So why is it such a big deal for Greg Abbott if he succeeds in keeping the primary on April 3, or as early as possible before the Republican presidential nomination is totally sewn up? Perry's not in the race anymore, so what does it matter? The answer lies in Abbott's own future ambitions here in Texas, and his desire to serve the wealthy big-money donors who fund pro-corporate Republicans here in Texas.
Abbott needs to keep a unified primary on the highest-turnout date possible, to make sure Dewhurst wins--as well as the incumbent Republican Congressmen and State Senators--to please the big-money donors that will likely back Abbott when Perry decides he's not running for Governor again.
The Texas Republican Party is primarily dominated by extremely wealthy corporate interests, who in turn want to keep Republicans in office that serve their wishes, rather than the whims of the Tea Party. It costs money to campaign in Texas, and whether you're playing by the FEC's rules or the TEC's, in a state this big if you can't raise real money you won't get too far. In the ongoing Senate primary, Dewhurst is clearly the candidate of the big-bucks donors who backed Rick Perry's gubernatorial and presidential campaigns. While Dewhurst and Cruz both raised similar amounts of money in the last quarter ($1.5M and $1.1M respectively), and both have raised close to $4 million overall, Dewhurst's average donation is over $2000 (and remember, donors are hampered by limits of $2500 per donor, meaning that most of The Dew's donors are maxing out). Meanwhile, Cruz's average donation is a much more modest $319. It's a testament to Cruz's support from the right-wing grassroots / Tea Party / YCT sector of the Texas Republican Party. The big donors are opening their wallets for Abbott as well, who has over $10 million in the bank and raked in $1.6 million during a 10-day period in early 2011, unfettered by individual donor contribution limits. The AG has made it quietly clear that he plans to seek the top spot in the state, but first he's got to dispatch with Dewhurst to be next in line.
So what does the primary date have to do with anything?
(Please welcome Texas Watch, an excellent consumer advocacy and citizen engagement organization. They recently released a jaw-dropping report on the SCOTX you need to know about. - promoted by Katherine Haenschen)
The Texas Supreme Court has a long history of favoring corporate defendants over families and small businesses, according to a decade-long review of the Court’s decision making by Court Watch, a project of the non-profit Texas Watch Foundation.
Court Watch reviewed the 624 cases involving consumers decided by the Court between 2000 and 2010. The report, “Thumbs on the Scale: A Retrospective of the Texas Supreme Court, 2000-2010,” finds that the state’s high court for civil matters “has marched in lock-step to consistently and overwhelmingly reward corporate defendants and the government at the expense of Texas families.”
“The Texas Supreme Court is an activist, results-oriented body that over the last 10 years has developed into a safe haven for corporate defendants at the expense of individuals, families, and small business owners,” said Alex Winslow, director of Court Watch. “The statistics speak for themselves. The court’s pro-defendant ideology can not be disputed.”
Among the report’s findings are:
Corporate and government defendants prevail in an average of 74% of cases annually.
Consumers have lost 79% of cases in which they were pitted against a corporate or government defendant.
These findings lead Court Watch to conclude: “The Texas Supreme Court has become a reliable friend to those who seek to escape the consequences of their actions; its justices are the ultimate guardians for the moneyed and powerful who wish to shirk responsibility.”
The report focuses on the decade beginning in 2000 because it reflects a paradigm shift. In 2000, Rick Perry became governor. His appointees to the Court have taken it in a decidedly activist and ideological turn.
Justices appointed to the Court by Governor Rick Perry have sided with consumers an average of just 29% of the time.
Despite a constitutional provision limiting its jurisdiction to questions of law – not fact – the Court has routinely overturned decisions made by local juries. Even Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson admonished the Court in a 2004 dissenting opinion, writing: “This Court is constitutionally bound to conduct only a legal – not factual – sufficiency review.”
Texas Supreme Court has overturned local jury decisions in consumer cases an average of 74% of the time since 2004.
