#RickPerry — INDICTED!

Time to stop looking a bit less smug, Tricky Ricky.
Besides, at The Response, your prayer for rain
didn't work either. Patrick Michaels/Texas Observer

Update, 4 p.m. Monday, Aug. 18: Perry has added to his original legal team with heavy hitters, including Ben Ginsberg, legal counsel for Shrub Bush in 2004 and 2008, and the Mittster in 2012.

I had a poll up when Tricky Ricky first got in the gunsights of a Travis County grand jury. Half of voters said that Tricky Ricky would be indicted on at least one felony count on the matter of vetoing money for the state's Public Integrity Unit because Travis DA Rosemary Lehmberg refused to step down after her dumb DWI.

Better than that.

Tricky Ricky's been indicted on TWO felony counts. Too bad we don't have perp-walk pictures. That would have made the story complete. (Actual indictment text is here.)

The charges he was potentially facing, per the Texas Observer, included coercion of a public servant, bribery, and abuse of official capacity. And, per the top link, he got one count of each; the first charge is a first-degree felony, the second is a third-degree felony. The first carries a penalty of 10-99 years plus fines, and the other a sentence of 2-10 years.

I had expected that as a possibility at the time of my original post.

Given the amount of money involved with the veto, abuse of official capacity would be a first-degree felony, if the value of the veto is calculated in cash budget $$ since, at $8 million, it's much higher than $200K. On the other two, in the same area of law code, bribery is a felony 2 and coercion is a felony 3. Perry dodged a bribery charge, which arguably could have been made.

That's not the only "money in play," though. The chart at left, via Jobsanger, shows just what crony capitalism is really all about here vis-a-vis the Texas Enterprise Fund.

Think Progress notes the first statute is somewhat vague, especially when combined with the claim Perry was using his normal veto power. That's arguably true in the abstract, but Perry's comments around the time of the veto, his later offer of another job to Lehmberg if she'd step down and other things, all bolster McCrum's case.

How serious is this? Perry even made the New York Times, which notes you're the first Texas governor to be criminally indicted since the infamous Pa Ferguson.

Meanwhile, I guess the Trickster's flaksters were ready for this. The PR email is already out.

Mary Anne Wiley, General Counsel for Gov. Rick Perry, today issued the following statement regarding the decision by the Travis County Grand Jury: 

“The veto in question was made in accordance with the veto authority afforded to every governor under the Texas Constitution. We will continue to aggressively defend the governor's lawful and constitutional action, and believe we will ultimately prevail.”

Sure.

Perry's Aug. 16 presser was nothing new. He's trying to pin it all to politics and Rosemary Lehmberg. Not even discussing special prosecutor Michael McCrum.

He's now shifting to "blame Obama" over the "surge" of Ill Eagles, based on a question at the presser. And, that lasted all of less than 10 minutes!

Time for a new poll, about what jail time the Trickster might get.

Actually, I have two — one about what may happen in the legal process, and the other on what he'll face if he's guilty.

Political and other considerations

First, for any non-Texas liberals, at least, worried that this will make Perry a martyr for wingnutism?

Not likely.

Ever since the Trans Texas Corridor, if not before, Tricky Ricky has NOT been a favorite of incipient, then full-bloomed, Tea Party types. His backers have always been big biz Republicans first. The four-way race in the 2006 general election and the Debra Medina challenge in the 2010 GOP primary point to that.

And, (Aug. 20) that's now official.

The Tea Partiers, as I expected and predicted, have little love lost for the Trickster. Read this, from JoAnn Fleming, chair of the Texas Legislature's Tea Party Caucus Advisory Committee, starting here:

(W)e can say there is a basis for raising the questions, and it centers on the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). …
 Proper oversight was missing from CPRIT from the very beginning. With Republicans in charge of all statewide offices and both the House and Senate, this lack of oversight can hardly be laid at the feet of Democrats.

Why This Matters: A scathing January 2013 CPRIT audit report released by State Auditor John Keel cited a weak evaluation process for grant applications, poor verification of compliance with funding agreements, and lack of controls on spending. 

Well put. The TP folks are still claiming there's a political angle, but not that it's the primary one.

That said, that leads to a "timetable" issue.

The Trickster has less than five months left in office. Right now, he can try dumping at least some of his legal fees on the state, and all of his PR fees. And he's already dumped us with $40K of legal fees, according to Progress Texas.

(I have contacted Texans for Public Justice, asking if they plan to file another complaint or take other action over this.)

Come next January, that's a different kettle of fish. I don't know if that will push him to make a plea deal this year or not. Likely not.

