Wendy Davis delivered a damning speech on Thursday at the University of Houston in which she charged Greg Abbott with greed, crony capitalism, his and Austin's culture of corruption. Davis did not mince words. Most of us have heard about various cases of Rick Perry's and Greg Abbott's shoddy underhanded dealings but when Wendy exposed all of them at the same time, it became glaringly clear that Austin is infested by a revolving door of sleaze and creeping corruption. Politicians are using taxpayer funds to enrich their crony donors who, of course, give back generously to them. We the wee ones are not only left out of the process, thanks to a lack of oversight and transparency, but we also get stuck paying the price in more ways than one.
Wendy Davis's speech is driven by the recent state audit of the Texas Enterprise Fund that revealed hundreds of millions of dollars were given to firms and universities that did not even submit grant proposals. Greg Abbott worked tirelessly to keep the use of these funds hidden from public view. In fact he even tried to cover up how the funds were being used. And to put a cherry on top of this lovely sleaze sundae Greg Abbott received $1.4 million from some of the TEF's recipients.
One reason Rick Perry and Greg Abbott promote small government is because there are not enough cops on the beat to keep up with crooks like them who can easily rob the cookie jar of every last crumb. Next time we hear a politician extol the virtues of small government we should remember that this is coded language that means taxpayers are going to be robbed blind while fat cats get richer. It's the Republican way, after all.
This latest scandal surrounding the TEF reminds us of CPRIT, the state's taxpayer funded Cancer Research Institute. In this situation the unethical behavior was so blatant and criminal that Nobel Laureates and highly respected scientists quit their jobs there. And once again Greg Abbott had turned a blind eye to the pillaging and looting of CPRIT's funds. A familiar pattern by now, the top administrator had awarded grants to institutions without oversight or proper review.
One cannot help but wonder what Rick Perry and Greg Abbott are doing or have done to other taxpayer funded pots of money. A full blown audit of every budget is long overdue.
Meanwhile please join us on the Wendy Davis campaign trail. See how hard we are working to elect a much needed breath of fresh air to the Governor's mansion. Texas voters should have had enough by now and we refuse to take the sleaze, the greed and the corruption anymore.
Breaking. 9:06 p.m. October 3. The Houston Chronicle endorses Leticia Van de Putte as Lt. Governor.
The differences between the candidates this year could hardly be more stark. State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio, the Democratic candidate, is not only knowledgeable and experienced but also congenial and easy to work with. Her Republican opponent, state Sen. Dan Patrick of Houston, is divisive, disruptive and self-aggrandizing.
Snip.
Van de Putte, a moderate Democrat of Mexican descent, is a mother, grandmother and small-businesswoman. She was elected to the Texas House in 1990 and the Senate in 1999. The exact opposite of Patrick, the 59-year-old lawmaker has earned the respect of her colleagues in the majority-Republican Senate. They know she'll work with them.
Oh come on Texas. Who on earth doesn't love Leticia?
Meanwhile, check out what we have been doing on my turf in Houston this week.
We were so busy that I had no time to take pictures. On Wednesday, after Wendy Davis's heated debate with Greg Abbott on Tuesday night, volunteers had a renewed sense of energy and excitement. We meet at a nearby Denny's in which the manager has kindly let us have use of a back room. Seven of us called hundreds of people. We found a lot of Wendy supporters and we managed to talk a few uninformed low information voters over to our side. We bashed Greg Abbott and tea party radical Dan Patrick every chance we had. This tactic worked extremely well with woman. We had to ratchet it down when speaking to older men. Fortunately the lists provide the gender and age of each person we call.
On Thursday our BGTX organizer, a fellow volunteer and I registered voters at what we thought would be a Jewish retirement center in S.W. Houston. But it was instead a global melting pot that is so typically Houston. Many residents did not speak English and so we had to complete the registrations for them. We had to use visuals like driver's licenses, voter cards and cell phones. We had to mimic signing the form after we completed it. We heard Russian, Chinese, Yiddish and Hebrew. Those who could speak English shared their stories with us. Many of them moved to Houston from other places because their kids live here. It was a totally amazing afternoon. We felt that our presence made a difference.
Tomorrow I am joining a friend north of my southwest turf to register new arrivals to Houston. She lives in a 55+ condo community in which there are lot of newbies. Hopefully most are Democratic transplants from California and New York.
On Sunday we will hold a big phone bank and canvassing in my neighborhood. I love to canvass because I prefer to talk to people face to face. I enjoy seeing the grins and smiles when I mention Wendy Davis. These activities will continue through to the election.
All in all, working with BGTX has been extremely enriching. I am meeting people I would have never met. I am going to neighborhoods in which I have never gone. As my fellow volunteers and I agree, it's nice to get outside of the 610 bubble for a change.
Please give us a hand by making a donation to Wendy Davis,Leticia Van de Putte, Sam Houston or BGTX. And if you want to help us stop baby Bush dead in his tracks, for George P. is running for Land Commissioner, please show his opponent John Cook a little love.
I can only imagine how George P. can use his position to make his greedy family even richer.
No amount is too small.
Deadline to register to vote: October 6.
Early Voting October 20-31.
Election day: November 4.
