| Clay Roberson, political writer for The Houston Chronicle, recently wrote a piece: "Big donors shifting to Hutchison." Roberon's article reveals the harsh reality of the curse of pay-to-play politics in Texas.
We the little people are in trouble again, folks. The fat cats are lining up big time to buy themselves a governor whom they believe will best serve them. It looks like Kay Bailey is winning this beauty contest over Rick Perry.
Beer distributor John Nau of Houston, who has given Perry almost $200,000 during his eight years as governor, is state finance chairman for Hutchison's exploratory committee, preparing for an anticipated challenge of the governor in next year's primary.
Other longtime Perry donors signing recent fundraising letters for the senator include Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane, Houston investor Ned Holmes and oil and gas investor Louis Beecherl of Dallas, each of whom has given the governor more than $200,000 since 2001.
"We thought of a lot of these folks as Kay people even as they were supporting Perry," said Todd Olsen, a spokesman for the senator's committee.
The fat cats who currently have interests before the Legislature don't want their identities revealed because Perry would likely get angry and retaliate with his veto pen.
Presumably, many of Hutchison's supporters will have interests before the Legislature, and the longer they can remain undercover, the longer their issues may survive. Perry's veto deadline over legislation, however, won't be until mid-June, a few weeks after lawmakers adjourn.
So, what interests do the fat cats have before the Legislature? What fresh hell do these "interests" mean for everyday Texans?
Check out the Perry donors who now favor Hutchison:
Other Perry donors who have allowed themselves to be "outed" on Hutchison fundraising letters include Dian Owen Stai of Abilene, a retired businesswoman who had invested $179,000 in the governor, and Windy Sitton , a former mayor of Lubbock and Perry appointee to the Texas Tech University Board of Regents.
Uh Oh. It looks like the fix is in for Hutchison.
Jocelyn "Joci" Straus of San Antonio, the mother of Joe Straus, the next Texas House speaker, is a longtime friend of Sen. Hutchison and co-signed a funds solicitation message recently sent to potential Hutchison donors in the San Antonio area.
Although the Republican Party has been spurned by the vast majority of voters throughout the U.S., Texas remains a safe haven for the fat cats to buy whatever, whomever, whenever.
Sadly for Texas we have far too many low information voters and low voter turnout thanks to apathy, ignorance and/or disenfranchisement. On Election Day I had phone banked for Rick Noriega. I must admit that I was surprised by the lack of voting knowledge of some of those I called in the Lubbock area. Several folks did not realize Election Day was the last day they could vote. Others did not know where to vote or if they could vote at all. Sadly, two or three were handicapped and house bound with few resources available to them. Getting out to vote was too overwhelming a task.
Shame on the Secretary of State for doing such a horrible job of properly informing the public about voting procedures. People should not have to jump through hoops to get some basic information, like where to vote. And where are community based outreach programs in which the elderly and handicapped can be driven to and assisted at the polls?
And shame on the disgracefully politicized Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, too. That place grew so corrupt under Alberto Gonzales that Bradley J. Schlozman, former head of the Civil Rights Division in the DOJ may be prosecuted for criminal misconduct. Check out the story on Daily Kos.
In case any Republican should think this is a ginned up witch hunt led by liberals, the report damning Schlozman was issued by the DOJ itself, under Republican control.
It is well about time some justice comes out of the Justice Dept.
Check out the stand up dude who was supposed to be safeguarding civil rights.
For example, in an e-mail on July 15, 2003, to a former colleague, Schlozman wrote, "I too get to work with mold spores, but here in Civil Rights, we call them Voting Section attorneys." As part of the same e-mail exchange, on July 16, 2003, Schlozman wrote, "My tentative plans are to gerrymander all of those crazy libs rights out of the section." In addition, while interim U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Missouri, Schlozman wrote an e-mail to a friend, dated June 15, 2006, contrasting his job as U.S. Attorney with his position in the Civil Rights Division. He wrote:
It has been months since I felt the need to scream with a blood-curdling cry at some commie, partisan subordinate (i.e., most of the [Voting] section staff until recently). And I feel like the people I now work with are all complete professionals. What a weird change. Granted, these changes are nice in many respects, but bitch-slapping a bunch of [Division] attorneys really did get the blood pumping and was even enjoyable once in a while. I think now it's all Good Cop for folks there. I much preferred the role of Bad Cop..... But perhaps the Division will name an award for me or something. How about the Brad Schlozman Award for Most Effectively Breaking the Will of Liberal Partisan Bureaucrats. I would be happy to come back for the awards ceremony.
If Brad Boy goes back to Washington I don't think it will be for an award.
Under Schlozman's influence, the voting rights division neglected civil rights in favor of upholding discriminatory laws and pursuing bogus allegations of voter fraud that were used to purge voting roles.
To read more about the racist hate monger check out Raw Story.com
Thanks to the efforts of an anti-voting rights Secretary of State and scum bags like Scholzman, the deep pocketed fat cats and their pimped out politicians, low information voters will believe the ads they see on TV, even if they are riddled with blatant lies and misleading information. They will inevitably receive campaign flyers that scare, mislead or threaten them. The Texas Republican Party has been tireless in its efforts to set up obstacle after obstacle to make it difficult for certain folks to vote. Voter rolls are purged with little regard for the legality of the act.
This is how we get stuck with politicians time after time who will continue to work around the clock against our very own interests.
Kay Bailey Hutchison like Joe Straus will look good and speak softly and courteously. But like Delay and Craddick, this lady will work for her sugar daddies. And so will her dear close friend Joe. Make no bones about it folks. Hutchison's voting and track record in Washington proves it.
Kay Bailey Hutchison voted with the worst and most unpopular U.S. President in history 97% of the time. She hosted fundraisers for her dear friend, Tom Delay whose own Party ran out of D.C. on a rail.
When asked by Clay Roberson during the 2006 U.S. Senatorial debate about the war with Iraq, Hutchison responded: "
Clay if I knew then what I know now, I would have never voted to go to war with Iraq.
Immediately upon returning to Washington, KBH voted for W.'s surge.
As we know from Sarah Palin, a politician can attempt to hide or soften one's image by wearing expensive designer clothes, dazzling jewelry, speaking softly and behaving courteously. One can also use a lot of heavy foundation and lipstick to hide what lies underneath whether it is cold, cruel and cynical harshness, contempt, or in Palin's case, vacuous ignorance and narcissism.
Voters should be wary of what lies beneath a politician's façade. We must never forget the words spewed above by Brad Scholzman. Republicans hate liberals who care about the needs of people. And they hate the people's right to vote.
Because of no limits on campaign contributions, the fat cats can continue to put hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of lipstick on an awful lot of pigs.
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