hired as a congressional lobbyist someone with connections to controversies surrounding former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land.

Texas House Democratic Caucus Chairman Jim Dunnam (D-Waco) had this to say on the subject:

"It's cronyism at its worst...All these guys are connected to one another....What do we have 32 congressmen for? They are up there to advocate for the best interests of the state of Texas? The governor definitely ought to cancel that contract."

Though Boulanger has not been accused of wrongdoing in the Abramoff investigation, Abramoff pleaded guilty this month to ethics charges.

Boulanger has been linked to Abramoff and DeLay's inner circle for years, according to published reports. DeLay's former chief of staff, Tony Rudy, reportedly introduced Boulanger to his wife, Jessica, who also worked on DeLay's staff. Jessica Boulanger now is the press secretary of Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, who is campaigning to replace DeLay as majority leader.