The Texas Republican Party is on a mean-spirited, heartless and cruel mission of SLASHeconomics that is unnecessary and uncalled for. It is blindly cutting the budgets for schools and social services with absolutely no regard for the devastating long term consequences of such cuts.
Rick Perry and his far right Republicans refuse to touch the Rainy Day money for next year's budget though this is precisely the time in which we should tap into such funds. Instead the Republicans have chosen to stockpile the money and rob children of their futures.
Outside of the box thinking, complex problem solving, the ability to explore creative and unique alternatives and a modicum of compassion are called for during dire and desperate economic times like these.
Are Texas Republican lawmakers made of the right stuff to lead? Is it capable of throwing away its memorized talking point campaign rhetoric, forget about its Obamacare and federal government bashing monologues, dismiss its highly paid message masters, unglue its lips from its sugar daddy donor's backsides and engage its collective brain to do what is right and work on behalf of all Texans?
Let's take a peek at the legislation proposed in Austin so far by the super majority Party.
Readers can decide whether or not Republican lawmakers are made of the right stuff.
While public corruption in Texas has been most noticeably tied to the Republican Party in recent years, we should not stand for it no matter what Party it appears in. Today, Democratic State Representative Terri Hodge of HD-100 announced that she will plead guilty to a felony charge for failing to report personal income on her taxes. Her statement is below.
"I have reached an agreement with the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas whereby I will enter a plea of guilty to one criminal charge alleging that I made false statements by failing to report income on my personal tax returns. I freely admit that I violated the federal income tax laws in this regard, and I am prepared and willing to accept the consequences of my actions.
"As a result of my guilty plea to a criminal tax violation, I will not be able to continue to serve in the Texas House of Representatives. Therefore, I cannot in good conscience continue to seek reelection and I believe that the only appropriate action for me to take is to immediately terminate all of my campaign activities. I will immediately begin the process of closing the affairs of my district office in an orderly manner, and will resign my seat in the Texas House of Representatives effective at the time I am sentenced by the court.
"I want to take this opportunity to express my remorse to my colleagues in the Legislature, my friends, and my family for my actions. Most of all, I want to apologize to all the citizens of District 100 for letting them down. It has been an honor to serve you for these last 14 years and I am truly sorry that my actions will prevent me from providing a voice for you in the Legislature. My prayer is that my successor will stand up and fight for the people of our District in the future."
Hodge plans to close down her office and resign from office at the time of sentencing. This will leave her name on the primary ballot along with Eric Johnson who has been running an aggressive campaign and had posted good fundraising numbers prior to this announcement. There is a risk that she could still be elected in the primary but her guilty plea would disqualify her from the November ballot, kicking the decision to replace the party's nominee to the districts' precinct chairs.
Currently there is no Republican candidate filed in HD-100.
Eric Johnson, who is challenging Democratic incumbent Terri Hodge in House District 100 in Dallas, picked up the endorsement of District Attorney Craig Watkins in a press release this morning.
The endorsement announcement coincides with the Statesman's Jason Embry declaring Hodge, whose federal bribery trial is scheduled for next year, to be the most endangered Texas house incumbent in next March's party primaries.
However, many would disagree with Hodge being number one on that list and Embry concedes that the long time incumbent's campaign is "far from dead." Hodge still retains the support of U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson and County Commissioner John Wiley Price. To be sure though, Johnson, who raised $100,000 in 100 days, is the most serious opponent Hodge has faced in years.
While endorsements are important at this stage of the race to build credibility, Johnson himself told the DMN's Gromer Jeffers, "Endorsements don't vote. People vote. We're going straight to the people of District 100 for their support."
Eric Johnson, a Dallas attorney who is challenging incumbent Terri Hodge in the Democratic primary, raised over $60,000 from over 300 individuals from June 5 to June 30, according to a campaign press release.
Hodge is currently on trial for bribery charges but maintains her innocence. Despite her legal troubles, she remains popular with Democratic activists within her district and Johnson will face an uphill battle if she is found not guilty.
When Johnson announced his campaign last month, Gromer Jeffer Jr. of the Dallas Morning news noted that more candidates would be likely to enter the race "if things don't go Hodge's way" in the trial.