That also depends on how deep the wallets are of Friends of Rick. He lost a deeply walleted donor last year in Bob Perry. While it's true that the Public Integrity Unit had some eyeballs on both the Trickster's Texas Enterprise Fund and CPRIT, the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas, it remains to be seen how much of a rush private sector folks will be to contribute to a Rick Perry Legal Defense Fund.

Is there a chance he could beat the rap? I was reminded of Bug Man himself, Tom DeLay.

I don't think Perry's odds are as good. And, Bug Man isn't out of the woods yet, too.

First, the statute that I still believe Bug Man violated, despite his escaping on appeal, seems a bit less clear-cut than this.

Also, the overturning of his case on appeal was itself appealed by Lehmberg, whose predecessor, Ronnie Earle, initiated the case. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed to accept the appeal, but has not yet issued a ruling.

Second, a special prosecutor, and a Republican seemingly Republican friendly, definitely Republican acceptable lawyer at that, made this case. Travis DA Ronnie Earle, who I wish would have fulfilled rumors and ran for governor in 2010, was after DeLay's tail.

Third, Bug Man had helped elect new, additional GOP Congresscritters. Remember, his campaign fund finagling was related to mid-decadal redistricting last decade. He had people sincerely indebted to him within the political world. Perry doesn't have that. Most of the elected GOP is wingnuts who don't necessarily care for Perry's big biz friends, even if they don't dislike them as much as they do David Dewhurst's ones.

Related to that, GOP wingnuts who are friends of Ted Cruz, at a minimum, probably won't shed tears over Perry's plight. At a medium, they may break out a case of schadenfreude. At a maximum, they may help push him to the curb.

At the ultimate, Cruz himself will probably covertly help push Perry under the bus, if he can do so without leaving fingerprints.

And, the man who's running to replace Perry? Abbott himself has a bit of his skirts dirtied from CPRIT. So, he's going to do his damndest to say as little as absolutely possible. There's already been corruption issues associated with it start to bob up, with the promise of more. CPRIT has been a major focus of Lehmberg's, along with environmental law, and we know how Abbott feels about that.

That said, unless Texas press push the tie-in issue, or Wendy Davis does so strenuously, he may just skate.

And, given that Davis' campaign is still somewhat discombobulated, it's quite possible that, while she mentions a Republican culture of corruption in general or something, she fails to bell Abbott very well.

So far, per an early roundup of political reaction from the Houston Chronicle? Crickets from Abbott and Cruz, and disappointing "justice system" boilerplate pablum from Wendy Davis.

Her full comment at that time?

“These allegations are troubling and I have confidence in our justice system to do its job.”

Blech. A great example of the usually slow-and-timid campaign.

Politics or an independent prosecutor?

Per the top link, about Perry's alleged press conference, this isn't about politics. An independent prosecutor, supported by then Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison as U.S. District Attorney for the Western District of Texas in 2010 (he eventually withdrew his name) sought this indictment.

Speaking of, McCrum's already blasted Perry for politicizing this:

Saturday, the special prosecutor in the case struck back at Perry’s legal team, telling the San Antonio Express-News that it was “ridiculous” and “disappointing” for the governor’s lawyer to say that politics were behind the indictment. Perry lawyer David Botsford had issued a statement late Friday saying he was outraged and appalled by the indictment, which he called an “abuse of the court system” and a dangerous precedent. 

Michael McCrum, the special prosecutor, responded to Botsford Saturday, telling the Express-News: “He can only be implying that it’s either me, or the grand jury, who are motivated by politics, and that’s not only ridiculous, but it’s disappointing, because of the many conversations that I’ve had with Mr. Botsford where he knows full well that was never an issue in our discussions. I think it’s important to note that while that may be good rhetoric for the state, there’s absolutely no basis for it. My investigation not only did not involve that, but my conversations with Mr. Botsford have never involved that. It’s always been about the facts and the law.”

Period and end of story.

However, by the way that Perry's alleged press conference was played, solely on blasting Lehmberg, then using the second of just two questions (a plant? I couldn't hear the question well) to pivot to attacking Obama over border security? We know how he's going to play the game.

We also now officially know that McCrum will fight back with fists swinging.

For friends of mine to pass on to wingnuts and semi-wingnuts talking about Obama's "abuse of power," etc., this little analogy will explain what Obama would have had to have done to do something similar to what Perry's done.

Meanwhile, Michael Lind has written what is far and away the stupidest thing about the indictment I've seen from an alleged liberal and a native Texan to boot. He doesn't even mention a special prosecutor, let alone McCrum's name, and he claims DeLay has been acquitted. You can show him some love with an email to lind@newamerica.net. I've now put his and two other op-ed pieces by folks that should know better into this post.

