Texas Legislative Update

With less than two weeks left in the Texas Legislative session, there's a lot of news to report from Austin - and updates on issues that the TDP has been covering all session. For more information about these topics or Texas Democratic Party events & trainings, please check out our website at http://www.txdemocrats.org/.

Below is a statement from Texas Democratic Party Chair Boyd Richie on State Senator Mario Gallegos' announcement that he will be returning to Houston to undergo a surgical procedure:

"Mario Gallegos is a dedicated and selfless public servant, who has placed the best interests of his constituents above his own. Defying doctor's orders for weeks, Mario stood his ground for as long as he could and has honorably represented his constituents in the Texas Senate, despite significant physical ailment.

I speak for all Democrats when I thank him for his service and devotion to the people of Texas. Our thoughts are with Senator Gallegos and his family, as we pray for his recovery."

Update Democratic Efforts on CHIP & Teacher's Pay Raise

Earlier this session, the House passed bills to restore health insurance coverage under CHIP to thousands of Texas children and to give our teachers a well-deserved pay raise.
This week, the Texas Senate followed the House's lead and passed similar legislation.
"Legislative budget writers voted Thursday to cover 100,000 more youngsters in need of health care and hike annual teacher pay by about $425 in addition to merit increases."
- Houston Chronicle, 5/18/07, "Budget writers expand CHIP benefit"

Because the House and Senate passed different version of both bills. Democrats have led the charge in both the House and the Senate to insure that CHIP is restored to the almost 200,000 children who have lost coverage since 2003. And House Democrats joined by a few Republicans passed the teacher pay raise over the objection of many Republicans.

Speaker Tom Craddick Faces a New Challenge

Despite promises to run the House in a bi-partisan manner, Tom Craddick has abused his power by consistently denying Democrats the opportunity to bring bills to the floor for a vote and has made questionable parliamentary rulings against Democrats and even Republicans, who have questioned his leadership style.

However, in the last two weeks, House members have begun to revolt against his "auto-Craddick" tactics.

"Last week, members handed Craddick a rare public rebuke. By an 87-50 vote, they overturned his ruling on a procedural matter that at times in the past would have been considered routine."
- Ft. Worth Star-Telegram Editorial, May 17, 2007
Now, a fellow Republican and former ally has filed to run for Speaker against Craddick at the beginning of the next legislative session in 2009. Republicans are cracking under the pressure of a united Democratic Caucus who welcomed six new members in 2006 and cut the Republican majority in half. The GOP disarray in the House reflects the general lack of competence and the inability of GOP leadership to put Texans ahead of party politics and special interests.

Lawmakers Agree on Measures for Texas Youth Commission Facilities

One of the most appalling stories this year has been the reports of abuse at TYC facilities and the fact that Texas Republicans including Attorney General Greg Abbott covered up there reports for years. After significant pressure from Democrats in the legislature, newspaper editorials and Texans like you, there is an agreement to ensure that the TYC is run by experts in law enforcement.

"Lawmakers reached a compromise Wednesday on the reform bill for the embattled Texas Youth Commission, agreeing that the agency would be run by a governor-appointed commissioner and an advisory panel for at least the next two years.

"Starting in 2009, the agency's leadership structure would return to its current form - an executive director and a board of directors, said Jerry Madden, chairman of the House Corrections Committee. But he said the agency is also up for a Sunset review in 2009, and the review could include recommendations to keep the commissioner in place longer."
-Dallas Morning News, May 17, 2007, "TYC Deal is Reached"

Republican Exposes the Real Intent about Voter ID

GOP consultant and former Political Director for the Republican Party of Texas Royal Masset speaks out on voter ID:

"Of course this is voter suppression! I don't doubt most of my Republican friends truly believe Voter ID promotes ballot integrity. But I also have no doubt that David Dewhurst, any knowledgeable legislator and all political consultants understand the real reason for Voter ID is that it will suppress Democrat turnout about 3%. What I find especially disturbing, as several posters here pointed out, is that the Voter ID bill would do exactly 0 to stop illegal immigrants for voting. Framing the issue in those terms is pure racism which should be condemned by Republicans as well as Democrats."
- Posted on Burnt Orange Report, www.burntorangereport.com

Investigative Journalist Greg Palast Reports on the Firing of New Mexico Attorney David Iglesia

