Bribery is Now Legal in Republican Stronghold Texas.
Writing by on Wednesday, 29 of November , 2006 at 8:27 pm
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Texas, my birthplace, use to be a Democratic oasis, not always the most progressive Democrats, but it was good for a lit of blue on the map. Well about 10 years ago, the great Republican Southern Strategy (Pitting the races against each other) swept in and the Republican have a strangle hold on that state.
Well to prove that the Republicans know nothing more than corruption, pay-offs, and bribes, the Texas Ethics Commission said that describing a gift as “Currency” or “A Check” satisfies the law. So if a lobbyist walks up and gives a Texas politician a bag of money, the politician would have to report that he received some currency and a bag. If the oil industry gave a Texas politician a wheelbarrow of $100 bills stacked 5 feet high, the political would have to report that he received a wheelbarrow and some currency. If the Governor of Texas, Rick “Closeted” Perry a Mack Truck full of $4 Billion in cash, and on the seat of the Mack truck there was a check for another $4 Billion, Rick would have to report that he got a Truck, some currency, and a piece of paper described as “A check” would be fine by them.
For some reason, some in Texas are pissed at this, From the Houston Chronicle, bolds are mine.
Technorati Tags: Life in Bushs America, Republican Corruption, Republican Culture of Corruption, Right Wing HypocrisyA Texas official who receives any sum of cash as a gift can satisfy state disclosure laws by reporting the money simply as "currency," without specifying the amount, the Texas Ethics Commission reiterated Monday.
The 5-3 decision outraged watchdog groups and some officials who unabashedly accused the commission of failing to enforce state campaign finance laws.
"What the Ethics Commission has done is legalize bribery in the state of Texas. We call on the commission to resign en masse," said Tom "Smitty" Smith, who heads Texas Citizen, an Austin-based group that advocates for campaign finance reform.
Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, a Democrat, said the "currency" interpretation would render it "perfectly legal to report the gift of 'a wheelbarrow' without reporting that the wheelbarrow was filled with cash."
In a letter to the commissioners dated Monday, Earle called such an analysis "absurd and out of step with both the law and current public attitudes and concerns about corruption in government."
Monday's ruling was preceded by little discussion, other than calls from several members of the commission for the Legislature to revise the gift giving statute.
At their last meeting, commissioners said they would welcome more precise reporting, but were powerless to require it.
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Category: Life in Bushs America, Right Wing Hypocrisy, Republican Culture of Corruption, Republican Corruption
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