(I'll be posting Joaquin Casto's list of Austin supporters here shortly. It's only fair that both campaigns battling each other over a Congressional District that's not going to exist in 2 weeks have their equal time on the front page. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
As you recall, it was Castro, who in sworn court testimony and news reports, was linked with secretly working with Republicans to draw a district for himself at the expense of Charlie Gonzalez. It was Castro who was seen talking with a Perry aide (http://plazadearmastx.com/index.php/chisme/121-chisme/1355-coffee-talk-for-castro-and-pablos)
It is Castro who is throwing a fundraiser being led by Republicans who also hosted a recent “Perry for President” fundraiser, including John Montford, Bill Greehey, and Ed Whitacre. (http://plazadearmastx.com/index.php/chisme/121-chisme/1337-perry-shaking-sas-money-tree) We now also know that Joaquin Castro is raking in a lot of money from traditionally Republican donors. Of course, in the past he's accepted checks from Altria (Big Tobacco), J.P. Morgan Chase, and Wal-Mart. But now, in his race to unseat progressive champion Lloyd Doggett, deep-pocketed GOP donors are throwing their $$$ at Castro. And he’s accepting it. Castro’s Republican donations have been talked about in a San Antonio blog (http://plazadearmastx.com/index.php/politics/98-news/1536-castro-and-doggett-battle-for-fundraising-dollars) that said:
Castro did receive $5,000 from Lionel Sosa, a prominent GOP advertising consultant who’s worked for Republican presidential candidates ranging from Ronald Reagan to John McCain, and $500 from District 8 Councilman Reed Williams, a declared Republican. But neither of those contributions came out of the blue. Sosa served as treasurer for the 2005 mayoral campaign of Castro’s brother, Mayor Julián Castro, and Williams has worked closely with the mayor over the last two-and-a-half years. Castro also received more than $25,000 from political action committees, much of it from groups that skew conservative. Valero Energy Corporation PAC gave his campaign $5,000 and NuStar chipped in $2,500. Over the last decade, Valero has contributed $17,500 to the Americans for a Republican Majority PAC. They’ve donated $59,000 to Texas Republican Congressman Joe Barton, $45,500 to former Republican Congressman Henry Bonilla, and $7,000 to GOP presidential candidate – and Tea Party favorite – Michele Bachmann. It also comes up in a lot of the discussion of this race here at BOR. Although it is easy enough, nobody’s shown the who and where of this Republican giving. Who are those staunch Republicans who oppose our values but are voting with their money on Castro? Over 50 separate donors, who have given to Castro in just this last three-month reporting period, have also given to Republicans. How much? These donors have given over $3.5 million to Republicans since 2006. They’ve also given over $800k to Governor Rick Perry. They’ve funded Eric Cantor’s leadership PAC, Senator John Cornyn, the RNC, the RNCC, unsuccessful presidential candidate John McCain, and a host of other hardcore Republicans working to undermine progressives. Add Joaquin Castro to these efforts. Here are just a few of the more prominent names among the 50 that are recognized as being big Republican donors and what they’ve given to Republicans since 2006: John Hurd- $65,000 Lloyd Denton- $64,000 Alan Dreeben- $259,000 Peter and Julianna Holt -Together, they’ve given over $1.5 million dollars! Red McCombs- $521,000 H..B. Zachry- $117,000 William Kaufman- $24,000 50 folks. That’s a lot of people. Just a coincidence? Hardly. In one of the articles I mentioned above, it’s noted that these folks are business people and business people tend to be Republicans. They argue that Julian Castro has done a good job of convincing the business community that the Castros are middle of the road people. Some (Joaquin Castro among them) would have us believe that the problem right now is refusing to meet Republicans half way. Ridiculous! Jim Hightower got it right: There’s nothing in the middle of the road except yellow stripes and dead armadillos. I don’t want a so-called middle of the road person, who can smile and take these fat cat GOP donors' money, representing me in Congress. The dialogue in Washington has shifted so far right that the middle of the road is tax cuts for millionaires and job losses for teachers. It’s cutting Social Security and slashing our investment in our roads and schools. I don’t want someone representing me that wants to make nice with the intransigent, middle class-killing Republicans. I want someone who stands up and fights Republicans, not someone who lines his pockets with their lucre. Giving Castro their money (and his acceptance of it) is just is another way Republicans are trying to get rid of Lloyd Doggett. Remember the memo from Tom DeLay’s staff in 2003 that said “A map that returns Frost, Edwards, and Doggett is unacceptable and not worth all the time invested into this project”? That map became law and Doggett is now the last targeted Dem left standing. He ran and won in a district that went to McAllen. Now, Republican mapmakers, with the help of Castro, have drawn a district that links San Antonio to Austin (and is anchored in San Antonio) (http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/11458/why-i-am-now-even-more-dogged-for-doggett). Republicans have not given up on targeting Lloyd. A Democrat should not be helping Republicans do it. I don’t want these Republicans influencing a Democratic primary. I don’t want anybody who shakes their hands, headlines their names on his fundraiser invites, and then pockets their money, winning the Democratic primary and being the Democratic nominee for Congress. Joaquin Joaquin, why don't give the money from the donors I listed back to them, and state that you don't share their values? That’s true, isn’t it? David T is the BOR handle for David Thomas
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