Investigative Journalist Greg Palast Reports on the Firing of New Mexico Attorney David Iglesias
Monday, May 14th, 2007
On a single day, December 7, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales demanded the resignations of 8 United States Attorneys. What was really the purpose of the firings - and who was behind it? Investigative journalist Greg Palast reports. [includes rush transcript]
We turn to the latest in the US attorney firing scandal. Nearly half of the US attorneys slated for removal by the Bush administration last year were targeted for not doing enough to prosecute voter fraud. According to the Washington Post, of the twelve US attorneys known to have been dismissed or considered for removal last year, five were identified by presidential advisor Karl Rove or other administration officials as working in districts that were trouble spots for voter fraud: Kansas City, Milwaukee, New Mexico, Nevada and Washington state. Four of the five prosecutors in those districts were fired.
Perhaps the most well-known of these US attorneys is ousted New Mexico prosecutor David Iglesias. His case has been at the center of the political firestorm. Investigative journalist Greg Palast has been closely following this story. He files a report and joins us in our firehouse studio.
Greg Palast. Investigative journalist. His latest book is “Armed Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans - Sordid Secrets & Strange Tales of a White House Gone Wild.”
AMY GOODMAN: We return to the latest now in the US attorney firing scandal. Nearly half of the US attorneys slated for removal by the Bush administration last year were targeted for not doing enough to prosecute voter fraud. According to the Washington Post, of the twelve US attorneys known to have been dismissed or considered for removal last year, five were identified by presidential advisor Karl Rove or other administration officials as working in districts that were trouble spots for voter fraud: Kansas City, Milwaukee, New Mexico, Nevada and Washington state. Four of the five prosecutors in those districts were fired.
Perhaps the most well known of these US attorneys is ousted New Mexico prosecutor David Iglesias. His case has been at the center of the political firestorm. Investigative journalist Greg Palast has been closely following this story. He files this report.
KEVIN BACON: Your honor, I’d like to ask for a recess.
TOM CRUISE: I’d like an answer to the question, Judge.
J.A. PRESTON: The court will wait for an answer.
GREG PALAST: This past December 7 was not the first time United States prosecutor David Iglesias had been brutally cut loose. In the 1992 film A Few Good Men, Tom Cruise plays David Iglesias, the true story of the young military defense lawyer fighting to uncover the truth.
TOM CRUISE: I want the truth!
JACK NICHOLSON: You can't handle the truth!
GREG PALAST: Greg Palast.
DAVID IGLESIAS: Greg, hi. David Iglesias.
GREG PALAST: Hey, how are you, Captain?
DAVID IGLESIAS: Hey, I’m doing just fine. Thank you.
GREG PALAST: So can you handle the truth or not?
DAVID IGLESIAS: Absolutely.
GREG PALAST: Captain Iglesias, the US prosecutor, knew something was very wrong when, just a week before the 2006 midterm elections, he received a strange and threatening call to his home. It was his state’s senior senator, the powerful Republican leader Pete Domenici on the line, pushing Iglesias to file criminal charges against a Democrat before the election.
DAVID IGLESIAS: I’m sitting in my bedroom, and here’s the killer point, Greg. He says, “Are these going to get filed before November?” And I said I didn't think so. And the line goes dead. In other words, our senior senator hung up on me. A terribly inappropriate call.
GREG PALAST: Inappropriate, certainly. Obstruction of justice, possibly.
DAVID IGLESIAS: He basically wanted to know: are you going to file these cases that can help Heather out? That was the subtext. I felt terrible after that phone call.
GREG PALAST: By “helping Heather,” he meant Congresswoman Heather Wilson, then candidate Heather Wilson. The race was a dead heat. Domenici wanted him to bust a Democrat to help Wilson. Still, Iglesias tried to be the loyal party man, even covering up the threatening call.
Did you report this phone call to anyone at the time?
DAVID IGLESIAS: I did not, and I should have. There is a requirement under the US attorney’s manual for us to report that kind of contact from a member of Congress. I didn't do that.
GREG PALAST: But that act of loyalty wasn't good enough for Karl Rove, the President’s political advisor. Rove flew to New Mexico just before the election and got an earful of complaints about Iglesias from state party chiefs. Rove reported to President Bush, who personally put the heat on Attorney General Gonzales. Iglesias was stunned.
DAVID IGLESIAS: I had no idea that a few local yokels in New Mexico would have enough stroke to get the President to complain.
GREG PALAST: There was more than failing to help the Wilson campaign. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican operatives blocked a quarter-million new voters nationwide from voting on grounds they brought the wrong IDs to the poles. To justify this massive blockade, Republican officials wanted Iglesias to arrest some voters to create a high publicity show trial. Iglesias went along with the game. Just before the 2004 election, he held a press conference announcing the creation of a vote fraud task force. But the prosecutor drew the line at arresting innocent voters.
DAVID IGLESIAS: They were telling Rove that I wasn’t doing their bidding. I wasn't filing these voter fraud cases.
GREG PALAST: The evidence fellow Republicans gave him was junk. He refused to bring a single prosecution.
DAVID IGLESIAS: It was the old throwing pasta at the wall trick, that he’s throwing up pasta. Something’s got to stick, and it didn't.
GREG PALAST: For failing to bring the voting cases, Iglesias paid with his job.
DAVID IGLESIAS: They wanted a political operative who happened to be a US attorney, and when they got somebody who actually took his oath to the Constitution seriously, they were appalled and they wanted me out of there. The two strikes against me was, I was not political, I didn't help them out on their bogus voter fraud prosecutions.
GREG PALAST: Rove personally ordered his removal. As a prosecutor, Iglesias says that if missing emails prove the firing was punishment for failure to bring bogus charges, Mr. Rove himself is in legal trouble.
DAVID IGLESIAS: If his intent was, look what happened with Iglesias, if that was his intent, he’s in big trouble. That is obstruction of justice, one classic example.
GREG PALAST: Iglesias believes the real reasons for the firings are in what are called the missing emails, emails sent by the Rove team using Republican Party campaign computers, which Rove claims can't be retrieved. But not all the missing emails are missing. We have 500 of them. Apparently the Rove team misaddressed their emails, and late one night they all ended up in our inboxes in our offices in New York City.
And as Iglesias predicted, they reveal a story the party would rather keep buried. Voting rights attorney Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., reviewed the evidence in our cache of emails and concluded:
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: They ought to be in jail for doing this, because they knew it was illegal, and they did it anyway.
GREG PALAST: What is it that was so obviously illegal that law professor Kennedy thought they deserved prison time? The evidence that shook him was attached to fifty of the secret emails, something that GOP party chiefs called caging lists, thousands of names of voters. Notably, the majority were African American. Kennedy explained how caging worked.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: Caging is an illegal way of getting rid of black votes. You get a list of all the black voters. Then you send a letter to their homes. And if the person doesn't sign it at the homes, the letter then is returned to the Republican National Committee. They then direct the state attorney general, who is friendly to them, who’s Republican, to remove that voter from the list on the alleged basis that that voter does not live in the address that they designated as their address on the voting application form.
GREG PALAST: In all, the Republican Party challenged nearly three million voters, a mass attack on minority voting rights virtually unreported in the US press.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: So they disenfranchised millions of black voters who don't even know that they’ve been disenfranchised.
GREG PALAST: Page after page of voters with this address, Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, hundreds, thousands of soldiers and sailors targeted to lose their vote. Go to Baghdad, lose your vote.
And what does this have to do with the prosecutor firings? Take a look at the name at the top of the secret missing email: Tim Griffin. This is the man in charge of the allegedly illegal caging operation. He is research director for the Republican National Committee, special assistant to Karl Rove, and as of December 7 Karl Rove's personal pick for US attorney for the state of Arkansas. Is this a case of the perpetrator becomes the prosecutor? For Democracy Now! this is Greg Palast.
JACK NICHOLSON: We use words like honor, code, loyalty.
GREG PALAST: Is Tom Cruise going to play you in this follow-up?
DAVID IGLESIAS: He’s more handsome, but I’m quite a bit taller, so I’ve got that on him.
AMY GOODMAN: And that was the excerpt of A Few Good Men from Greg Palast’s piece. Greg Palast, investigative journalist, his latest book just out on paperback called Armed Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans, Sordid Secrets and Strange Tales of a White House Gone Wild. Greg Palast joins us in the studio now.
Greg, I just want to start where you left off and started this film: A Few Good Men. I don't think most people understand this about David Iglesias.
GREG PALAST: Yes, well, Iglesias was the guy played by Tom Cruise in the film A Few Good Men, which is a real story about how a young military attorney stood up to military brass to uncover the truth. And somehow they thought that this -- you know, this Tom --
AMY GOODMAN: This was the hazing of a young man, a soldier, who was killed.
GREG PALAST: Yeah, who was killed. And it was covered up. And, you know, he just wanted to get to the truth. That was David Iglesias. Now, here he is again, you know, standing up to the brass. I mean, one of the things we have to be very careful of is -- you know, I’m not going to say he’s a man for all season -- he went along just before the 2004 election and held a big splashy press conference, saying, “Yes, I’m going to go and look for voter fraud,” that there are -- you know, it looks like there may be thousands of fraudulent voters.
Understand what this is about. This is to create a hysteria so they could pass legislation which would require voters to show up with ID. A quarter-million voters were turned away for having the wrong ID, but no one was arrested. So Karl Rove and his assistant Tim Griffin are in a panic. You’re turning away thousands of voters, you’re not arresting any. So he’s asking Iglesias, demanding Iglesias -- and now we know a half dozen others, almost everyone that was fired -- they demand that they just grab people. That’s where Iglesias drew the line in the sand. He said a press conference is one thing, which he probably shouldn’t have done, but literally handcuffing innocent voters for show trials -- and then, of course, then you drop the case later -- that is one thing he absolutely was not going to do. He was going to give up his job.
He also made the mistake -- when he got calls from Senator Pete Domenici asking for inside information, pushing him to arrest Democrats a week before the midterm election of 2006, that was another attempt at what could be obstruction of justice. The US code for US attorneys requires that he turn in Senator Domenici, which he admits he didn't do. And now he regrets that, but he said, “You know, I want the evidence out there anyway, even if it shows that I failed to act.”
