|
Email me
Dandy Links
Fort Bend Now
Half Empty
Granny Geek
Kuffner
Musings
Winding Road
White's Creek
Old Stuff
December, 2006
January, 2007
February,
2007
March, 2007
April, 2007
May, 2007
June 2007
And a big
thanks to
Matocha & Associates
Campaign
finance reports
Bob
Hebert
Andy
Meyers
Tom
Stavinoha
James
Patterson |
|
If you'd
like to make a comment,
email it to me
Email comments are in the blue boxes. |
July 31 -
Let me tell you what bad shape the Texas GOP is in.
They've sunk lower than whale poop on the ocean floor.
They have a new Executive Director, twice defeated
State Representative Talmadge Heflin,
a man who tries to steal little children. This
is one creepy little dude.
His name also comes up with connections to Ralph Reed
and Jack Abramoff over gambling in Texas.
Austin--The possible future executive director of
the scandal-plagued Texas Lottery Commission would
come to the job with disturbing ties to the gambling
industry. Lobbyist Ralph Reed targeted then-Rep.
Talmadge Heflin in 2001, when Reed and now-indicted
federal lobbyist Jack Abramoff were helping to
orchestrate a crackdown on Texas Indian casinos on
behalf of a competing tribe in Louisiana. Heflin
also took $29,392 from donors with an interest in
legalizing slot machines for his failed 2004
reelection campaign .
More to come ...
Susan,
Yeah, these Texas
Republicans don't seem to have learned the
first rule of politics: "When you've dug
yourself into a hole don't keep saying that
you can see the light at the end of the
tunnel." Ex-State Representative Martha
Wong had the right idea, so I've
heard--covered up the "Republican" on her
campaign signs with "RE-ELECT" stickers.
Then there was the guy running against
Democrat Dora Olivo in our Dist. 27, whose
signs said something like, "An Independent
Voice," instead of Republican. Molly Ivins
used to tell the story about a stealth
candidate named, if memory serves, Ed
Hargett, who was running for Congress up in
Northeast Texas. Claimed that his opponent
was "defacing" his campaign signs with
"REPUBLICAN" stickers! Who knew back then
that ole Ed would be starting a fashion
trend among Texas Republican candidates? If
this keeps up we're gonna have to track 'em
down with hound dawgs.
Earl
Miss Susan -
They have no shame, do
they...
Kerr
If
memory serves me correctly, John Cornyn
was also a recipient of those campaign
contributions, no doubt in gratitude for
his part in shutting down the Alabama-Coushattas.
Rick Noriega really needs to exploit
this malfeasance on Cornyn's part. I
guess tribal brotherhood doesn't extend
across state lines!
Sam in Pearland
|
July 31 - And
in the continuing saga of PBS&J, a company that makes
Halliburton look like a Mother Teresa is the CEO,
a participant in their political kickbacks is off to
prison.
Maria M.
Garcia, the former PBS&J finance-systems manager who
participated in a $36 million embezzlement at the
engineering consulting firm, was sentenced to 63
months in prison Monday.
-more
stuff and then ---
Two
former PBS&J chairmen subsequently were charged with
conspiring to violate campaign-finance laws.
However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joan Silverstein
said Garcia didn't provide ''substantial
assistance'' in the government's investigation into
illegal campaign contributions.
And yes, by the way, I did file with the Texas Ethics
Commission about PBS&J's
disappearing campaign contributions to our
Commissioner Boys' Campaign Finance and Hot Rod Fund.
July 31 -
We get email about Texas Writ Twits.
Don't ask why Alberto R.
Gonzales is still Attorney General. Ask why
he is still permitted to practice law.
As a former resident of Austin, I surely
know you’ve got to go pretty low to disgrace
the practice of law in Texas, but I am still
amazed that Alberto R. Gonzales has not been
disbarred or censured by the Texas Bar
Association.
Texans: tell your attorney to have the Texas
Bar Association institute disciplinary
proceedings against Alberto R. Gonzales for
bringing shame and disgrace upon their
membership and profession.
Texas Attorneys: have the Texas Bar
Association institute disciplinary
proceedings against Alberto R. Gonzales for
bringing shame and disgrace upon the
membership and profession. You know he’ll
dust off his Texas shingle when he gets
booted out of Washington. Don’t wait until
then to act.
Mike
Washington, DC
|
July 30
- Okay, I got the link fixed below for the
Harry Potter in Houston.
Enjoy.
July 30 -
It’s Monday morning and Earl is riled up.
This is gonna cost us money! Read the
thing: the school districts are being
sucker punched. They quote Charlie Howard,
and of course Rick "Show Me The Money" Perry
is behind it 110%. And the Texas Freedom
Network is against it--what more do you need
to know? Get your religion out of my pocket,
please.
Earl
From the article --
"If a kid on
the football team expresses a religious
message that is not in keeping with
everyone in the room, will there be
protests? That school principal will
have to deal with that," Woods said.
"What if someone wants their time to
respond then and there? If we allowed a
Christian to express a religious
viewpoint, and then a Wiccan wants equal
time, how could we prevent them from
doing the same?"
The new law will create more problems
and more lawsuits, she said.
"I don't believe it really gives
students any more rights to express
their faith than they already had. It
denies input from community members and
parents and supersedes local control,"
Miller said. "I think Texans should be
nervous when the government tries to
tell their kids how and when to pray and
what to believe about God."
It's NOT Rick "Show Me The Money" Perry.
It's Rick "HAND Me The Money" Perry
Mike
|
July 29
- Sam from Pearland says don't miss this from the
Houston Press.
Sam's right - it's damn near perfect on Tom DeLay and
Shelley Sekula Gibbs.
Click the little one to see the big one.