Beyond this, which idjits like Lind overlook and which the Perry cheer squad wants to sweep under the rug, two other state DAs have had DWI charges during Perry's tenure. His reaction? As the Morning News reminds us — bupkis.

And, I wouldn't be surprised if McCrum knew that, at least the Kaufman DA case, when presenting to the grand jury.

Sidebar: The "missing" bribery charge

So, how did Perry dodge the third possible charge, of bribery?

Perry offered Lehmberg a lesser job within the Travis DA's office in exchange for her resignation shortly after her DWI court plea. First, no, I don't think that counts as bribery, not in the legal sense. Nor do I think it counts as extortion in the legal sense. Whether it adds up to either in a moral sense is another issue.

Somehow, I missed this at the time of Perry's threats. I'm not sure I would have trusted Perry to follow through. OTOH, if it could have been put in writing as a legal contract, I would have preferred it. That said, Perry would have likely still thought about breaking that contract and stalling out a civil legal process, as that's all the result would have been. Especially since other indications are that Perry wanted GOP State Rep. Terry Keel in that job, the offer wasn't to be trusted as genuine.

If I had thought such a deal would have more legal teeth than is the actual case in today's Dodge City, Texas, I would have supported it. Even if she's gotten and stayed stone cold sober, Lehmberg clearly had a drinking problem of long enough standing, probably coupled with some "enabling" here and there, that, ideally, it would have been preferable if she left.

Anyway, contra some opiners, there's no bribery involved in a legal sense. And, since we're now talking matters legal, not matters ethical, I'll fight back on opiners who say he did bribe someone. Whether McCrum presented that as a third charge and the grand jury said no, or whether he pulled it himself, it's the right call there.

 Felonious fallout and a personal connection of sorts

And, if convicted, Tricky Ricky will have to give up that beloved hogleg that he allegedly uses for killing coyotes. It's not just the concealed weapons angle; convicted felons in Texas can't own firearms for five years, and they can't ever have concealed carry permits. That, and many other, restrictions he would face are here. (It's also a great way to do voter suppression, because a felonious Trickster can't vote until he's done with sentence and parole!)

No pistole and no voting; that's about the most fun parts of this.

Beyond that, this has been coming for 20-plus years.

At my first newspaper, I had a set of investigative journalism stories connected to his race against Jim Hightower for Ag Commissioner. Hightower's department was investigating an agrichemical company legally incorporated as a co-op. One of his agents accidentally went from adjoining private ranchland onto the company's site. Perry reportedly told the company to use this as an excuse to stall, stall, stall until after the election, which he, of course won in 1990.  Given the bribery cases against Hightower's aides (to which he was in no way personally connected), Perry had a good chance of winning.

Assuming what I heard as rumor is true, nobody should underestimate Tricky Ricky's legal elbows.

Dear Rick Perry: Davos has no coyotes, but it does have gun control laws

So, don't attempt to pack heat when you go to Switzerland to hobnob with the rich and famous after pretending to care about the little people. Because, you don't qualify for a permit.

It does have plenty of predatory capitalists, but, given the woes and travails of your emerging technology slush fund, you know all about those folks. Instead of guns, you have beers and shots with folks like that — not gunshots, but mulimillion-dollar money shots.

Per his press office:

Gov. Rick Perry will be in Davos, Switzerland from Tuesday, January 21 until Saturday, January 25, where he will hold private meetings and participate in two panel discussions at the World Economic Forum.

On Thursday, the governor will participate as a panelist in “The Drugs Dilemma: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business.”

On Friday, he will participate in the roundtable discussion “Governors Session: Health Summit.”

Private meetings? Like when he flies to other states here in the US of A and tries to sell businesses on relocating to Texas. Ricky Boy, that ain't flying nowhere.

Well, I take that back. Trans Texas Corridor partner Cintra might be over there, humping for toll road work.

Second, that "Drugs Dilemma" meeting? Rick, they're going to tell you to go easy in the nuttery of the War on Drugs. And when you try to talk about your Texas Miracle, they're going to laugh right in your face.

Governors' Session: Health Summit? Let me guess — this is a GOP governors' session to bitch about Obamacare. Any real health summit in Europe, if you talked about health care in Texas? They're going to laugh right in your face.

And, hey, it's time to trot out "famous handshakes concern trolling for $100!"

Because Tricky Ricky will have at least one Chinese Commee with which to hobnob. Jiang Jianqing, Chairman of the Board, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, People's Republic of China, will be there.

