An Open Letter to the Texas Republican House Committee: Your Rally Was Pathetic

by: Phillip Martin

Mon Sep 14, 2009 at 10:39 AM CDT

Dear Staff of the Texas Republican House Committee,

Your insurance company rally on Saturday was pretty pathetic.

That shouldn't be surprising -- you're rallying to maintain the status quo and let big insurance companies increase the premiums and unfairly deny people their health care based on pre-existing conditions, which is only one of the least popular ideas anywhere right now.

I was the only person (other than Glenn Smith) to attend both the BOR event last Thursday night and your crappy event on Saturday. Let's compare your rain-soaked event with the one BOR had:

I have video from the event  -- lots of it, in fact  -- but I may hold off on posting that for a little bit. In the mean time, let me ask some basic questions about how you define a "success" -- I mean, even from a purely political perspective, it was an abject failure:

• This was co-hosted by the Republican Party of Texas, with Tina Benkiser in attendance; you created a website, a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and you only got 75-100 people there -- that's what you define as success?

• You are the Texas Republican House Committee.....the supposed counter to the proven and successful House Democratic Camaign Committee.....and not a single House Republican shows up to speak at your rally -- that's what you define as success?
  
  
• Speaking of Tina Benkiser, this is really the position of your party?
  

  The purpose of the rally was to tell those in town for a meeting of the Democratic National Committee to, as Texas Republican Party Chairwoman Tina Benkiser put it, "crawl back to the left-wing socialist pit they came from and keep their hands off Texas."

That's it? I stood in the rain for two-and-a-half hours to hear several dozen supporters chant "Hands Off Texas" -- and the best speaker you had was former State Rep. (and certified Looney Tune) Suzanna Hupp??!?!! Come on. This isn't even a fair fight! You're the supposed answer to the House Democratic Campaign Committee, not the Student Council of Paint Creek High School.

We're not joking around here, y'all. Texas Democrats are going to take back the State House. We have a proven record of success. Each and every year, you convince people like Paul Burka that Republicans are going to have a good year, and each and every time -- in 2004, 2006, 2008, and the special elections in between -- Democrats keep winning. At some point, the press will remember that clear history of victory, and they'll look at how promising and effective the HDCC is and how pathetic and embarrassing you are, and they'll understand why Texas Democrats are going to take back the House in 2010.

For now, though, keep convincing yourself of your own success. Talk a great game. Talk about fascism and socialism. Rally against the President telling your kids to stay in school. Stand up and defend the status quo of big insurance companies denying health care to Texans based on pre-existing conditions.

Just next time, try to stay out of the rain -- and remember that using the excuse of rain and flash flood warnings is a good way to get out of a pathetic attempt at political organization.

Tea Party Bus Company Was Involved in the Death of 23 Seniors During Hurricane Rita Evacuation

by: Phillip Martin

Wed Sep 09, 2009 at 07:56 AM CDT

One of the featured corporate sponsors of the Tea Party Express had to pay millions of dollars to settle lawsuits for its role in a bus fire that killed 23 elderly nursing home residents fleeing Hurricane Rita in 2005.

  Photo by Matt Slocum, AP.

That lead paragraph is from Lindsay Beyerstein's post at Obsidian Wings: Tea bagger bus company sued over blaze that killed 23 seniors. What exactly did the bus company do? From Beyerstein's report:

Investigators later found that the bus was: driven by an undocumented migrant without a valid U.S. driver's license, lacking adequate fire extinguishers, and not licensed to operate in Texas. When the bus had mechanical problems before the crash, the driver took it to an unqualified mechanic who failed to notice the critical fault--an unlubricated axle that eventually melted and burst into flame. 

Let's connect all the dots -- and again, all sources are to Beyerstein's excellent reporting:

• BusBank hired Global Limo, even though "the subcontractor had a long record of federal and state safety violations, had entered bankruptcy, and was being sued/" (Source)
  
  
• Global Limo's owner Jim Maples listed Global Charters as his employer when he gave $5000 to the RNC in 2004. (Source)
  

Bus company guilty in Rita evacuation deaths

23 nursing home residents died; jury says fleet poorly maintained

The company that owned a bus that exploded during last year’s Hurricane Rita evacuation, killing 23 nursing home residents, was found guilty Tuesday of conspiring to falsify logs and poorly maintaining its fleet.