Professor McGonagall is one of the good
guys.......
But they did
hit the nail on the head with He Who
Should Not Be Named!
Stephanie up in Arlington
|
July 29
- David sent us a Sunday afternoon hoot.
July 29 -
We get clever email from Kingwood, Texas.
Dear Susan,
Young Max Blumingthal's
recent video of the national college
republican convention in D.C. was classic.
They all supported the war but none wanted
to enlist and serve ("I have asthma", says
one; "I have bad knees from playing three
years of little league baseball", says
another). The video ends with young Max
being bodily shoved out of the auditorium
sometime after Tom Delay tells the young
minds that we wouldn't need all those
immigrants if we hadn't aborted all of those
babies or some such. As young Max drives
away from the convention, the bumper sticker
on his car reads, "Draft College
Republicans."
I thought right then that I wanted one of
those stickers. What better way to end this
war right now than to begin a draft of
college republicans? It would go no further
than initiating the paperwork. The war
would end. No republican momma will
tolerate her baby boy having to bend over
and spread um for that predraft physical
much less hunting something that hunts back.
Attached is a picture of the bumper sticker
on the back of my car. I dare anyone to
challenge me on it. During my misguided
youth, I was in a conservative southern
college fraternity that leaned all things
Nixon. Toga parties and such came high on
my list therefore I took a break during my
academics to tour Southeast Asia. I am a
combat veteran (helicopter pilot).
I made the bumper sticker at this site. It
was cheap, easy and the shipping was quick.
Quality was satisfactory.
http://makestickers.com/
John from Kingwood
|
July 28 -
Okey dokey, I got the problem with downloading the
County Commissioner's PDF's fixed. Carry on.
July 27
- This is so much
fun that you're gonna spend all this rainy weekend
playing with it!
Our friend Cookie has done a wonderful thing for us. So
stunned was she with Andy Meyer’s campaign account that
she went to all the trouble of putting it in a
spreadsheet. You can manipulate it around by date, by
where the money was spent or anyhoway you want to.
Andy Meyers on Excel
spreadsheet!
Cookie has a few comments of her own:
Here is
the spreadsheet on Andy's expenses. When I put it
in this form several questions come to mind.
1 - Where
is this office that is in need of so many supplies?
And, what is the phone number for this campaign
office?
2 - He is
paying for email for the campaign website
http://www.andymeyers.com/ but yet when
you go there he is using the county email address.
3 - I
can't make heads or tails of all the different
internet ISP's he is paying for. At first I
thought that maybe the same company has different
names but why would you pay for more than one in the
same month?
4 -
He went to Pep Boys on March 14, 16, 17 &18 to pick
up one item at a time, this store is down the
Southwest Frwy at Fondren/Bellaire, So did he
charge the campaign mileage for each trip just
because he went four days in one week? And did he
take the toll road and charge for that, too?
5- He
sure spends a lot of time on the Toll Road and there
is very little on the Fort Bend Toll Road, so it
appears that he is away from the office and not
doing a lot of work for the county. Yet he is
collecting a full time paycheck from us.
6 -
If you do the math on the insurances and what the
average cost to insure a man of his age, it would
appear that he is paying for all of his car
insurance from campaign funds.
That is
just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to questions
that this brings up. He has listed paying the county
club twice on the same day! There is a lot of really
creative booking in here.
Cookie
Enjoy! Sleeping with one eye open is just one of
the many free customers services the cast and crew does
for you around here.
And just for your daily grin and eye-roll, another
customer
sent me this hysterical “personal” information page that
Andy Meyers himself put up on freerepublic.com, the
wacko rightwing conspiracy theory website. By the way,
the taxpayers pay for Andy’s newsletter.
Susan,
Where can I buy a Cookie like that
one?
Your Cookie must be a real gem. What she has done with the Andy
Meyers campaign account shows just how easy
it is for campaign funds to be misused. Now
just imagine if someone were to do that for
our favorite Tele-Hot-Tubby, Tommy the D.
Oh but wait, it looks like someone is doing something like that.
That hideous librul rag the New York Times
ran a story today under the headline
"Federal Lawmakers from Coast to Coast Are
Under Investigation" which includes this:
Tom DeLay,
the Texas Republican who stepped down as
House majority leader in 2005 after
being indicted in a state campaign
finance case, remains under
investigation by the F.B.I. in the
Abramoff inquiry, according to people
with knowledge of it. Speaking on
condition of anonymity because of the
secrecy of the grand jury process, they
said that much of the inquiry had
focused on payments made to Mr. DeLay’s
wife, Christine, for work at a
Washington consulting firm.
The firm was run by a
former House aide to Mr. DeLay, who
resigned his Congressional seat last
year. Several of Mrs. DeLay’s former
colleagues have been interviewed by the
F.B.I. to determine if she was actually
performing work for her paycheck.
Mr. DeLay’s lawyer,
Richard Cullen, would not discuss
details of the Justice Department’s
investigation but said that “Mr. DeLay
continues to bend over backwards to be
cooperative, as does his wife.”
“We are very hopeful
that this will end soon, but we all know
that sometimes these things take longer
than one would hope,” Mr. Cullen said.
You can read it all at here.
And in the meantime, we all
need to watch what we say even closer. Our
Prednisent has issued another of his
Executive Orders. This one aims at "Blocking
Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten
Stabilization Efforts in Iraq" It's a
pip. If it doesn't put you to sleep, it
just might raise your blood pressure.
dga
|
July 27 - UPDATE BELOW:
PBS&J – an engineering firm with a
shady background and generous donation ties to our
county commissioners are
showing their true colors again.
The former director of a city sewer
program is suing several engineering firms and three
Austin lobbyists, alleging that they conspired to
get him fired.