AMY GOODMAN: And Healther Wilson, of course, also called, and Heather Wilson at the time in an extremely close race for her political life as a congress member from New Mexico.
GREG PALAST: Well, in fact, from my investigation, she didn't win. There was voter fraud, and that the majority of the votes went to the Democrats.
Another thing is that Iglesias did not, unfortunately, investigate the other side of the coin, which is this massive denial of votes, systematic by Republican operatives. Now, what we have and what we showed in the film is that when I was investigating for BBC and for Democracy Now! back in 2004, we got 500 of the so-called missing emails of Karl Rove. They were, you know -- Karl Rove, people think he’s an evil genius, but that’s only about half right. I mean, he’s not necessarily the sharpest knife in the drawer, and he and his guys were mistyping their email addresses, sent them to georgewbush.org, instead of dotcom, which is an email domain owned by friends of ours, who shot them right to us.
We went through the 500, and what we found were this massive plan to deny the right to vote -- I mean, extraordinarily targeting African American soldiers sent overseas. They’d send them a letter to their home address. The letter would come back. They say, “Gee, they don't live there. They shouldn’t be allowed to vote.” Their absentee ballot would come in from overseas, and it would be challenged. They would lose their vote. They wouldn’t even know it. Now, when we showed this to several voting rights attorneys, including, as you heard, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. -- now, he was really shaken up. That’s when he said these guys should be in jail. So this is the other side of this whole issue involving the prosecutors.
And who did this? Who was in charge of this? It wasn't Rove personally. He had put Tim Griffin in charge. Griffin is the guy who, with Rove, picked out the US attorneys to be fired and then had himself named by Rove -- had himself named by Rove to the spot as US attorney for Arkansas. So what we may have here is a case of the perpetrator of voter fraud becoming the prosecutor. I mean, it is -- and what this is all about -- in fact, I have an internal Tim Griffin email -- what this is all about is, he says it’s all about the votes. This is about the 2008 election, a panic to get their people in place for 2008 to create hysteria about voter ID, knock out minority voters, especially Hispanic, and to put in their people who are experienced in knocking out voters.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to go more into this after break. We’re talking to Greg Palast. His book just came out on paperback. It’s called Armed Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to Greg Palast, investigative journalist, author of Armed Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans. Investigative journalist Murray Waas reported last week the Bush administration has withheld emails showing senior White House and Justice Department officials collaborated to conceal the role of White House strategist Karl Rove in installing his former deputy, Timothy Griffin as US attorney in Arkansas. The emails show that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s former chief of staff, D. Kyle Sampson, worked with White House officials on two letters that misled Congress on the appointment and also Rove's role in that. Greg?
GREG PALAST: Well, yeah. They were covering up the fact that Tim Griffin was Rove's right-hand man. And you have to understand, Rove, as the political director at the White House, was deeply involved in targeting and taking out the US attorneys who were recalcitrant and wouldn't start handcuffing Hispanic voters on false voter charges. They also know that it’s a slippery slope, because they know that I have 500 of the so-called missing emails.
In fact, that’s one of the points that -- in one of their internal emails, which was actually subpoenaed by the committee, they’re complaining about that guy, the British reporter -- that’s Greg Palast. As you realize, Amy, I’m American. But, of course, my reports are exiled to BBC Britain, and then they come back here through Democracy Now!, bless you. But they’re saying that these reports about Griffin’s role have not been picked up in the US media, in the US national media. And they’re kind of right. I mean, this material has not come through the US media.
They don't want Griffin’s role opened up, because once they have the role of Griffin in the firings opened up, they’ll ask why that happened. They will find and discover these emails, and, in fact, now that they’re public, will turn them over to the Conyers committee, and then they’ll find out that Griffin was deeply involved in the removal of legal voters. And now you’re getting into potential felony area. That’s a very serious business. So they want to stop the slippery slope of bringing in Griffin and revealing the entire chain of emails, not just his involvement in the firings, but what led up to it, and that brings us to the emails that you just saw on our report.
AMY GOODMAN: In this whole scandal, we keep hearing about voter fraud, voter fraud. But can you explain what is being talked about here with this aggressive effort to restrict, particularly people of color, voting in battleground states?
GREG PALAST: What happened is that the Republican Party was running a massive campaign directed by Karl Rove and, we know, Tim Griffin, from the written emails, to block voters' votes or to challenge their votes. One way to challenge voters was to say that they were stealing someone else's identity. Someone is voting for Amy Goodman. Well, they say, the solution is to create ID cards. The problem is we can't find anyone anywhere who has committed this crime of stealing Amy Goodman's name to vote. People are not willing to go to jail to vote in some school board election or even for the presidency.
What Griffin, Rove's assistant, wanted Iglesias to do -- they gave them 110 names. They wanted them, for example, to arrest some guy named, say, roughly, if I remember, like Juan Gonzalez, and say he voted twice, stealing someone’s ID. Well, in New Mexico there may be two guys named Juan Gonzalez. So Iglesias just thought this was absolute junk, absolute junk stuff, and he wouldn't do it. So it’s all about trying to create a hysteria about fraudulent voting.
There are 120 million people that voted, and I can't find an actual case out of 120 of a prosecution that -- a real prosecution of any single voter for voter identity theft. There is like five cases in the country involving some minor offices. That’s it. So it’s a complete false prosecution set-up, kind of like the Soviet Union: just grab people, put them on show trials, maybe let them go later, maybe they languish in jail.
On the other side, they’re covering up their own program, programmatic challenge of voters, which is not covered in the US press. Three million people were challenged. By the way, this isn't, you know, from the Democracy Now! black helicopter. This is from the raw data of the United States Election Assistance Commission: three million challenges. These votes were basically lost. Over a million votes were lost. Half a million absentee ballots were thrown out, and many, many of those were votes of African American and Hispanic soldiers that went to Iraq, got their ballots challenged under this Karl Rove-Tim Griffin scheme, and they lost their vote. And they didn't even know that they lost their vote. So all of this is being covered up.
And so, they cannot now -- they don't want to open up the whole story of Tim Griffin, how he became US attorney, what his role was, because it goes all the way back. And what David Iglesias was saying, US attorney, now captain -- by the way, he’s back in the military -- Captain Iglesias was saying, if you can show this chain of intent, that it’s all about the voting and he’s being punished for not bringing these false prosecutions, he says, that’s an obstruction of justice charge that can be brought against Karl Rove.
And, by the way, one little sidelight on that is that Captain Iglesias, one of the excuses that they try to give for firing him, Amy, was that he was absent for too many days from office. They didn't mention that he was absent because he was on active duty in the US Naval Reserve. He is now, by the way, bringing the very first claim ever. You cannot fire someone for doing their duty in the US Naval Reserve. He’s now filing a charge against the commander-in-chief, George Bush, for attempting to fire him for simply showing up for active duty.
AMY GOODMAN: The Arkansas Leader reported enterprising reporters examining Griffin’s fanciful resume discovered his blistering record as a prosecutor was nothing more than paper shuffling in short stints in the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps and federal prosecutor offices. He had never taken a single case to trial. His career had consisted almost altogether of political hatchet work.
GREG PALAST: Well, you have to look at what’s going on here. You’ve replaced Iglesias, who is, you know, the Tom Cruise lawyer who has real experience as a prosecutor, as a trial lawyer from the military. They remove him, and they put in a paper shuffler -- worse, someone who is actually shuffling voters’ papers that he shouldn’t be shuffling. You saw the kind of emotional reaction of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., voting rights attorney. He was the most emotional, because you have to imagine -- remember that his father, his late father, was the predecessor to Alberto Gonzales. Imagine, we’ve gone from Robert F, Kennedy, Sr., to Roberto Gonzales.
AMY GOODMAN: Alberto.
GREG PALAST: Yeah. And you can, you know -- from Kennedy’s, this was very an emotional issue. To see the office that his father used to protect civil rights being used deliberately to attack civil rights is a very serious business. But, again, here he is saying, and Iglesias is suggesting now with this evidence, that it rises now to obstruction of justice.
AMY GOODMAN: And, interestingly, McClatchy Newspapers reporting, as part of the strategy, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has sought to roll back policies to protect minority voting rights. On virtually every significant decision affecting election balloting since 2001, the division’s voting rights section has come down on the side of Republicans.
GREG PALAST: Well, even worse, what’s not covered there is that they covered up the active attack on legal voters. I mean, you’re talking -- the caging lists that we have, in the 500 sheets, the 500 emails, we have 70,000 names. That’s one state. This was a multimillion-dollar, gold-plated attack operation on the right of minority voters to vote. And, obviously, Griffin knew it, because he was in charge of it. So you actually have the guys who are supposed to be protecting voters are either actively covering up or even actively participating in knocking out legal voters. I mean, it’s like the mob has grabbed the police department. That’s the problem, by the way, with voter fraud -- with real voter fraud, not the phony stuff of grabbing the Juan Gonzalezes of New Mexico -- if you win, you’ve now grabbed the apparatus of protection and enforcement. It’s the perfect crime.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we’re going to leave it there. I want to thank you very much, Greg Palast, for joining us. Greg, an investigative journalist, latest book just out in paperbook called Armed Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans, Sordid Secrets and Strange Tales of a White House Gone Wild.
Copyright © 2007
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Don't invite Abbott's Foxes into Fort Worth Hen House