The company’s owner, James Maples, was acquitted on the conspiracy charge but convicted of falsifying logs and poorly maintaining the fleet.

The trial stemmed from a federal investigation into a Global Limo Inc. bus that exploded and burned while stuck in traffic on Sept. 23, 2005, killing elderly patients too frail to escape. The patients’ oxygen tanks exploded as the flames engulfed the bus.

According to Beyerstein:

BusBank's legal troubles are far from over, according to one report, more lawsuits are getting underway this month. The firm filed for bankruptcy in Delaware in August. 

And bringing it all back home, we go back to Beyerstein one more time:

The BusBank, a Chicago-based charter company, a "Tour Partner" of the Tea Party Express, a rolling protest sponsored by the Our Country Deserves Better PAC under the supervision of former Republican state legislator Howard Kaloogian, now a PR exec for the GOP-linked firm Russo, Marsh & Rogers.

BusBank is also arranging to ferry Tea Baggers to their 9/12 march on Washington to voice their demands for unfettered capitalism.

To recap:

Republicans are fanning the flames of fear and spreading lies for their Pro-Insurance-Company-Secession tour, in an effort to scare senior citizens into opposing Obama's health care plan -- while hiring a bus company that was so irresponsible it led to the death of twenty-three senior citizens.

Rick Perry & the RPT Bury Their Heads in the Sand

by: Phillip Martin

Fri Mar 13, 2009 at 02:06 PM CDT

Republican Party of Texas Executive Director Eric Opiela has his head buried so far in the sand that I don't know whether to criticize him or celebrate his ignorance -- after all, the more that Texas Republicans want to follow the lead of Rick Perry, Kay Bailey Hutchison, John Cornyn, and Pete Sessions, the better the chances that Texas Democrats will continue to win elections across the state.

Paul Burka posted an e-mail from the RPT about the voter ID hearings earlier this week. It read:

We expected and prepared for anything at yesterday’s Senate hearing on Voter ID legislation. Let me tell you — the liberal Democrats in Austin did not disappoint on that front. Hundreds of concerned Texans showed up as early as 7 a.m. on Tuesday morning expecting to provide oral or written testimony on this important issue. Unfortunately, the response from Democrat senators was not very welcoming.

That’s right! Rather than taking time to listen to personal testimony on incidents of voter fraud in past elections, these Democrats chose delay with their childish rants ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT LONG!

Does it matter that Senate Republicans refused to split the testimony across different days? Nope.

Does it matter that Senate Republicans decided to make this the single most important issue of the session? Nope.

The fringe Republican grassroots own the Texas GOP...and they are willing to put voter ID above every other priority facing Texas voters:

[Republican Senator Tommy Williams] even admitted as much. In today's debate, he said at the 1:20:50 mark of the Senate video:

Senator West: Is this more important than dealing with tuition deregulation?

Senator Williams: Senator West, I believe that it is.

In addition to that, Eric Opiela has picked up on the latest failed piece of Republican conventional wisdom -- that Obama is somehow failing, and the whole country will come flocking back to the Taliban-inspired obstructionism of the Republican Party in the 2010 elections. As he said in the comments on Burka Blog:

For those of you who think some blue revolution is brewing, take note, the RPT still picked up a net 41 seats this year and flipped seven courthouses despite the Obama-centric gains of Democrats nationwide. Guess what, he ain’t on the ballot in 2010 (though with the results thus far of his presidency, I almost wish he was…).

Let's take a look at those results:

These are the facts. And we saw this happen yesterday -- as Governor Rick Perry rejected $555 million in unemployment benefits for his own miscalculated political benefit while, at the same time, Texas Democrats like State Senator Leticia Van de Putte and State Representative Garnet F. Coleman pursued responsible legislation.