The firms were seeking retaliation, the lawsuit
says, because Moriarty streamlined Clean Water
projects and the firms feared that they would lose
money or contracts.
Armbrust and Todd said Monday that the lawsuit's
allegations are false; the other defendants declined
to comment, didn't return calls or couldn't be
reached.
The other defendants are the firms PBS&J, Owen
Consulting, Malcolm Pirnie, CH2M HILL Inc., Parsons
Engineering Science Inc., K Friese & Associates and
seven employees of those companies: Keith Jackson,
Everett Owen, Karen Friese, Clint Walker, Lynn Mays,
Greg Wieland and Ken Hall.
And
an investigation of PBS&J in Florida is being
“held-up”, which has really stuck in the craw of the
county comptroller who want the taxpayer’s dollars
accounted for.
Haynie has been upfront about the
areas of interest to her auditors. During a
previous, less formal look at the authority finances
two years ago, they were especially critical of the
agency's contracting procedures.
In particular, the report noted general-engineering
contractor PBS&J of Tampa had won at least 98
supplemental agreements after being hired -- each
time without facing other competitors for the work.
That open-ended contract, along with several others,
has been rebid, although PBS&J was awarded the job
again last month over a rival.
And if that’s not enough,
PBS&J is suing the bank for letting their CEO
embezzle money. Ain’t that kinda like suing Dillards
because they let your husband buy an ugly shirt?
And this, my fellow county taxpayers, is who our
county commissioners want to do business with.
UPDATE: I know you're
not going to believe this, but the controversial North
Texas Tollway Authority just selected a new Executive
Director-
a guy straight from PBS&J.
North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) today announced
Jorge Figueredo as its new Executive Director and
Rick Herrington as Deputy Executive Director.
Mr.
Figueredo has spent the last 16 years in the toll
business. Before today's announcement, he was the
Senior Division Manager for Post, Buckley, Shuh, and
Jernigan (PBS&J) overseeing the company's toll
operations practice in the Central United States.
The
North Texas Tollway Authority, a political
subdivision of the State of Texas, is authorized to
acquire, construct, maintain, repair and operate
turnpike projects in the North Texas region.
I dunno.
PBS&J is being investigated all over the country for
ripping-off taxpayers and we can hardly wait to be next
in line.
On the upside, they are very generous with their
campaign contributions. I know that makes you feel
better.
July 26 -
In case you're wondering, the FEC punts
on considering the
Texas Republican Congressman Ted Poe's audit until
August (when no one will be in Washington).
However, our Washington correspondent will be there to
keep you informed.
July 26 -
Okay, you need to sit down. For years I have warned you
that when Tom DeLay starts talking crazzzy and speaking
in tongues, there’s going to some bad news
 come
out about him within days. Well, get ready to find out
that he’s been drowning little kittens or getting into
hot tubs with goats because he’s now hoping that
Armageddon is “coming tomorrow.”
Well, come to think of it, maybe that’s not so
crazy. After all, it would solve that whole Ronnie
Earle and Jack Abramoff problem.
A whole mess of customers have sent me emails about
Tom’s latest weirdness. Here’s a video of him acting
like he’s just had a big ole cup of Chock Full O’ Nuts
and doubled-up on the Chock part.
He’s the very first thing on the video. But, the
whole video is worth watching.
If you’re at work and can’t listen to it, Customer
Jim gives this synopsis:
In an interview, Tom Delay, when asked how much the
"Second Coming" plays into his support for Israel, says,
"obviously, it's what I live for, I hope it comes
tomorrow." Delay closed by saying, "we have to be
connected to Israel to enjoy the second coming."
See, we’re talking drowning kittens.
The conference Tom was at encourages nuking Iran to
hurry along Armageddon. Bless their inbred hearts, most
of them think the “Left Behind” series are science
books.
I've done some research on John Hagee, the
head of the pro-Israel movement in the
film. Seems like he had an affair with a
member of his church about 30 years ago,
divorced his wife and then married the other
woman. After he got caught he showed the
proper remorse and now refuses to discuss
the matter so I guess that makes it OK.
When I look at the man he reminds me of the
bar owner in the movie Porkys. Looks like
he and Tom are a perfect fit.
Sam
Dear Susan,
I have another theory. Its not the
stupidity its the humidity. See I think
folks who believe in Armageddon are well,
steamed broccoli. These folks brains have
steamed way too long here in the hot
humid south.
Kathy
I imagine that
extremist venues like this one are the only
ones where ole Tom isn't about as welcome as
an excruciatingly bad mime, so he's got to
seize the moment. He's the O.J. Simpson of
politics--an ex-celebrity who can't
quite figure out how he got defenestrated
from the A-List down to the H-List, as in
has-been. DeLay, like his book, has been
relegated to the bargain bin.
Earl
|
July 26 -
I do not know what dirt Alberto Gonzales has on George
W. Bush that allows Alberto to keep his job, but if I
had that kind of dirt of George Bush, I can assure you
that I'd use it for something better than an danged
government job.
I'm talking a yacht, a beach house in Cabo, or a
Winnebago.
Watching Alberto's testimony before the Senate
committee was an event so amazing that the Franklin Mint
should make a coin commemorating it.
A big ole hug to Ann Telnaes.
July 26 - My
friend Patti from Minnesooota sent me a picture of some
shoes she heard they were selling in Texas.
And they even made them in UT colors!
Yep - more rain today.
July 26 - How
clueless are House Republicans?
Totally.
Listen to Texas Rep. "Smokin'" Joe Barton (R-Congressman
from Anadarko)) whining about a recently-passed House
bill that would ban congressional
spouses from being paid with campaign funds.