(202) 547 - 7610 - Fax (202) 547 - 8258May 17, 2007Contact: Matt AngleOn the web at http://www.lonestarproject.net/
Don't Invite Abbott's Foxes into Fort Worth Hen HouseAbbott’s agents harass, intimidate and spy upon Fort Worth Seniors
Any good candidate is disappointed when they lose a hard fought election. However, the well-meaning failed candidates in Fort Worth City Council District 5 may want to think again before inviting Attorney General Greg Abbott into Fort Worth to investigate the mail ballots cast in the recently concluded city election. (Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 16, 2007) In the District 5 Council Election last Saturday, incumbent Frank Moss surprised his opponents by winning a majority of the vote in a five person race, thus avoiding a runoff. Some opponents are now considering asking the Texas Attorney General to investigate the election results.
As the Lone Star Project detailed in reports last year (Read the Reports Here), Greg Abbott’s agents have a history of singling out minorities and senior citizens and then harassing them under the guise of a voter fraud investigation.
Abbott Sent "Peeping Tom" Agents to Fort Worth In the run up to last year’s election, Abbott’s agents went so far as to “peep” into the window of Ms. Gloria Meeks, an elderly African American Fort Worth woman, while she was stepping out of the shower. (Read the Report Here) Ms. Meeks had been a local
"Abbott is using taxpayer dollars to prosecute well-meaning folks who are simply helping seniors cast their ballot... The selective criteria and outrageous investigative tactics employed by Greg Abbott’s task force are a shallow political effort to suppress minority and senior voters." -Boyd Richie Chair, Texas Democratic Party