And, the Trickster, during his time in Davos, seemingly can't find time to attend any of the nearly half-dozen sessions on global warming. Surely one of them would be of more power than his drought relief prayers, which he admitted himself, again, this week, still aren't working.

TxDOT wants to cut losses on 130, toll I-35 in Austin

Well, this would be a new level of teh stupid: The Texas Department of Transportation’s Commission is considering proposals to add tolls to portions of IH-35 within Austin and converting the SH-130 toll road to a free-use road. 

I am assuming that our state's transportation leaders have broached such stupidity for political reasons, namely the possible bond default by Cintra/Zachry, Rick Perry's best buds since Trans Texas Corridor days, on the currently tolled Texas 130 of 80mph speed limits and no more than 80 cars per hour of traffic.

Anyway, here's the nut grafs, followed by my response:

TxDOT and local officials are considering more than $1 billion in possible projects that could relieve some of the congestion on I-35 through Austin, including adding toll lanes and redesigning frontage roads. Last month, the Austin City Council approved allocating $2 million toward TxDOT’s expenses to “evaluate creative solutions to reduce congestion and improve safety and mobility along and across I-35.” Redesignating a portion of SH 130 as I-35 and tolling those lanes remains an option, officials said.

“That’s what we’ll be looking at in the next nine to 18 months,” said Robert Spillar, transportation director for the city of Austin. “I think we need to consider every tool available to better manage I-35.” He stressed that he was not advocating for swapping a tolled highway and a non-tolled one.

Really?

First, where the hell are you going to put those toll booths for those lanes? And, unless it's going to be one fee for several straight miles of road, that question is double in spades for downtown, double-decked I-35.

Ditto on other things. I don't see how you can get much relief from redesigning frontage roads, because there ain't much room for that, either.

Second, unless you jacked the toll price for I-35 high, high, high, even if 130 now becomes free, I can't see this cutting downtown Austin traffic that much. And, if you do that, you need to upgrade mass transit to downtown, find new space for more Park-and-Ride lots, etc.

The problem, of course, is the city's exorbitant growth rate, combined with geography, especially being at the edge of the Hill Country on the west side.

Austinites like to compare their city to San Francisco, or maybe elsewhere in Silicon Valley. Due to the geographic issues, on freeways, L.A. is a more apt comparison.

And, the population issue is ridiculous. Travis County is expected to about double in 20 years, and Williamson to triple.

"Growth for growth's sake is the theology of the cancer cell." — Ed Abbey

As for TxDOT's side, outside of any Cintra/Zachry politics, this has to be its dumbest move since proposing that it double-deck the LBJ on the north side of Dallas.

I'm also suspicious of timing issues. Yes, a constitutional amendments election isn't high profile, but did TxDOT folks hope they would get some news camouflage?

And, per Burnt Orange Report, I wonder if this is the state's attempt to help salvage the private parties' credit rating.

Rick Perry and Texas transportation trauma

As Texas political watchers of all stripes know, we're now headed to a third special session of the 83rd Texas Legislature. The last time that happened? I believe it was in 2005, when Gov. Tricky Ricky Perry had a unanimous vote against his initial proposal for school finance reform, or "reform," in the first special.

That's why Gov. Helmethair pretending to be the voice of reason on transportation issues is such a laugh. He hasn't been the voice of reason since he jumped in bed with Cintas and Zachry over the Trans-Texas Corridor. Ahh, who could forget that.

Well, certainly not tea party types. It's arguable that, three years or so before the election of Barack Obama as president, tea partyism got its start right here in Tejas over the TTC.

Xenophobia over a foreign country? Check. (Warranted not as a foreign company, just a big privatizing one.)

Paranoia about big government? Check, but again, warranted, given the rampant, roughshod powers of eminent domain Tricky Ricky was proposing.

Paranoia about major spending? Check, but not warranted.

That said, there's plenty of blame, almost all Republican, to spread on this issue.

Texas' gas tax hasn't been raised in 20 years, right? Well, if math is correct, the GOP has controlled the governor's mansion for the last 18 of those, the lieutenant governor's slot for the last 14, and a majority of both houses for the last 12. Ditto on the fact that the state's gas tax isn't totally dedicated to roads.

Texas' general refusal to engage in long-term state indebtedness for road projects? That one's a mix of Republicans and conservative Democrats. Anything that would disturb Big Oil is a no-no.

That, in turn leads back to the current situation, namely the refusal to consider tapping the Rainy Day Fund. (Tea partyers' stance on this in the Lege spells difficulty for the water projects constitutional amendment in the fall.)