"Terri would have to stop working altogether or
volunteer, or find a job outside
the home that pays for the day care,"
he said.
Guess
what Capitan Easy Street? That's the
same choice faced by tens of millions of
Americans who don't get paid $165,000 a
year.
For you people from foreign states, Joe Barton is a
piece of work. He's referred to as
the Congressman from big oil, and got
some sideways looks when he recently
announced, "I cannot imagine any
objective finding that CO2 is
a pollutant," he said. "If that's true,
God is a polluter." Last we heard,
God was pretty hacked-off about that.
After holding himself out as Mr. Virtuous, he divorced
his wife Janet in 2003 and by 2005 he
had a child with his new wife.
Hell, he didn't even wait to break her
in. That's some speedy seed, my
friends.
And his new wife ain't the only one on his payroll.
Citizens for Ethics reported that Barton paid his wife
Terri $57,759 in salary and bonuses,
from his campaign funds in the 2006
election cycle. A spokesman said that
Terri served as the campaign's outreach
director and planned fundraising and
special events.
Barton's daughter
Kristin was paid $12,622 in salary and
bonuses and his mother, Nell Barton, was
paid $7,000 for a car.
And that's why you're paying more at the gas pump this
morning. Big oil has to pay for
Smokin' Joe's lifestyle.
Miss Susan -
What the tarnation
is wrong with that bumkin "Smokin'"
Joe?! He must think the entire US
of A population is dumbed down from
watchin' Fix News. Sheesh!
Later!
Kerr
I
think Joe says it all…...
"I'm not apologetic. She does real
work and puts out a good
product. I'm tired of us
acting like there's something we
should be ashamed of -- I'm not."
I'll bet she does!
Patrick
Susan,
I don't know
what Smokin' Joe is smokin' but it's
probably illegal in 48 states.
Helen from a
Foreign State
|
July 25 -
Bubba paid the ransom and I'm home. I'll start
posting tomorrow. I did post a few of the emails I
got about Andy at the bottom below.
I just posted a few of them because most of them were
downright tacky.
July 24 -
Okay, so here’s
my theory of why Republican County Commissioner Andy
Meyers always has his hand in the campaign money cookie
jar.
This is Andy Meyer’s personal financial statement.
Treat it with care because buying it cost me $1.00 cash
American money per page. No kidding. They really like
to keep these suckers private. Lying on these reports
is a felony and you just never know when we might get a
District Attorney around here who might enforce election
laws.
For a self-described “former successful
businessman,” Andy ain’t reaping the benefits.
Now, Andy comes from the school of “If you love
Jesus and Jesus loves you, then Jesus will give you a
Cadillac so everybody can see how much Jesus loves
you.”
Yep, and Andy has a Cadillac. A Cadillac he can
almost afford.
Some interesting things from Andy’s report –
He owns between
1,000 and 5,000 shares of a company he’s unwilling
to give us the name of. (See page 4) I dunno.
Could be he owns stock in Lovely Linda’s House o’
Whips and hasn’t told his wife yet.
He owns between
1,000 and 5,000 shares of Meyers, LyBrand, and
Company, Inc. Run a Google search on that sucker
and see what you find. Diddle squat is what you’ll
find.
He owes $10 -
$25,000 on his Cadillac and $5 - $10,000 on his
Buick. Obviously, the “campaign truck” is a backup
plan for late payments.
He owns 2 acres in
Calcasieu Parish, Lousianna. You’d have to pay
somebody to take that off your hands. Next big
hurricane, Andy will own 2 acres of Gulf of Mexico.
The Pinnacle Group
is Andy’s own company. It makes no money and is
worth less than $5,000.
Seven years ago, Commissioners had their $500 car
allowance rolled into their salaries, but Andy still
gave himself $3,704 in personal car expenses from his
campaign account this reporting period. Yes, he is the
only county commissioner who does that. Add it all
together and you get $6,704 in automobile expenses in
the past 6 months. At the IRS’s allowance of 48.5 cents
a mile, that means Andy drove over 12,000 miles in 6
months. Even if you subtract the salary rollover, that
mean Andy could have driven between here and Argentina
(no, seriously, look it up) in the past 6 months. There
are truckers who would envy that record.
Look, I know that Andy has to pay for that Cadillac
somehow. I mean, think how it would look for a public
servant not to drive a Cadillac, especially one who
thinks his car reflects how much he loves Jesus. But,
for Heaven’s sake, doesn’t Andy realize that those
campaign contributions come out of our pockets in the
form of higher prices to the county?
Look, I know I’m whining, but I’m tired of paying
for Andy’s lifestyle.
I am also tired of paying for Bob Hebert’s
generosity with my money.
Calcasieu Parish does cover Lake Charles.
Some of the land near the big casinos there
might be worth a few dollars. It would be
interesting to know exactly where that two
acres is.
Regards,
Stan
Miss
Susan -
What's more important - wheels with bling or
more deputies for the county. Hmmm... No
question, the wheels.
And should your thought about Handy Andy's
Calcasieu Parish property come true: even
better to stick in his craw - it'd belong to
the State of Lousianna.
Later!
Kerr
P.S. Have all the fun you want with my
nickname for the slacker.
Could it be that he wants a
retirement home near Vidor, Texas right
across the river?
From
Wikipedia: The racial makeup of the
city was 97.33% White, 0.07% African
American, 0.52% Native American,
0.19% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander,
0.66% from other races, and 1.21%
from two or more races. Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 3.49% of the
population ( I wonder who washes
their dishes, mows their yards,
raises their children, and carries
away their garbage?)
There is
more there, but you probably know the
history of the Klan in Vidor.
zw
Does
anybody check Andy's pockets when he
leaves the courthouse after meetings?