community activist who often assisted friends and neighbors with many tasks including applying for a mail ballot. (Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 22, 2006) Ms. Meeks has never been formally charged, or even officially accused of any wrong doing, but Abbott’s agents went to her home to "investigate" possible voter fraud. Following the "peeping" incident and other harassing actions by the agents, Ms. Meeks fell ill. She later suffered a stroke and is now recovering in a nursing home.
Abbott Wasting Taxpayer Millions on Vote SuppressionGreg Abbott has applied for and received over $2 million in federal funds that could be used to prosecute child predators or fight cyber crimes. (Source: Attorney General Grant Application Forms) Instead of protecting children or catching online thieves, however, Abbot is using the money to fund a phony voter fraud unit that has indicted only 13 individuals. The AP reported that, “All of them had a record of voting Democrat; 12 were either black or Hispanic.” (Source: Associated Press, November 4, 2006)
Breakdown of Abbott's 13 Indictments
Minorities Indicted
12 of 13
92%
People over age 50
8 of 13
62%
People over age 60
5 of 13
38%
Democrats
13 of 13
100%
One of those convictions involved a woman in Texarkana who was simply assisting an elderly friend, who was suffering with terminal cancer, make sure her completed and sealed ballot was delivered to the post office. (Source: The Houston Chronicle, September 19, 2006) A Lone Star Project lawsuit is currently pending in Federal Court challenging the mail ballot statute. (Read about the Lawsuit Here)
A Fort Worth investigation is unlikely to change election resultsThe election in question was not close. Incumbent City Councilman Frank Moss won the election with over 56 percent of the vote among a field of five candidates. He avoided a runoff election by 113 votes. (Source: Tarrant County Election Board) Only 499 votes were cast by mail and Moss earned 389 of them. In order to change the election results, other candidates would have to prove that almost one out of three mail ballots were cast improperly.
Conversely, Greg Abbott and his agents could well use the excuse of an investigation to harass and intimidate law abiding community activists with the hope that they will not work to turn out the vote in their neighborhoods next November when vulnerable Republicans will be on the ballot