Court Watch writes that “The jury is our smallest, most direct, and least corrupted form of government. … However, the Texas Supreme Court has displayed a fundamental disregard for juries.”
Court Watch has been monitoring and reporting on the Texas Supreme Court and the impact its decisions have on Texas families since 1996. During that time, Court Watch has issued an annual list of the most anti-consumer cases of a given year. In keeping with that tradition, this report includes a “Dirty Dozen of the Decade,” a representative sampling of the most dangerous, far-reaching decisions made by the Texas Supreme Court during the last decade.
(Great post from Back to Basics PAC, who continue to hammer on Perry's abuse of the public trust and our tax dollars. - promoted by Katherine Haenschen)
Rick Perry did a funny thing yestoday - he actually responded to his critics. In the past few days, our friends at Progress Texas and Democratic Caucus chair Rep. Jessica Farrar called on Perry to pay back the approximately $2,651,429.14 that his presidential campaign burned through in security costs. This confounding sum wasn't paid for by the Perry campaign though - it was your tax dollars. And the Perry campaign's answer?
The Department of Public Safety has a policy of providing security for governors and their families everywhere they travel ... These policies are determined by DPS and not the governor's office.
Apparently, it was also the policy of longtime Perry ally and civil liberties foe Steve McCraw to insist on keeping the travel security costs secret. It was so important to keep the public from knowing what was in those records that both Perry and Anita spent time during the June special session pressing for a measure to keep the records sealed for 18 months. In other words, until after the 2012 election. According to an August story from the Washington Post:
One Republican legislator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the governor as "extremely concerned" about keeping his records sealed, and said Perry was actively lobbying key legislators to get it passed in the waning days of the special session. The legislator said Perry's wife, Anita, also was pressing legislators on the issue.
But Perry didn't have to stick Texas taxpayers with the bill for his security. Presidential campaigns typically pay for private security services. Or he could have requested Secret Service protection, as former candidate Herman Cain did in November 2011. Although he may not have met the requirements for protection - the law stipulates that a candidate must have "national prominence," along with other qualifying factors.
So what was that security money spent on exactly, and was it worth it to fulfill Rick Perry's calling? Maybe we'll find out - after the election.
State Representative Jessica Farrar (D-Houston) asked Governor Perry to pay back the state over $2.6 million in tax payer funded security expenses accrued during his ill-fated run for the Republican presidential nomination. She has also requested he repay the $92,376 pension he earned last year for the simple reason that he is not (sadly) yet retired.
Here is the full text of her letter:
Dear Governor Perry:
I want to be the first person to welcome you back to Texas. We have a lot of work to do for our great state, and I know you are ready to get started.
I have a few ideas as to where we should begin our work, but first I want to make a confession to you, and it's a big one. Okay, here it goes: I... am a fiscal conservative. Yes, I admit it.
As a fiscal conservative, I believe government is supposed to be a wise steward of tax dollars. I believe that if the government must spend money, it should be for essential public services, like education, infrastructure, health services for the young and elderly, and disaster relief. I believe that unnecessary government spending is not just morally wrong, it is criminal. Tax dollars do not belong to the government or elected officials; tax dollars belong to taxpayers.
One way to protect taxpayers' money is by not spending it unnecessarily. But, if someone discovers tax dollars have been spent unnecessarily, it should be reimbursed either to general revenue or directly to taxpayers. With this in mind, I suggest you reimburse Texas taxpayers for the money you spent on travel expenses leading up to your withdraw from the GOP primary race. As of mid-January, you spent approximately $2.6 million of taxpayer money.
Additionally, because I know you take pride in being a fellow fiscal conservative, please also return the $92,376 in "retirement" pension you received last year, despite the fact that you have not retired.
Please submit to the Texas Comptroller's Office a check in the amount of $2,692,376, plus any other expenses related to your out-of-state campaign activity that you charged to Texas taxpayers.