He's probably taking home the pens and
paper clips and selling them as
school supplies to supplement his
$100,000 a year salary!
That
turkey has no shame.
Nelda
|
July 23 - It
must be Email Monday.
If this bill passes, it will be your
fault!
You were the one who told us about the Texas
statute on which this bill is based.
Last month, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.,
introduced a bill that would prohibit
spouses of lawmakers from performing
paid campaign work. It has the support
of many members of the House Democratic
leadership. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer,
D-Md., is a co-sponsor.
"It is part of an effort to raise
the bar on campaign ethics," Mr. Schiff
said.
Alfredo
Added
Monday night from Alfredo:
It
IS your fault.
|
July 23 - We
get great informative email.
Susan,
Tom (the good one) is
back.
Free downloads.
mb
Note from Susan:
The John Ashcroft song is my favorite.
There's lyrics for those of you at work.
|
July 22 -
Here's a little interesting local news.
County Judge Bob Hebert hired an Austin writ twit named
Ed Shack to represent him in
his guilty plea with the Texas Ethics Commission.
Hebert paid Shack $1,950. which is a lot of money to
say, "Yep, I did it."
However, Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey
must have a bigger battle with the Ethics Commission.
Click the little one below to see that he hired Ed Shack
in June of this year to defend him against a complaint
someone - not me - filed with the Ethics Commission.
Investigations at the Texas Ethics Commission are kept
secret until they are settled.
I admit that I haven't followed Healey's campaign
contributions and expenditures, but I did buy it this
time to see if he still owes his in-laws $91,450 that he
borrowed for his campaign a long time ago. He
does.
Of interest: Healey raised $25,532 in the past 6
months, spent $10,384, and still has $39,835 in his
campaign account. I saw nothing in his report out
of the ordinary.
And who is Ed Shack? Apparently he's Dr. Fixit
for ethics problems.
Go here and type "Shack" in the payee box.
Click enter and Viola!
July 22 -
We get email.
Hi
Susan,
For a few years now, I have truly enjoyed
reading your commentary on Short Tom and the
shenanigans in Fort Bend County.
But, I just gotta tell ya, I got a problem
with this blue thing. No, it's not the
title of your new site--it's the background
color used for your readers' comments. My
aging eyes have difficulty reading the text
as there is so little contrast between text
and background. Please understand, I'm not
referring to your entertaining and
informative comments, but lighten up, huh
lady?
Best wishes from Cameron County,
Wynn
Susan,
I agree
about the dark blue background, it
causes me to need my glasses!!
Sybil
|
July 21 -
There has to be a real special place in hell
for these guys ---
A second former executive of a global logistics
company has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to
receiving kickbacks on Iraq war contracts and lying
to federal investigators.
Kevin Andre Smoot, 43, faces up to 15 years in
prison and $500,000 in fines after pleading guilty
Friday to making a false statement and violation of
the Anti-Kickback Act before U.S. District Judge
Michael M. Mihm.
--more stuff here --
Smoot further admitted that from January 2002
through April 2005, he gave more than $33,000 worth
of entertainment to five Houston-based KBR
transportation department employees for favorable
treatment in getting subcontracts, a violation of
the Anti-Kickback Act.
The gratuities included food, drinks, golf
outings, tickets to rodeo events, baseball and
football games and other entertainment events.
KBR, that's Halliburton.
On a random note, I heard
a good one today:
"Cheney/DeLay '08: Why settle for the lesser
of two evils?"
Doyle
|
July 21 -
One of the Sugar Cane Queens is moving to a foreign
state so we gave her a Vaya con Dios party at my house
yesterday.
She's covering her face because she was our main
Republican spy in Fort Bend and she'll continue that
gift when she gets to her new destination. You know her
as Fenway Fran around here.
We're training a new spy but she's having a hard time
learning to say, "I will pray for yew and George Bush,
yes I will," with the proper inflection.
Meanwhile, you need to know that you can
 buy
this excellent wine at Central Market. It's a
saucy little spirit that will kick you in the butt with
it's lingering glow. It ain't fruity at all, but
has a zesty depth with a hint of magnolia and baseball
bats. But, most importantly, it's got a pink label with
the b word on it, making it fully worth the $9.95.
July 20 - So
everybody thinks my friend
Bob staged
this picture. He didn't. People all along
the Brazos are pulling hefty-sized catfish out of The
River.
And there's a 70% chance that it's gonna rain pickles,
pride, and little poodle puppies today. So if by
tomorrow ya see me on CNN in Bubba's bass boat with my
laptop looking for wifi, send some towels and flippers.
Susan,
Looking at that high water
picture reminds me that you don't have to be
crazy to live here, but it is strongly
recommended. A few years back some 18 or so
homeowners in a low-lying area of a Houston
subdivision found that the overflowing bayou
would flood their homes both frequently and
often. They couldn't continue to live there
with peace of mind, and no fool could be
found willing to buy their amphibious
homes. So the City of Houston came up with
the win-win solution of buying the wet
properties for use as a park. But then the
Homeowners Association had a conniption fit,
because those properties were deed
restricted for resale ONLY as private
residences, and by gosh they were going to
force those patsies to grow gills if need
be! If I recall correctly, this Catch-22
was finally resolved by the City instituting
Eminent Domain proceedings "against" the
homeowners, to their utter delight, and the
Homeowners Association was told to go suck a
lemon.
Earl
|
July 20 -
And here's the
campaign finance report of Republican Commission Andy
Meyers, the local religious right's answer to
Superman. It's 101 pages of greed. Ask not
what Andy Meyers can do for you, ask how much money Andy
can finagle for himself.
By the way, Michael Meyers, Andy's campaign manager
during a non-election year, is also his son.