Voter ID bill left pending in Senate

Senate Democrat, lieutenant governor face off.

By Mark LisheronAMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFFWednesday, May 16, 2007
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and John Whitmire, the senior Democrat in the Senate, faced off angrily Tuesday over a bill that would require Texans to present identification to vote.
Saying he had been cheated out of a crucial vote to bring the bill to the floor, Whitmire of Houston cursed, stabbed his finger at Dewhurst and demanded — and got — a second vote.

Harry Cabluck/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, left his sickbed Tuesday to vote to block Senate consideration of the voter identification bill.
But not before Dewhurst, in a rare flash of anger, told Whitmire, "You are going to compose yourself, or you are going to leave the floor."
The 11 Senate Democrats, with Whitmire's vote added, blocked a suspension of Senate rules that would have allowed a floor debate on the controversial Voter ID bill.
Democrats, including Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, contend that the bill is a way of disenfranchising potential voters who do not have the means to establish identification. On the Senate floor Tuesday, Shapleigh traced voter identification to a political tactic of presidential adviser Karl Rove.
Dewhurst said Tuesday that the bill has the support of the vast majority of Texans of all political stripes.
"Overwhelmingly, Texans believe only American citizens who are Texas residents should be allowed to vote," he said.
The vote that mattered Tuesday took Senate Democrats by surprise. Unencumbered by the usual recognitions and ceremonial resolutions at the start of the day, Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, sponsor of Senate Bill 218, asked that his bill be considered while several Democrats were not on the floor.
Alerted by their colleagues, lawmakers scurried back to their desks.
When Dewhurst called the roll, Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy; Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio; and Whitmire were absent.
The vote was 19-9, a two-thirds majority favoring discussion of the bill. Because only a simple majority is required to pass a bill, Democrats are trying to prevent a debate of the measure.
Whitmire insisted later that he had been on the floor. But Dewhurst called Whitmire's name several times; getting no response, he took the tally.
"That's dirty," said Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, whose responsibility as chairwoman of the Senate Democratic Caucus is to keep her voting bloc together.
Dewhurst agreed to take a second vote, and as he called the roll again, Uresti, who had been sick in bed at his apartment near the Capitol, walked in to cast a "no" vote. The obviously surprised Democrats applauded Uresti.
Afterward, Whitmire was asked whether Dewhurst had smoothed things over by agreeing to another vote. "No comment," Whitmire said.
Dewhurst said he has always played by the rules of the Senate and never had any intention of discounting Whitmire's vote. He said he expected Fraser to bring up the bill again, should he see an advantage on the floor.
Van de Putte said that until Wednesday, the last opportunity to get the Voter ID bill passed, Democrats plan to take no chances.
"When we go to the bathroom," she said, "we're going to take a Republican along with us."
mlisheron@statesman.com

Lies by James Carville

Dear Friend,

Anytime somebody says that they "don't recall" as much as Alberto Gonzales did, you can bet that they recall damn well whatever it is they did, they just never thought they'd have to account for it.Republicans' feet are being held to the fire and they are being forced do all sorts of things they never wanted to do -- like answer questions about the Bush Administration's incompetence, debate the war in Iraq and get rid of tax breaks for Big Oil. With Republicans against the wall and out of power, there is no smear campaign too low or too cheap.Need proof? Look at how quickly they got in line to lie about Speaker Pelosi's trip to the Middle East. Or that they've already launched attacks targeting the entire Democratic freshman class. Or the fact that not a day has gone by without a Republican claiming Democrats don't support the troops.That's why the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has set up an emergency Rapid Response Fund to combat any dirty tactics the Republicans can throw at us. The fund will provide Democrats with the resources to not only fight back but to go on the offensive, expanding research and communications operations to hit vulnerable Republicans early with ads, Web videos and in the media. But, we won't stop there. To get our Rapid Response operations off the ground, the DCCC has a goal of raising $50,000 by May 25th -- will you help us today?Stand up to Swift Boat Tactics -- Give $25, $50 or more to support the DCCC's Rapid Response FundFor twelve years Republicans in the House of Representatives were living high on the hog. They never had to take a hard vote and got to pay back their big business benefactors with all sorts of goodies and favors.For the next two years, Republicans will do anything and everything to get back their power. And their fat cat allies, cut off from their corrupt federal gravy train, will be there to fund them.Gearing up for 2008, Republicans are ready to fight dirtier and nastier then ever before. One of the reasons we were so successful in 2006 is Democrats let no attack go unanswered. It might cost a little right now but it will cost us a heck of a lot more in the future if we do nothing. Help us reach our goal of $50,000 today by giving what you can to our Rapid Response Fund.Stand up to Swift Boat Tactics -- Give $25, $50 or more to support the DCCC's Rapid Response FundDemocrats are already on the offense, running ads in states like New Mexico to hold entrenched Republican Heather Wilson accountable for her role in the firing of eight US federal prosecutors. Recently, the DCCC launched a web video to expose Republican John Doolittle and others about their connections to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.Republicans are most dangerous when they're most desperate. We need to be prepared for what is coming. Get in the fight. Join me and let's get behind the DCCC's Rapid Response Fund operations.Stand up to Swift Boat Tactics -- Give $25, $50 or more to support the DCCC's Rapid Response Fund