Keep that head buried in the sand, Eric. You're making my work real easy.

The Republican Party of Texas Demands Ciro Rodriguez Endorse a Presidential Candidate

by: Matt Glazer

Sat Apr 19, 2008 at 00:21 PM CDT

The press release simply titled, 'Ciro Rodriguez Should Step Up to the Plate:
Time for Democratic Superdelegate to Say Whom He Supports" is one of the most libelous releases I have read in some time. That's right, libelous.  Why?

Congressman Rodriguez (TX-23), a superdelegate who's been elusive in his support of Barack Obama as the Democratic presidential nominee, has been called on to denounce Sen. Obama's statement...

After hours of searching this week and requests into multiple offices, it doesn't appear Ciro Rodriguez has expressed his presidential preference.  How then can Congressman Rodriguez denounce a person he hasn't endorsed?  Let's go one step further, why is the Republican Party inserting itself into our Democratic primary and demanding a Democratic incumbent to endorse either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama.

Hans Klingler continues to write press releases blindly attacking Democrats that simply don't make sense.  Klingler and the Republican Party out of touch with the reality of the current political climate.  

It already looks like Lyle Larson has no chance to defeat Congressman Rodriguez.  Rodriguez has nearly $1 million cash on hand while Larson has about $150,000.  Maybe that is the reason the Republican Party feels the need to insert themselves in the Democratic process.  

Rodriguez has the support of his district, from Democrats and non-partisan groups across the country, earning a perfect score from the National Education Association, the Children's Defense Fund, National Association of Social Workers, and many more.  Maybe, if the Republicans understood the needs of the people they wouldn't have to libel a sitting Congressmen. Maybe if they could field a legitimate challenger, they could get them to attack the Congressman.  Maybe Hans Klingler is just a useless communications director who would rather accuse, attack and scare than debate the facts.

The last one seems the most likely.

Talmadge Heflin: A Closer Look

by: Matt Glazer

Tue Jul 31, 2007 at 09:47 AM CDT

Helfin’s hiring is a strong signal to the people of Texas, give big bucks or continue to be ignored by the Grand Old Party.

“The hiring of twice defeated Talmadge Heflin provides indisputable proof that the Republican Party is way out of step with Texas voters,” said Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie. 

“When Heflin had to choose between making the special interests pay their fair share or cutting the heart of the state budget, Heflin cut 200,000 children off of CHIP, forced students to use out of date textbooks in classrooms, and proposed a tax on groceries.” Richie recalled. “After Heflin’s failure as Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee in 2003, the voters who knew him best said ‘no’ to misplaced Republican priorities.”

Yesterday we alluded to the fact that Heflin was immediately tapped by good friend James Leininger to work at the conservative think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation. 

Since leaving the Texas House, Heflin has been an odd figure. In 2004, he took his defeat to the Texas House nearly instigating a bitter partisan battle.  He then applied to become director of the Texas Lottery Comission (he hadn’t miss used state funds enough in is career as a state legislator) but withdrew the application to try and regain his House seat.  After hundreds of thousands of dollars, the people of Houston went from barely electing Hubert Vo in 2004 (he won by just 16 votes) to re-electing Vo by nearly 2,000 votes in 2006.

What did the Republican Party do with this overwhelming mandate?  This is the man that ended up becoming their executive director.

The best part of Heflin’s legacy is his literal attempt to steal a baby away from his loving parents.

Heflin also gained attention in 2004 for a custody battle over a then 20-month-old boy whose African immigrant mother once lived in Talmadge's home. Heflin and his wife contended the boy's mother took little interest in the child and often left him in their care. The woman disagreed, saying the Heflins simply watched the child while she found a job outside their home.

A district court judge ruled the Heflins had no standing in the case, dismissed their request to keep temporary custody of the child and ordered the boy returned to his mother.

All this and Heflin’s bizarre position to challenging our fighting men and women’s right to vote.