Michael is registered to vote at his Dad's house
(there's nothing wrong with that), but he's not real big
on this voting stuff. Click the little one to get
the big one.
That's Michael's voting record. Michael's not
excited about voting in the general election, which
means he only votes against Republicans, not Democrats.
My kind of guy!
I have a hard and fast rule that families of elected
officials are off-limits to criticism, but once that
family member goes on the payroll, they're fair game.
A little later, I'll give you some information that may
help you understand why Andy keeps his personal fist in
the campaign fund cookie jar.
Susan,
Meyers spent over $100 for
a steering wheel cover and a bed liner for
his new pickup. $45 for a steering wheel
cover? Is this Pimp My Ride with
Campaign Donations?
Why does he pay some of
his country club bill with campaign funds
but other parts of his country club bill
from his personal funds that he expects his
campaign to reimburse him for? Is this
the creative accounting you were talking
about?
Hey Zeus
|
July 19 -
Okay, Bob Hebert's is up.
Go feast your eyes on
 a
searchable scan. It's the largest collection of
developers and non-bid vendors with their hands in your
pocket you'll see for a while.
I dunno know about you but I think we ought to start
making Bob wear an outfit like NASCAR drivers wear,
giving credit to all his corporate sponsors.
If the county judge is going to be for sale, we might
as well know to who without spending fifty dollars for
copies.
July 19 -
Golly gee, Tom DeLay is feeling the devil's breath singe
his rump.
Ole Mr. Karma is knocking on Tom's door and
Karma gets what Karma wants.
WASHINGTON -
The governor of the Northern Mariana Islands said
Thursday he's cooperating with the Justice
Department's corruption investigation around jailed
GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
The tiny U.S. commonwealth is also still trying
to retrieve some of the millions it paid Abramoff's
firms, said Gov. Benigno R. Fitial.
Fitial referred questions about the Justice
Department's inquiry to his Los Angeles attorney,
Tom Pollack, who didn't immediately return calls for
comment.
I wonder if Jack Abramoff is holding a tee time for Tom.
I know you people from outta state don't understand why
I stay on Tom DeLay. It's because there is a small
army of people in this county who think Tom walks on
water and can make bread fall butter-side up. They
still say Tom did nothing wrong. Honey, I'm gonna
do the hoochy-koochy dance in their front yards the day
Tom is carted off to jail.
July 19 -
Okay, we're working on getting the campaign finance
reports up. Andy Meyers attempted to moon me by
filing 300 pages of reports and corrected reports.
It cost me fifty dollars and thirty cents to buy the
reports this time.
David is doing
something really cool with the reports this time.
His are much easier to read than when I did it, and you
will be able to use the "search" tool to search the
reports for any vendor or expenditure you want to see.
You will, however, need to make sure you have the latest
free edition of
Adobe Reader to use the new functions.
Here's the run down:
County Judge Bob Hebert raised $96,600 in tax
free political contributions during the past six months
and spent $75,137 buying influence at local charities.
He still has $72,243.95 in his campaign account.
Commissioner Tom Stavinoha raised $500 (from the
Greater Houston Homebuilders PAC) and spent $8,704.
He still has $7,205. in his campaign account.
Commissioner James Patterson raised no money and
spent $5,275. He has $26,324. in his campaign
account.
Commissioner Andy Meyers raised $69,650. and
spent $39,537 mostly on himself and his son. He
still has $47,644 in his campaign account.
When you see the names underlined over there to the left
at the bottom, that means you can click on the name and
get the report in PDF format.
July 19 - I
got so many positive comments about Granny Geek's
website that I added a link to the left. Yep, I
love it, too. If you haven't checked out the
Signs and Wonders,
it's well worth a visit. Kinda makes you want to
tote your camera everywhere you go.
July 19 -
My buddy Maureen is more
than half way to her goal for the marathon bike ride
benefiting cancer
 research.
Drop a couple of bucks
in her bucket and maybe she’ll
say something nice about me again. I am required to
pay her twenty five cents a month to keep her from
telling folks that I have a Yankee friend. I know it’s
extortion, so do not tell her I’d be willing to pay
fifty cents to keep that information quiet. Maybe even
a dollar.
The first time I mentioned this race, I used the
wrong link to donate. So if you donated, please email
the
Pan-Mass Challenge and tell them that your donation
should be credited to Maureen O’Brien.
Go ahead - do a good deed today.
July 18 - Holy butt on the line!
No wonder Tom DeLay is talking
goofy! Remember me telling you for years that
he starts "speaking in tongues" anytime his rump is
fixing to get in trouble?
Well, jackpot!
It seems that Duke Cunningham ratted-out Tom, Jerry
Lewis and Katherine Harris - the Trifecta of Fanatical.
Lookie right here.
In an FBI report written in February of this year, Duke
Cunningham pours out his guts with a list of
prostitutes, kickbacks, gambling, illegal weapons, jet
ski boats, cash handoffs, limousines, and all manner of
illegal and immoral things that
Brent Wilkes or Mitchell Wade gave him, the report ends
with this jewel---- (Click the little one to get
the big one)
July 18
- Well, there some good news today. The
PBS&J fellas who stole money and made a mockery of
campaign finance are headed to the pokey.
Two of three former PBS&J officials who
participated in a $36 million embezzlement at the
engineering consulting firm were sentenced Tuesday.
Former Chief Financial Officer W. Scott DeLoach
faces just over eight years in federal prison for
his part in the scheme.
DeLoach also received two years for his guilty
plea to using ''strawmen'' to illegally contribute
$11,000 to the 2004 campaign of U.S. Sen. Mel
Martinez. The sentences will run concurrently
There were also campaign donations made to our County
Commissioners
that got lost somewhere.