Thank you,

James Carville

P.S. The only game Republicans ever learned as children is follow the leader, and that's why, despite the fact that the good voters of the United States of America firmly slapped the Republican Party upside the head this past November, they'll continue to follow George Bush's disastrous policies like lemmings headed for a cliff. Get in the fight. Stand with your fellow Democrats against Republican "Swift Boat" tactics. Support the DCCC today.

Ron Paul Articles

May 17, 2007 -
BY DON MUNSCH - VICTORIA ADVOCATE
Ron Paul's 9/11 comments at the GOP presidential debate Tuesday turned even some supporters against him. Others were left just scratching their heads. John Griffin Jr., former chairman of the Victoria County Democratic Party, took issue with Paul's 9/11 assessment, calling his remarks "ridiculous" and "far-fetched." On the other hand, Griffin said, both political parties have politicized 9/11. Still, he said, someone with Paul's experience in Congress should know about the relationship between al-Qaida and Iraq, that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden "hated each other" and that there's no connection between Iraq and 9/11. Plus, Griffin called Paul's allegations involving the U.S. bombing Iraq "a complete fabrication." "He should either retract his statement or resign," Griffin said about Paul. He added he understood Paul's statements about the United States meddling in Middle East affairs, but Paul should fortify his opinions with facts. "A little honesty wouldn't hurt in these debates," Griffin said. Eric Dondero, a former senior aide to Paul (1997-2003), said in a telephone interview from Angleton that he thought Paul's comments were "deplorable" and that he was embarrassed by Paul's statements, explaining that Paul no longer represented the views of South Texas. He called on Paul to resign. Click Here To Tell Us Your Story. "Sooner rather than later," said Dondero, who also served as a congressional campaign coordinator for Paul in 1995-96 and was a travel aide for Paul in 1987-88 when Paul ran for president as a Libertarian. Otherwise, Dondero said, if Paul doesn't leave, then Congressional District 14 voters from Victoria to Galveston "will appear to be endorsing his treacherous, and near treasonous views on foreign policy." Dondero said he is considering running in the 2008 Republican primary against Paul. He said he would wait to see whether a few other possible candidates run. If they don't, he will. Marguerite Lauger of Victoria, a former campaign worker for Paul, said she was appalled by Paul's comments, pointing out that America's policies in the Middle East can't justify what happened on 9/11. She said her similarly annoyed granddaughter told her last night that Paul won't be getting her vote, either. Ed Erwin of El Campo, who also disagreed with Paul's comments, said Tuesday's debate exposed to the nation that Paul is "a loony." Buddy Lee of Victoria said he's continually amazed by what Paul says. "I can't believe that somebody really believes that." Lee said it's upsetting that the words come from someone who represents people here. "And I think it's time for a change," he said. What do you think of Ron Paul's take on 9/11? Some say Paul misunderstood May 17, 2007 - Posted at 7:39 a.m. BY DON MUNSCH - VICTORIA ADVOCATE Longtime supporter Diana Tibbits said U.S. Rep. Ron Paul's comments about the reasons behind the 9/11 attacks have been taken out of context. At the GOP presidential debate Tuesday, Paul implied U.S. policies in the Middle East had contributed to the attacks in New York and Washington. "Have you ever read about the reasons they attacked us?" Paul said. "They attack us because we've been over there. We've been bombing Iraq for 10 years." When asked by a moderator whether he was suggesting the United States invited the attacks, Paul said: "I'm suggesting we listen to the people who attacked us and the reason they did it. And they are delighted that we're over there because Osama bin Laden has said, 'I am glad you're over on our sand because we can target you so much easier.'" Tibbits, Victoria County campaign chairwoman for Paul for the last 10 years, said she thinks the media have been unfair to Paul by portraying his 9/11 statements in an inaccurate light. She especially disliked Fox News commentator Sean Hannity's treatment of Paul on Tuesday. "He in no way thinks we are to blame for being attacked on 9/11 - he was not saying that at all," she said of Paul. Ron Paul has long gone his own way in the U.S. Congress. He has been representing the 14th Congressional District since 1997, having given up his medical practice of 13 years to be a Washington lawmaker. Paul has objected to U.S. policy in the Middle East, explaining the U.S. government's interventions have been counter-productive to making America safer, instead stoking anti-American sentiment. Paul was one of six House Republicans who voted against the authorization for war in Iraq in 2002. Tibbits agreed with Paul that American foreign policy has fueled anger toward America, but she said the country's foreign policy has been askew over time, not just in recent years. Click Here To Tell Us Your Story. Stephen Jabbour, chairman of the Victoria County Democratic Party, said he thought Paul was correct on one issue: the war in Iraq. Jabbour said the war has been a disaster on many levels. "To that point, I think he's speaking the truth," he said. "And that has many vital implications for our country." Jabbour said he disagreed strongly with any direct correlation between American foreign policy and 9/11, but also criticized Rudy Giuliani. During the presidential debate, the former New York mayor lashed out against Paul's remarks. "That was an extraordinary statement, as someone who has lived through the attacks of Sept. 11th, that we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq," an indignant Giuliani responded to Paul's comments. "I don't think I've ever heard that before, and I've heard some pretty absurd explanations for Sept. 11th." Jabbour called Giuliani simply an "opportunist who is shaping his opinions to his new constituency, which is the Republican right."