This stars with Tricky Ricky, who refused to entertain the idea for education two years ago. It's exacerbated by Comptroller Susan Combs' willfully bad accounting then.

That said, this is a chance for Dems to insist that an ever-more-urbanizing Texas put more money into light rail and other urban transportation alternatives to building more pavement. Tricky Ricky simply can't get a decent bill passed without them.

Tea partiers will not trust Perry on transportation issues, period, given the TTC past. And, there's enough people who fall into this category, especially in the Texas House, that I don't think there's any chance a bill moves without Democratic support, and a decent amount of it. Dems are in the driver's seat; will they know how to properly work the gears?

And, given that this is not about a social conservative measure, when are Dems going to start hammering Perry for wasting $800K for each special?

Tom Pauken starts venting his #xenophobia

Pauken, Greg Abbott's alleged "competition" for the GOP nomination for governor in Texas, rightly questions the Texas Education Agency's contract for school testing services with Pearson.

That contract has come under fire for lack of transparency, violating the state's "revolving door" statute on state officials immediately going to work for related private businesses, and more.

But, then, he "went there" (emphasis added in quote):

"In view of the State Auditor’s Office report criticizing Texas’ $462 million contract with the British firm Pearson as too vague, it should be more evident to everyone that the entire contract needs to be eliminated.

“My policy as governor would be to work with the Texas Education Agency to find a more sensible and less costly way of testing our public school students’ levels of achievement. There are better ways of ensuring accountability in public education while also maintaining high standards.

“I have previously called for completely ending the contract with this British-owned company. It is increasingly obvious that now is the time to end this contract.”

Good thing it's "fish and chips" instead of "fish and British fries," eh? 

The contract is wrong because it's wrong, period. No xenophobic references needed. And,  Deepwater Horizon aside, what does Pauken think of BP, the former British Petroleum? Or Royal Dutch Shell?

Meanwhile, the Dallas Morning News reports the revolving door has been shut again.

Meanwhile, where was Comptroller Susan Combs during all this? It's arguable that she was AWOL from monitoring that her agency has a right to do. Yes, the state auditor is the first line of defense, but, if that office wasn't going to intervene, the comptroller's office could have, IMO.

Finally, this is why Greg Abbott thinks he can do a general-election focused panderfest during the primary. Pauken makes him look sane, and offers little real competition.

The man has no electoral politics brains whatsoever.

If he did, instead of Brit-bashing, he'd be rhetorically asking how the revolving door issues flew by Abbott's office without an adversarial AG's opinion.

Instead, it's the same xenophobia we saw over the Trans-Texas Corridor. It too was wrong. But Cintra being a Spanish company, as wingnuts repeatedly mouthed, had nothing to do with it being wrong.

#RickPerry'sTexasMiracle - #Romney to fight back

In a mix of "chess match" plus actual strategy discussion news analysis, the New York Times reports Mitt Romney is ready to take on Rick Perry on three issues: immigration, jobs creation and time in government.

The former makes sense. With the possible exceptions of Jon Huntsman and the one true libertarian in the race (sit DOWN, you Paultards), Gary Johnson, Perry's an outlier on this issue.

That also said, any Texas progressive with brains knows Rick Perry's OK with illegal immigration because his No. 1 campaign donor, Bob Perry, likes the cheap labor to build those cheap suburban homes.

The second one? Given income inequality, plus the barely-legal kickbacks of sorts of Perry's enterprise fund, the Mittster isn't going to be the only GOPer asking questions. The story said that Bachmann is doing a study course on Perry's record. (Is the briefing paper monosyllabic?)

That said, the third one is interesting, and one I hadn't thought of yet. Especially with tea party types being so down on government in general, attacking Perry for, in essence, being a "government lifer" could gain some traction. Romney's been out of government for a while; Bachmann's not been in, on a full-time basis, for very long. Huntsman's out. Newt's out. And Perry spent pretty much a decade in the Lege before running for ag commissioner, so the "lifer" argument has merit.

Next? Wednesday's debate. Tis true that Perry ducked debates in the 2010 general election (and 2006), but couldn't in the primary. The person there for a Bachmann to study is neither Kay Bailey Cheerleader nor Perry, but Debra Medina. If Bachmann wants to do some appealing to tea party true believers, the script is already in place; it just needs some expansion and polishing up.

Also? One thing not yet on the GOP opposition radar, but that they could easily find if they went back to 2006 is the Trans Texas Corridor. That's a big "big government" issue to hang on Perry.

Texas, not-so-Super weather, Rick Perry — a $10M clusterfuck?

Yes, the weather is improving now. But, as the story wonders, could the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, and Texas as a state, done better?