Yeah, I filed with the Texas Ethics Commission on that
one, too.
July 18 -
Oh Sweet Jesus, this is about the
goofiest thing Tom DeLay has ever said and he's said
some doozies.
"I contend [abortion] affects you in
immigration," DeLay told the Washington-area
gathering. "If we had those 40 million children
that were killed over the last 30 years, we
wouldn't need the illegal immigrants to fill the
jobs that they are doing today. Think about it."
No,
I will not think about that. That's nuts.
That's insane talk.
You just gotta wonder what horrible thing is in DeLay's
past to make him so obsessed with abortion rights.
Hey Tom, try this logic: maybe safe legal
abortions kept another Adolph Hitler from being born.
So are you being pro-Adolph Hitler? Makes as much
sense, buddy, which is no sense at all.
Thanks to Richard for the heads-up!
Here's a video of it. It's a great video to watch
even without Tom DeLay.
Susan,
Tom DeLay is the worst
spokesman for anti-abortionism SINCE
Hitler. In fact, I would paraphrase Samuel
Johnson in saying that, "Anti-abortionism is
the last refuge of a scoundrel." DeLay insults
the intelligence of his audience just like
this speech made by a political candidate at
a Klan rally:
"I want people to say to
me: ' We don't care if you're a thief, we
don't care if you're incompetent. . . . ' I
want people to vote for me because I'm a
white man!"
Earl
|
July 18 -
Andy Meyers takes the cake. He wins. I give
up. Yo Andy, you da man. You finally just
sent me over the side of the boat.
I just now got started this morning perusing Republican
County Commissioner Andy Meyer's Stack O' Lies that he
claims are his campaign contributions and expenditures.
Something jumped out at me like a cold hand on a dark
night.
Click the little one to get the big one.
Republican County Commissioner Andy Meyers bought a
"campaign truck" out of his campaign account.
A freekin' truck. A three quarter ton truck.
I suspect he needed a big one to haul home all his
legalized kickbacks.
Andy brought in $70 grand in "campaign contributions"
in the past 6 months (when he wasn't even running for
office) with only $150 of it being in contributions of
$50 or less. When I finally get this report
uploaded - all 101 pages of it - you are going to shake
like a hula girl on double caffeine when you see the
"contributions" he's getting from non-bid vendors and
developers. That's tax-free money, my friend.
On top of the truck with insurance and gas for it, Andy
also charges his campaign for use of his personal car
and his son's car.
Let me remind you that all this done when he's not even
up for re-election until 2008.
A truck. A freekin' whole danged truck.
Bought it. Didn't rent it. Bought it.
And, yeah, it's legal. Darned Texas ethics rules.
However, he has to reimburse his campaign account if he
uses it for anything personal. There were no
reimbursements from March until July so he's never,
ever, whatsoever, no way used it for something personal.
Yep.
Damn, I give up. He's just blatant about being
the greediest kid on the block.
Susan,
Have a heart, girl.
Andy needs that 3/4 ton pick 'um up truck to
haul around these signs all over the
country during the next election. And
he needs it 2 years before election because
he can use it to rescue people in case of
the flooding that all his developer friends
are causing. That's political, girl.
Nelly from Katy
Count your blessings
because he could have needed a campaign
limo, a campaign yacht or a campaign country
club.
Hey Zeus
Oh Susan, don't get your
panties all knotted up, Andy needs that
truck to ride in the Fort Bend Fair parade,
so he can wave to all the little people.
Cheryl
|
July 18 - I
made a new friend from Dallas. You're gonna love
Granny Geek's
website. You're gonna really, really love her
Greatest Hits
from the ACLU Answering Machine. Being as the
calls come mostly from Republicans, most of them are
X-rated. Just giving you a warning.
Mosey around a while at the site and see how handy
Granny is with a camera. Enjoy!
July 17 -
Okay, so the guy who's going to put the campaign finance
reports in PDF format for me is outta town until
Thursday. It'll take me about that long to scan
them all and look at them closely.
So, look for them on Friday afternoon. Late
Friday afternoon because I have a
very important luncheon date this Friday.
Meanwhile, I'll let you know if I find anything else
that'll knot your socks.
July 17 -
I just couldn't wait to tell you about this one.
Since I filed a complaint with the Texas Ethics
Commission about his campaign finance reporting (it's
still pending),
 Republican
Commissioner Andy Meyers filed this stack of "Corrected
Reports" going back to 1995. That's my teevee
remote next to it. He just filed them yesterday -
for expenditures made 2 years ago.
It's 290 pages of corrected reports. Too bad Andy
only went back and corrected his mistakes for the past
two years (you're very welcome), because the Texas
Ethics Commission will fine you for reports going back 3
years.
I knew Andy Meyers would never admit to a mistake.
So, he had to come up with a reason why he violated
about 5 different election code laws.
Andy Meyers has more excuses than the Lamar High School
attendance office. Lookie at this:
Click the little one to get the big one. "due to
software and hardware problems." Oh smack me with
a fish and call me Mrs. Paul, that's the silliest dang
thing I've seen since Tinkerbell farts.
Notice that he's also claiming more "expenditures made
from personal funds" to cover the checks cut to himself.
What a total nincompoop. He's slimier than snail
snot, that one.
Democracy in
action! Only the public, ultimately, can
hold elected officials accountable - great
work forcing Andy to file these reports!
Alfredo
P.S. You
might enjoy
this report on campaign finance
disclosure in Minnesota.
Now, Now, dear. He may very well have
actually had "hardware and software
problems". After all, he most likely got
his computer in a sweetheart deal from the
same outfit he and Ted bought us all them
fancy voting machines from, and we know how
well 'they' work.