Dear Blog Visitor:

Of the presidential candidates, Bill Richardson is definitely the most qualified man for the job. The reason I said man was because there is a woman running who is even better qualified. You are invited to take a look at the following:

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/wjc/?sc=2090

Lloyd Criss

HARRY REID SHOULD BE ASHAMED

An editorial cartoon widely circulated recently shows a drawing of the famous flag raising by the Marines on Mount Suribachi. The photograph by Joe Rosenthal of that event during World War II is the most reproduced picture in the history of photography.

The cartoon shows the Marines raising the flag, with a person on a step ladder behind them, tying a white flag on to the flagpole. The Marine at the base of the flag, putting it into the ground, turns and says, “Harry Reid, cut that out!!”

While I laughed at first at the sight of the cartoon, I did not laugh when I first read that Senator Reid, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, had gone public with his opinion that the war in Iraq has been “lost.” I find it incredibly irresponsible that a person in Mr. Reid’s position would make such a statement, at the same time our young men and women are in the middle of a war against terrorists and insurgents.

Regardless of whether you agree with what America is doing in the Global War on Terror or not, the fact remains the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines on the front lines of that war are our fellow citizens – they are someone’s husband or son, wife or daughter. To undermine them at this time is more than just irresponsible. It clearly gives aid and comfort to the enemy. It gives them hope that if they just hang on, the Congress of the United States will win the battle for them, a battle they can not win against the American military.

As much as I am disgusted by Mr. Reid’s comments, I am equally disgusted by the lack of any condemnation of him by elected officials of both major political parties. President Bush and Vice President Cheney have been heard from, but there is little outrage expressed from the halls of Congress.

I am not at all surprised there is no outrage from the mainstream media – after all, Mr. Reid is a Democrat. Imagine the difference if a Republican elected official has said something remotely like what Mr. Reid said. Can you imagine the howling if Newt Gingrich had told the world the war in Kosovo had been “lost” during the presidency of Bill Clinton?

While I condemn Mr. Reid, I do not absolve the Administration from all blame. Mistakes have been made since the war against Iraq began. There were inadequate plans for an occupation after the war was won. The handling of former representatives of the Sadam Hussein regime or the Bathist Party was not well thought out.

And as a lawyer, I have said on many occasions that when there are more lawyers than riflemen in a war zone, there is a problem. I strongly believe our rules of engagement need immediate changes to allow our soldiers and Marines to do what is necessary to win the war. Mosques should cease to be viewed as a place of worship, for example, when shots are fired from them. War is a nasty business, and our brave fighting men and women should be allowed to do all that is necessary to protect themselves.

My views are not purely from a political perspective. I served in the United States Marine Corps from 1969 until 1972, discharged as a Sergeant. I volunteered for Viet Nam on numerous occasions, but I never was sent there. But I did deal with the effects of the anti-war movement and the antics of the opposition to America’s involvement in Viet Nam.

I recall being called a “baby killer” when walking through an airport in uniform. I was part of a Marine drill team which was booed in a parade in the Philadelphia area. I was confronted by anti-war activists in my home town of Austin who could tell I was in the military by the length of my hair. I know how that affected me and my fellow Marines, and it was not positive. It was harmful to morale and discouraging to young people far from home. And I was not be shot at or dealing with the threat of improvised explosive devices.

Mr. Reid and others like him have recreated the atmosphere I dealt with 35 years ago. I never dreamed those dark days would return again, and I swore then and will do all I can now to see that they not harm our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines of today.

A columnist a year or so ago coined a phrase to describe the French – he called them “cheese eating surrender monkeys.” Roquefort, Monsieur Reid?

On Monday, April 30, Texas Governor Rick Perry said that Texans who are legally licensed should be allowed to carry their concealed handguns anywhere including churches, bars, courthouses and college campuses.
“The idea that you are going to exempt them from a particular place is nonsense,” he said.
Perry’s statements in this regard prove he is even less competent than his mentor President George W. Republican leaders apparently like to promote “shoot ‘em ups.” Bush has his war in Iraq. Now Perry wants one here in Texas in our churches, bars, courthouses and college campuses.