BOR: - John Nau

Gov Race 2010: Fat Cats Empty Pockets For Hutchison

Libby Shaw — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:40:46 GMT

Mesdames et Messieurs, place your bets, if you please. The high stakes gaming season has commenced in earnest for the Texas Election cycle 2010. The winner will take all.

Drinks and meals will be served on a complimentary basis for the duration of the match. If one should need to take a breather from the gaming tables, massage therapy is available, at no charge. We can also arrange golf, tennis, squash or racket ball, or whenever pleases you. Hunting can be arranged, depending upon the season.

If one should be inconvenienced by an off season urge to shoot something or someone we have provided shooting ranges and weapons on the premises for your convenience.

Any other desired form of entertainment or diversion can be provided as requested. We are discreet and ask no questions.

Please make yourselves comfortable and at home. We are here to serve you.
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.

Dawnna Dukes Takes Tens of Thousand of Dollars from "Swift Boat" Republicans

Matt Glazer — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:54:56 GMT

Last night, KVUE News in Austin ran a story exposing the fact that Dawnna Dukes's largest donors are the same Republican moneymen who funded the insulting and offensive 'Swift Boat' ads attacking the honorable military service of John Kerry. Why would they do this? To keep Tom Craddick in power of course.

According to the KVUE News report (a must watch video), "The latest campaign finance reports show Craddick supporters are happy to help Dukes."

In the KVUE piece, Andrew Wheat of the non-partisan good-government group Texans for Public Justice elaborates:

Again, and again, and again, you see the very same people who are giving to Tom Craddick are giving to Dawnna Dukes.

"Again, and again, and again, you see the very same people who are giving to Tom Craddick are giving to Dawnna Dukes," said Andrew Wheat of Texans for Public Justice, an organization that studies the influence of money in politics.

Democratic primary voters in House District 46 need to know that Rep. Dukes is being funded by the same Republican moneymen who funded the 'Swift Boat' campaign and continue to give millions of dollars to the Republican Party of Texas, Tom Craddick, and Rick Perry.

According to documents filed with the Texas Ethics Commission, some of Rep. Dukes's largest contributors include the following Republicans and corporate interests:

Bob Perry - The largest Republican donor in Texas, who contributed more than $4,000,000 to the Swift Boat attack ads
Harold Simmons - The largest importer of nuclear waste in Texas who also gave more than $3,000,000 to the Swift Boat attack ads
Hillco - A Republican lobby shop and PAC closely allied with Speaker Craddick. According to this report from TPJ, Hillco was a conduit for Bob Perry money making its way to Craddick D's.
Bill Miller - A lobbyist who has served on Speaker Craddick's transition team and acted as Speaker Craddick's spokesperson during the previous Speaker's race.
John Nau - A Perry appointee who joined the Governor, voucher proponent Jim Leininger, and right-wing ideologue Grover Norquist, on Governor Perry's infamous yachting trip to the Bahamas - has given hundreds of thousands to Republican politicians and causes.

By her own admission, some of Rep. Dukes's largest donors are Republicans who gave more than $7 million to fund the disgusting Swift Boat attack ads against John Kerry. If she will take money from these Republican moneymen, are there any Republicans Dawnna Dukes won't take money from?

Brian Thompson has been endorsed by the Texas Progressive Alliance and we encourage you to fight the Republican money by donating today and volunteering your time.

Cornyn Names Corrupt Neo-Con to Campaign

Matt Glazer — Wed, 02 May 2007 00:07:00 GMT

In the wake of rumors that John Cornyn will be appointed as Attorney General, Cornyn announced his finance team.

The 2008 re-election campaign will be head by ultra-conservative, anti-tax at all cost, John Nau. Nau is currently the director of the Texas Historic Commission (who has a bill on the floor this week that is holding parks hostage). Nau is also a director of the Leininger funded Texas Public Policy Foundation.

In other words, he makes Grover Norquist look rational. Ok, that's not possible, but you get the point.

Speaking of Norquist, TPJ points out that Nau and Norquist helped DeLay launch the K Street project. Good choice Cornyn. Good. Choice.

According to QR, the other co-chairs include:

Major finance co-chairs include Bob Rowling in Dallas, Kit Moncrief in Ft. Worth, John Schweitzer in Austin, Ned Holmes in Houston, John Steen in San Antonio, Herb Wade in Central Texas, Bill Harley, Gaylord Hughey and Whit Riter in East Texas, Sam Susser on the Gulf Coast, Granger MacDonald in the Hill Country, Clyde Seibman in North Texas, Four Price in the Panhandle, Nick Serafy in South Texas, and Robert Brown in El Paso.

We will obviously look into the rest of these individuals, but the old saying is, "the character of a man can be determined by the quality of the friends he keeps."

Leininger, DeLay, Norquist, Nau, Bush, Gonzales... out of touch? Yes.