Yesterday we joked around about Heflin’s appointment to the Republican Party, but Heflin could seriously harm Texans.  He is known for taking babies from families, caving to special interest, refusing to allow people to vote, and ignoring sound public policy so he can implement strange ideology.

Heflin is a symbol for everything wrong with the Republican Party, and now he is directing its future.

Republican Party Taps Heflin as New Director

by: Matt Glazer

Mon Jul 30, 2007 at 11:43 AM CDT

“Talmadge Heflin has over twenty five years of conservative leadership and experience as both a leader in the Texas Legislature and a businessman. This background will be invaluable in helping lead the team of political professionals we have assembled who will lead Republicans to victory in 2008 at the Republican Party of Texas,” said Tina Benkiser, Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas.

This is a perfect fit for the Republican Party and we wanted to suggest a few other key offices they might want to fill:

Staff:

Arlene Wohlgemuth - Vice Chair
Gene Seaman - Ethics Adviser/Property Manager
Tom DeLay - Fundraiser/Finance director (with Jim Ellis, Warren Robold, and John Colyandor assisting him)
Tom Craddick - Rules Committee Director
Debbie Riddle - Communications Director
George Antuna - Asst. Comm. Director
Mark Foley - Student Outreach/Campus Recruitment
George Allen - Minority Recruitment

Special Projects:

Mike Krusee - Toll Director
Warren Chisum - Marriage Protector Director
Ron Wilson - Convention Parliamentarian
Bill Zedler - Court Jester/Comedian
Al Edwards - RPT Cheerleader

The Price of Victory: $392 & A Congressman

by: Sam Jones

Fri Feb 16, 2007 at 05:28 PM CST

Republican Party of Texas: Defending the Faith - Worshipping the Flag

by: jelyon

Sat Jul 22, 2006 at 09:50 PM CDT

Can't you just hear her thinking "I promise to do my duty in love and loyalty to the President and our Flag"?

It reminds me of other classic propaganda...

RPT Moves DeLay TRO into Federal Court

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Fri Jun 16, 2006 at 08:31 PM CDT

Yesterday, the Republican Party of Texas filed a Notice to Remove in state court which automatically moved the issue of replacing former Congressman Tom DeLay on the November ballot into federal court.

Democrats had obtained a Temporary Restraining Order on June 9th preventing the convening of electors in the four counties in CD22. The TRO effectively prevented Republicans from choosing a replacement for DeLay on the November ballot.

According to RPT attorney James Bopp, the relocation into federal court was automatic and required no hearing.

The TDP responds.

"The issue here has nothing to do with State Court or Federal Court. The problem with DeLay’s parting scheme is more fundamental: it's illegal.

"Tom Delay and the Republican Party willfully and intentionally conspired to run a bogus primary to allow DeLay to raise funds for his legal defense, hoping to use state law to have a handful of party bosses hand pick their nominee instead of the voters.

"If the Republicans really cared about giving the voters a choice, they would have asked their Governor to call a special election instead of leaving DeLay's seat vacant for six months, and they would have never let Tom DeLay dictate this illegal scheme. As a matter of precedent, Texas voters cannot allow political parties to "move" congressional candidates out of Texas when they look like a loser so they can find a better candidate."

RPT Fails With 1st Howard Attack Ad

by: Phillip Martin

Mon Feb 06, 2006 at 06:46 PM CST

Why is this ad such a failure? Because when the second high school proposal came out, Karl Rove, Maragaret LaMontagne (now Maragret Spellings, President Bush's Secretary of Education), and Karen Hughes all agreed with Howard. In fact, it was Jerry Hughes (Karen's husband) that made a motion to build a second Eanes high school in the first place. Not only did those three Republican leaders agree with Howard, they signed a letter of support (PDF) for a second high school.

What does all this mean? It's politics as usual for the Republican Party of Texas, which means pulling out dirty smear campaigns to try and taint the only candidate in the HD 48 race that will put people ahead of politics.

Be sure to visit Donna Howard's website to support a candidate that wants to stop playing politics as usual and start delivering real improvements to our public schools.