Given that $2,692,376 million amounts to about ten cents for each Texan, direct reimbursement from the Comptroller to taxpayers does not seem like a wise expenditure of taxpayers' money - stamps are expensive these days. Instead, we could put that money back into classrooms, health services, or disaster relief services. I am open to your suggestions.
As a fellow fiscal conservative, I look forward to working with you during your final term as Texas governor to identify ways to eliminate unnecessary government spending. We have a lot of work to do, so let's get started before you leave.
Very sincerely,
Jessica Farrar
State Representative, District 148
Remember, a few things happened (wildfires, historic drought, etc) while Perry was embarrassing himself and our state while wasting taxpayers' money during his train wreck of a campaign.
Progress Texas has a petition up here to tell Perry to pay back Texas the taxpayer dollars he wasted “on on airfare, baggage fees, food and even parking during his failed 160 day Presidential campaign.”
Hours before Perry dropped out, the media acquired Texas Democrats' Rick Perry opposition book.
The massive, 500-page book was originally compiled for Bill White's gubernatorial campaign by consultant group Link Strategies.
In it are the shameful details of every scandal Perry has been involved in - sweetened land deals, giving state grants to companies owned by major donors, appointing unqualified friends to state positions, and the list goes on.
Rarely in recent history has a candidate had as extensive a history of corruption as Rick Perry did. To give some context, John McCain's campaign compiled an oppo book on Mitt Romney that clocked in at 200 pages.
Perry had myriad other reasons to drop out of the race today, but the prospect of the media digging through this book must have been another daunting feature on the horizon.
Perry managed to knock himself out of the race even without this book being discovered. His shameful record, approach to politics, and unpreparedness did him in.
Nonetheless, the book is worth looking through as the best, most accurate document of Rick Perry's governorship.
Disclosure: during the 2010 gubernatorial election, I worked as the Communications Coordinator of the Bill White campaign.
$2,651,429.14. That's the estimate of how taxpayer money Texas Governor Rick Perry spent on his 160-day amateur presidential campaign. Here's how we crunched the numbers:
According to records released by the Texas Department of Public Safety and published by the Texas Tribune, we can project Perry’s security costs from the day he officially announced his candidacy (August 13, 2011) to the time he suspended his campaign (January 19, 2012). Here is the total amount of taxpayer dollars spent during the 24-day window for which Texas DPS has released records:
September 5 – September 28 (24 days)
Airfare
$161,786
Baggage fees
$8,140
Food
$50,648.84
Fuel
$6,442.24
Lodging
$112,111.81
Parking
$2,990.26
Rentals
$54,356.65
Other
$1,238.57
TOTAL COSTS
$397,714.37
That gives us one look into the window. But what about the weeks before and after? We can project the costs from August 13 to September 4 and from September 29 to January 19 based on the exact figures we have. Our estimates show Perry’s security costs as follows:
Rick Perry’s Security Travel Costs During his Presidential Campaign
Thankfully, Perry has options: he has nearly 93% of what he owes taxpayers in his state PAC. With $2,471,479.55 in his state account, that means he'd be only $179,949.59 in debt to the taxpayers of Texas -- provided he uses his state account to reimburse the state for his travel, of course. Should Perry run into trouble with the rest of his debt, I'm sure he can tap his new national donor base and the extra money he receives each year from his double-dip of retirement and salary from the job he technically has both retired from and still holds -- Governor of the State of Texas.
With a budget battle looming and conservatives threatening to go through another round of drastic cuts, the $2.65 million Perry owes taxpayers should be repaid immediately.
Reacting to Governor Perry's announcement, U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) said:
"Governor Perry's performance brings to mind the words of Abraham Lincoln, 'What kills a skunk is the publicity it brings itself.' But for Democrats, if not Rick, who better than Newt."
First in our in-box with a post-Perry campaign statement is Rep. Mike Villareal. The San Antonio legislator is a champion of public education here in Texas.