Short answer? Yes. If nothing else, Texas Gov. Rick Perry should have hired private contractors, including his Trans-Texas Corridor best buds, Zachry Construction, to plow roads. He, Dallas and Tarrant County, and the NFL should all have gotten together to use salt, not just sand, if it were deemed to have made a difference.

If the Super Bowl only brings in $70 million instead of $80 million to the local economy, all the people above will come off as hugely penny-wise and pound-foolish. And, no, those numbers aren't lies. Per this non-hype, non-inflated estimate, the typical Super Bowl generates about that much money.

I doubt the snow and ice cancellations of parties, etc., cost more than that. Nonetheless, $10 million is $10 million.

And Rick Perry, financial genius, along with Jethro Jerry Jones, con artist deluxe, contributed to this.

Since most of the sales tax in Texas goes to the state, not countis or cities, Tricky Ricky may have cost the state a chunk of money. And, that's not all.

Also taking hits:
1. Texas' "can do" reputation Tricky Ricky has pushed.
2. The efficiency of hyperlean governmnet.

Kay Bailey — I hate TTC, but I love toll roads!

That's why Kay Bailey Hutchison is soooo glad to take campaign money from The Zachry Group, and deny it to Tricky Ricky Perry.

While the Trans-Texas Corridor is the biggest problem, the push for toll roads in general is a big enough problem in Texas.

It's part of the GOP's ongoing process in this state of taxing people more and more all while hiding the taxes by calling them "service fees" and similar things. Toll roads in particular are also a mark of the disorganized fashion in which state government is run in Texas. If the Texas Department of Transportation were ever authorized for real multi-year budgeting, we wouldn't have any need for toll roads.

Well, that is, if the Lege would apply ALL of the gas tax to transportation.

KBH is a kinder, gentler, dishonest than Tricky Ricky.

Oh, and her anti-TTC ads? Beyond being deceitful, they're lame-o.

Perry trying to back-door Trans Texas Corridor?

If you look at the details of Texas Gov Rick Perry's calling the Texas Lege into special session, on No. 3 below, it sounds that way:

====

The special session will consider the following issues:

1. Legislation extending the existence of five state agencies that were
subject to sunset review by the 81st Legislature that would otherwise be
abolished without legislative action, and to change the review schedule for
certain state agencies to balance the Sunset Advisory Commission¹s workload.
These agencies include the Texas Department of Transportation, Texas
Department of Insurance, Texas Racing Commission, Office of Public Insurance
Counsel and Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation.

3.Legislation allowing the Texas Department of Transportation to issue
general obligation bonds, which have already been approved by voters, for
highway improvement projects, and for the creation, administration,
financing and use of a Texas Transportation Revolving Fund to provide
financial assistance for transportation projects.
?Legislation extending the authority of the Texas Department of
Transportation and a regional mobility authority to use comprehensive
development agreements to design, finance, build and maintain transportation
infrastructure.

Ellis County rabble-rouser stirs up south suburban Dallas

While there were many fine, upstanding residents of Cedar Hill and various Ellis County cities at the special hearing on Loop 9 in Cedar Hill April 23, there was more than a small scattering of people bringing some baggage to the event.

Let me put it this way.

When you get the normally mild-mannered, low-key Cedar Hill Mayor Rob Franke so riled up he shows his anger to you, and tells you that you need to learn some respect ... (that said, years later, we've learned that Rob Franke's public persona is full of shit; background to that here).

If you know Rob, you know you've crossed a line. If you don't, you need to learn.

Other than that, we had, in my guesstimate, about two dozen of the 225 or so attendees who stayed for much of the Texas Department of Transporation presentation who regularly talked over TxDOT representatives attempts to answer their questions.

We had other people broaching conspiracy theories, like the person who got Franke upset in part by claiming local officials were nothing but "moles," or pawns under the control of the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

So "congratulations" to the Ellis Countian now in New Hampshire, Joey Dauben, for stirring up some of these people.

And all for a road that, as Cedar Hill ISD Boardmember Valerie Banks noted, won't be built for several years. (If it's built at all.)

As for the Trans Texas Corridor tie-in, it's true that TxDOT still has TTC -style concepts for some local toll roads. But, Loop 9, as one of those toll roads, was proposed long before the TTC was around. And, given that Loop 9 is, in essence, the southern parallel to the Bush Turnpike, if it is built, and built as a toll road, it could well be run by the North Texas Tollway Authority, if anybody.

If you want a better target for your anger, tell Gov. Perry and the Lege to stop diverting gas tax money to the general fund. And tell both of them to do more with long-term bond indebtedness rather than toll roads.