Statement from State Representative Mike Villareal:
"I welcome the Governor back to Texas. I would be happy to fill him in on all the things that he missed while he was gone, from the harm done by his education cuts to the state's struggles for clean air and water. While he was campaigning, students in thousands of elementary schools have been crowded into classrooms that exceed the state's standard class size limit due to education cuts he championed. The state is facing multiple lawsuits because of a school finance system that fails to meet constitutional muster and treats kids unfairly just because of the school district they live in. We are headed towards a second summer of water shortages while the state's water plan is unfunded. We hit #1 among all states for most greenhouse gas emissions. The state has not taken any steps to fill the hole in the revenue system that pays for schools, roads, water, and other essentials. I believe Texas should be leading the way on education and clean air and water, not lagging behind. I'm sure the Governor is ready to get back to work to prevent the state from remaining in worse shape than he found it when he first entered the Governor's Office."
Despite the cold weather, Austin progressives gave a warm welcome to worker-hating Wisconsin governor Scott Walker today in front of the Austin Hilton. Walker was in Austin to speak to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a right-wing group that advances an extremely conservative agenda.
A large crowd of people from labor organizations, progressive groups, and allied organizations showed up at 11:30 to send a message: Scott Walker's anti-worker policies won't be tolerated in Texas! We know what Walker is doing in Wisconsin to teachers, police officers, firefighters, and public employees. We know Walker is slashing funding from higher education and trying to balance the budget on the backs of working people. We don't like it when Republicans do that here in Texas, and we sure don't like it when folks like Scott Walker do it in Wisconsin.
Despite the low temperatures (Wisconsinites, how do you stand it? It was in the 30's here today!!) the crowd was fired up, chanting anti-Walker rhymes across the street from the hotel. At one point, a group of TPPF guests peered from the window. Perhaps they were surprised to see that the 99% actually cares when the 1% tries to stomp out the worker protections and regulations that created the American middle class. Some of the TPPF folks even came down to talk to a few of the protesters.
To the right is TPPF Vice President of Communications Josh Trevino taking in a sign that reads "Unions: the folks who brought you the weekend. Scott Walker: that guy that makes you work the weekend!" If you like having weekends, fair wages, relative income equality, no more child labor, employer-based health coverage, and the family and medical leave act, you have labor unions to thank.
Labor unions work hard to help all workers retain basic protections, and have set standards for workers in the public sector and several unionized industries that in turn have helped all other working folks do better. Labor organizations provide a way for workers to band together and demand fair treatment: living wages, safe working conditions, basic benefits, and a way to seek redress against employers who exploit their workers. I wish every worker, public and private sector alike, had the protections that labor union members receive. Sure, a few CEO's may make a few million dollars less a year, but isn't it worth it for the rest of the 99% to do just a little bit better?
During the rally, organizers, including Becky Moeller, President of the Texas AFL-CIO, at right, reminded the crowd of Scott Walker's close relationship with the Koch brothers, conservative billionaires who fund right-wing and conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, and organizations linked to the Tea Party. The crowd chanted back, "Show me what plutocracy looks like!" "This is what plutocracy looks like!" Scott Walker's administration is certainly what the plutocracy looks like: he serves the leaders of massive corporations that care more about executive profits than their workers. Rather than helping to grow the middle class and give more Americans a chance to these folks push for policies that widen our income inequality and force working families struggle to get by with less and less.
It's no surprise to see many of the current GOP presidential candidates standing up for Walker -- they all want to perpetuate his anti-worker policies on a national level. Walker's denunciation of workers' rights has become a rallying cry for the entire Republican Party.
Here in Texas, progressives watched as Wisconsinites stormed their state capitol last spring to stand up for worker's rights. We cheered as Democrats won two special recall elections to the Senate last fall. Now we're excited to see the citizen-driven effort collect hundreds of thousands of signatures to force a recall election. Walker has been forced to raise over $7 million dollars to combat the effort, half of it coming from people outside of Wisconsin. There's no doubt that the 1% will fight tooth and nail to keep Walker in office.