That said, it was interesting to see Dallas County Judge Jim Foster in south suburban Dallas in the flesh for pretty much the first time since he got elected.

Try us, you might like us, judge.

It was just as interesting, if not more so, to see him and his nemesis, County Commissioner John Wiley Price, at the same table.

(Note: Original post corrected here, to reflect that Giddings was NOT at meeting. Between being far enough away from the front, and a bit nearsighted, I made a mistake.)

Speaking of that, I've asked Dauben on several of his blogs (which are not going to get linked here) if he wouldn't like to own up to any mistakes in any of his coverage, or "angles" he has, and so far, the sound has been...

Crickets! (No surprise there, though. And that's why none of his blogs are being linked here.)

==

Update, Aug. 22, 2021: Besides "Sunflower" and his other groupies who trailed him, at the Ellis County Observer, Dauben had as one of his flunkies a guy named Ali Akbar, who also allegedly was working on the Texas effort for John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. Today, you know him as "Stop the Steal" thief Ali Alexander. Dauben, per this piece, back then thought Akbar (already then a convicted felon) was shady as shit, claiming that Akbar/Alexander had talked back then of ways to rig an election. And, if Joey Dauben thought that ...

 

Update, April 17, 2023: Akbar/Alexander now accused of soliciting "dick pics" from followers of Nick Fuentes. Says he's been "battling" same-sex attraction. Uses "so gay" as a slur. Statement, via Twitter, claims he's done nothing illegal. Other than possibly breaking the law if any of these were of minors (and hence highly illegal), sounds like he needs to stop battling and start accepting being bisexual. Plus, it's all about the money. Milo Yiannopoulos (THAT Milo) ratted on him after he and Fuentes cut him out of a "potentially lucrative" position with Kanye West's presidential run. (Was this 2020, or is he looking at another in 2024? YE gads.) And, rats like Marjorie Taylor Greene are trying to dissociate from both. 

==

 

Akbar/Alexander new update, Feb. 16, 2025: More on the Alexander is allegedly gay. Gives a whole new angle to his connection to Dauben. 

Trans-Texas Corridor dead; GOP politics alive and kicking

Gov. Rick Perry, claiming the program was "misunderstood" by the Texas public, who apparently weren't collectively sheeple-ish enough for him, has weighed in on the "demise" of the Trans Texas Corridor. (And, could we just pay some Iraqis to "graciously detain" him for a while?

Uhh, yeah, right. Aside from the most extreme worries about a North American Union (the more moderate level concerns had some grounding), it's clear the public new just what was up, Gov. Helmethair?

And, was this all a matter of coincidence, anyway, on "dismantling" and renaming the TTC? The Texas Department of Transportation fixing to come under more direct oversight from the Lege, if it follows Sunset Commission recommendations, and Lil Rickster looking ahead to 2010.

Hutchison thinks not.

Rick Perry sucking up to Spanish Ambassador … is Cintra on the agenda?

From an e-mail I got at work from the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce:

The Honorable Rick Perry will be among a host of business executives and Texas leadership welcoming U.S. Ambassador to Spain Eduardo Aguirre to Dallas on Monday, May 12, at the Rosewood Crescent Hotel hosted by the Greater Dallas Chamber.

“We are pleased to welcome the Governor and the Ambassador to the Dallas region for this important event,” said Victor Almeida, chair of the Greater Dallas Chamber¹s International Business Council (IBC) and CEO of Interceramic Inc. “The Chamber has a long history of working to recruit inward investment and trade development opportunities to North Texas. This is an excellent opportunity for Dallas-area businesses to connect with Spanish companies without crossing the Atlantic,” continued Almeida.

Companies like Cintra, the Spanish tie-in with Zachry Construction for the Trans Texas Corridor?

In four years time, Spain has quadrupled its investments in the United States. Spain is now focusing its attention on the North Texas region. The Honorable Eduardo Aguirre, U.S. Ambassador to Spain and the American Chamber of Commerce in Spain will lead this U.S.-Spain development mission to the State of Texas to promote Spanish investment in Texas and develop joint ventures and technology exchanges with key Texas cities. This mission includes 20 Spanish companies from the following sectors: life sciences, aviation technologies, food and wine products, and sustainable technologies including renewable energies, water treatment and industrial manufacturing.

What, where’s road construction?

But, aviation technologies? Maybe Cintra wants to toll our air traffic controllers?

Anyway, hold on to your hats.