Wisconsin organizers, what y'all are doing to kick out your failed Governor is inspiring to all of us here in Texas, who wish we had the ability to recall our own disastrous Republican, Rick Perry. We're happy to stand with you in your fight against policies that hurt working folks, and we're inspired by your effort to send a real message to Republicans who pursue rabid union-busting efforts.
Keep up the good work. As far as many of us at the rally today are concerned, the only person in Wisconsin who needs to lose his current job is Scott Walker!
Rick Perry's campaign has been such a disaster that he's not even going to this week's "conservative leaders" retreat... and it's even being held here in Texas!
A group of movement conservatives has called an emergency meeting in Texas next weekend to find a "consensus" Republican presidential hopeful, POLITICO has learned.
"You and your spouse are cordially invited to a private meeting with national conservative leaders of faith at the ranch of Paul and Nancy Pressler near Brenham, Texas, with the purpose of attempting to unite and to come to a consensus on which Republican Presidential candidate or candidates to support, or which not to support," read an invitation that is making its way into in-boxes this morning.
The meeting is being hosted by such right-leaning figures as James Dobson, Don Wildmon and Gary Bauer. Many of the individuals on the host list attended a previous closed-door session with Rick Perry this summer.
These dudes really, really don't want Mitt Flip-Flop Romney to win the nomination because he's simply not their brand of right-wing Christian conservative.
According to Wayne Slater, the guest list includes a who's who of crazy religious bigots, including Faith in the Family founder James Dobson, Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, Christian Zionist leader John Hagee of San Antonio, Kelly Shackelford of the Plano-based Liberty Legal Institute and Don Wildmon of the American Family Association, the hate group that sponsored The Response.
The group will work to unite behind one, count him one, right wing religious zealot to oppose Romney and prevent the former Massachusetts governor from winning the nomination.
Slater spoke to a participant off the record about the upcoming meeting, emphasis mine:
"The goal is to come together around somebody who will carry our issues and won't abandon those issues when he becomes president," [unnamed source] said. Romney is seen as too moderate and unreliable on issues important to religious conservatives. He said that Christian conservatives have divided their support among Perry, Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann. And months of efforts to convince leaders to consolidate around one candidate have failed. Now that Bachmann has dropped out, he said the emphasis will be on making Perry, Santorum or someone else the consensus candidate. "I think it's going to happen. It could take weeks and weeks, but it will happen." Even Newt Gingrich, who targeted Romney with harsh words Wednesday in New Hampshire as soft on abortion, is a possible consensus candidate, although he's "not their first choice.
Will the group decide to back Santorum after a close second in Iowa? Or will his Google Problem -- not to mention his actual voting record in the Senate and support of Arlen Specter -- prove problematic with both GOP voters and the November general electorate? (Plus the fact that he's widely remembered as being kookoobananas crazy and all but guarantees Obama a win in Pennsylvania?)
Or will this be Perry's own Battle of San Jacinto, as he's finally able to get rid of all of the other not-Mitts and become the de facto choice of the right wing?
Regardless, it's fascinating to see these right wing religious zealots working so hard to prevent Romney from winning the nomination (and potentially the White House). It makes you wonder -- if Romney does win the nod, will these electioneering hate mongers go full bore to elect him?
Or perhaps instead, this group will sit this round out and "let" Obama win, preparing for an open race in 2016 when they might have an easier path to nominating a right-wing religious conservative.
During the rally, organizers, including Becky Moeller, President of the Texas AFL-CIO, at right, reminded the crowd of Scott Walker's close relationship with the Koch brothers, conservative billionaires who fund right-wing and conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, and organizations linked to the Tea Party. The crowd chanted back, "Show me what plutocracy looks like!" "This is what plutocracy looks like!" Scott Walker's administration is certainly what the plutocracy looks like: he serves the leaders of massive corporations that care more about executive profits than their workers. Rather than helping to grow the middle class and give more Americans a chance to these folks push for policies that widen our income inequality and force working families struggle to get by with less and less.