A ‘liberal’ blogger claims TTC worry is part of conspiracy thinking

Pale Rider, recycling, an old Nation article by Christopher Hayes, without distinguishing between the “NAFTA superhighway” and the Trans Texas Corridor, claims that anybody worried about the Trans Texas Corridor potentially being part of something bigger, the “’NAFTA Superhighway’ that actually doesn't exist, except in the imagination of wingnuts everywhere,” is a wingnut. It’s black and white.

Mr. Pale Rider refuses to admit he might be even partially wrong, even though I told him that Hayes had pulled in his horns somewhat after he wrote his Nation piece and even admitted he didn’t know a lot about the TTC.

And, I have now told him that Christopher Hayes himself refutes him:

I plead guilty to the charge that my glancing coverage of the Security and Prosperity Partnership was overly credulous. In subsequent correspondence primarily with Canadian progressives, I’ve become convinced that the SPP is far more ambitious and more nefarious than its architects claim. It seems its two primary objectives are deregulation by stealth and the imposition of US-style “war on terror” security measures on Canada and Mexico. As a general matter, I share nearly all of Judy Ancel’s concerns about corporate globalization and the neoliberal agenda for the United States and its immediate neighbors. The point of the piece wasn’t to imply that anyone who shares those concerns is paranoid; rather, I was attempting to show that when the mainstream political and media establishment ignore ordinary citizens’ very real and legitimate concerns about the direction of transnational capitalism, their anxieties are easily directed away from the underlying causes and toward mythical threats.

I told Mr. Pale Rider that if he didn’t want to listen to me, there were plenty of other liberal Texas bloggers who would tell him more.

If you’d like to be one of those liberal Texas bloggers giving Pale Rider a little cyber noogie, here’s his e-mail addy.

If you know of any other “liberals” who claim TTC worries about being something bigger are all tinfoil hat stuff, give them a cyber-noogie too.

Trans Texas Corridor whore Kruzee DWI arrested

Maybe the Trans Texas Corridor DOES drive a man to drink!

Rep. Mike Krusee, chairman of the House Transportation Committee in the Texas Lege for driving while intoxicated. And, here’s the irony of being hoist by your own petard:

Krusee carried and passed legislation in 2003 that created something called the “driver responsibility program” to help fund the Texas Mobility Fund. That program included a number of surcharges for driving offenses, including $1,000 for a first conviction of driving while intoxicated.

Actually, the cost is more than that, from what I’ve read. Plus, he gets the 180-day administrative license revocation. All of that also courtesy of his own legislative skill!

Then we have the untruth of the “one glass of wine” admission after failing a field sobriety test. Throw in that Krusee was driving with expired registration, and we’ve got a doozy.

Krusee decided not to run for re-election this year. I’ll bet the Texas GOP is breathing a huge collective sigh of relief right now.

For more on Krusee’s whoring for the TTC, and just plain whoring, go here. That’s your family values GOP for you!

OTOH, Krusee argued last fall, when he decided not to run again, that he was being made the fall guy for TTC opposition. I’m sure there’s a grain of truth there.

Well, TxDOT is at it again

Well, more than six hundred new Texas laws went into effect Sept. 1. Unfortunately, not one of them was about controlling the Texas Department of Transportation making propaganda films.

I’m sorry, did I say that? I mean, informative commercials about just how wonderful TxDOT wants to make our lives with brand-spanking new, wide, fast-moving roads. Now, the word “toll” was never used, let alone the phrase “Trans Texas Corridor,” but, they were lurking in the background, like the shadow of an 800-pound gorilla.

Meanwhile, some people are even floating the legal possibility that TxDOT could “buy back” already-built roads; that is, it could pay the federal government its original construction costs and then make I-45, for example, a toll road.

Frankly, I’m shocked — shocked, I say — that TxDOT hasn’t pulled out the terrorism angle. This would make a better commercial than anything they’ve run so far.

Picture a TV commercial voiceover saying, “When our roads are no longer free, then terrorists will no longer be free to use our roads. Support TxDOT’s fight against terrorism by supporting the Trans Texas Corridor.

So, why is the Macquarie Group buying area papers?

It’s the Trans Texas Corridor

Macquarie Media Group Ltd., the purchaser of the Waxahachie Daily Light and other Texas newspapers of American Consolidated Media, is a subsidiary of Macquarie Bank, which is a Cintra-Macquarie partner. As reported here, Macquarie Bank is the parent of Macquarie Infrastructure, one of the largest toll road operators in the world. Macquarie Infrastructure last year partnered with Cintra (Cintra-Macquarie). The two are partnered on a toll road of nearly $4 billion in Indiana. Cintra, of course, is partners here in Texas with Zachry Construction to build the Trans Texas Corridor toll road.