Dennis
|
July 17 - More
than likely I will be busier than a one-armed stripper
this week because campaign finance reports were filed
yesterday.
Because our county commissioners are just two clicks
away from filing their reports with a chisel and stone,
that means I have to go buy paper copies of the reports,
scan the reports, put them in PDF format, and then
upload them to this site.
Every governmental body on the face of the planet files
their campaign finance reports electronically for the
citizens to see, including the
City of Houston. But us, nooooooo.
And, for pete's sake, the Chronicle was complaining
because you have to have minimal computer skills to see
the city reports. I've got to have walking,
paying, scanning, converting, and uploading skills for
you to see ours, and I'm not even going to mention paper
cuts and staple removers and bad handwriting.
It's my bet that we're going to see an all-time low in
getting and spending this go-round because the elected
officials are now aware that I'm madder than hell and
I'm not going to take it anymore. I will file with
the Texas Ethics Commission and I'll smile while I'm
doing it, dammit. Yeah, Andy
and
Bob, I'm talking to you.
Anyway, I requested the reports yesterday and I'm
waiting for them to call me when the copies are ready. I
suspect I'll have a couple of them uploaded by
Wednesday. So, if you want to make copies of the
last reports, do it now by clicking one of the names of
the left and saving the PDF file.
Wish me luck because I'm wandering into the swamp of
county commissioners and their money. It's creepy
in there!
July 17 - And
this is what happens when you lean too far right.
July 16
- Maybe it's just another of those "gross
mistakes." Bottom line:
It cost former
Congressman J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) $170,000 to
cooperate in the Justice Department's investigation of
Jack Abramoff:
Hayworth paying legal fees for fed investigation
Former Republican
Congressman J.D. Hayworth is confirming for 12 News
that he is cooperating with a federal investigation
involving former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Hayworth's new campaign finance report shows almost
$170,000 in payments to a Washington law firm since
his defeat last November by Democrat Harry Mitchell.
Hayworth says the bills are connected to a
Department of Justice request for 12 years worth of
documents covering his legislative work with the
Congressional Native American Caucus.
Hayworth said today, "I wanted to accommodate the
request as soon as possible because I thought it was
important to clear up questions. I've done nothing
wrong, and I don't expect there to be any further
action."
Yep, $170,000 and he did nothing wrong. No,
siree, nothing.
Dude, the Koolaide is getting weak.
July 16 -
In Texas when somebody is real good
at
something we say that “he wrote the book on it.” It’s
meant as a compliment – something generally in short
supply in Texas – and would be used only for occasion
when someone was the go-to guy on a topic.
So, it comes as no surprise that the Bush
administration wrote on book on silencing protests.
Yep. The ACLU – yeah, I’m a card member and if
you’ve got a problem with that let’s step outside and
we’ll settle this between your rump and my foot – has
obtained the
secret White House book on how to deal with
protestors at a Bush event. You can read it for
yourself, but needless to say it involves sororities,
shouting, and looking over your shoulder.
Bush is a fraidy cat, pure and simple. If you
gotta have a 103 page book just to keep free speech
silent, then you’re as yellow as mustard without the
bite.
He’s Moses Rose, Jr.
Susan,
That's why Laura Bush says
she doesn't believe her husband's low
approval ratings, because everywhere they go
the people are so enthusiastic
about him! Can you say, "Bubble Girl?"
Earl
|
July 16 -
Roll Call (subscription only) is wondering if it’s
“unparliamentarily” to call George Bush a liar.
It appears that a brazen idea broke out at a House
Judiciary Committee Meeting last week. Democrat Mel
Watts of North Carolina made mention that “Bush lied
about the reasons for going to war.”
Jumping to Bush’s defense with both his IQ points
flaring, Republican Chris Cannon of Utah objected to
that statement on the grounds that calling Bush a liar
is “unparliamentarily and violates House rules on debate
and decorum.” Those rules, according to Cannon, forbid
personal attacks on Members, the President or the Vice
President.
I have two thoughts on this. First, where was
Cannon during the Clinton presidency when we really
needed him?
Second thought – calling Bush a liar is merely
unparliamentarily, not untrue? So, the way I hear it,
Cannon is sure that Bush is a liar but it’s just not
nice to say so. Kinda like not mentioning the wart on
the end of Grandma’s nose.
However, Republicans just can’t leave it at stoopid.
They always have to add the cherry of hypocrisy on top.
Cannon was the twit who said that US Attorney David
Iglesias was forced to resign because “he’s an idiot.”
Fortunately, Cannon’s statement may be the beginning of
the end. It has been noted that Cannon’s state,
Utah, is the only state in the nation that gives Bush a
better than 50% approval rating. If Utah is
bottoming-out at “it’s not nice,” then we’re looking at
blue map.
July 15 -
Cripes! Five feet high and rising! 7:15 p.m.
at my house tonight. Bring your bass boat.
This was after a 30 minute rain. This is what
happens when you pour concrete on the entire dang
county. This is why somebody - anybody! - needs to
ask some serious questions about unsustainable
development.
July 15 - Our
friend Earl found another Republican in a hoochy-koochy
scandal. It's a little raw for my website because
Momma comes here and Momma don't put up with improper
language, so I'll try to clean it up a little, but I
just need you Republicans to know that you're making it
very difficult for me to keep it clean and still report
what you're doing. I wish you'd do something about
that.
Here's Earl's cleaned-up email. Now, I have to
give a Momma-Warning for the website it sends you to.
Momma, don't click the link; it'll just upset you.
Oh, Susan!
Have I got
one for you! Here's a Republican State Rep.
in North Carolina who stuck his thing the
wringer and had to resign. It's hilarious!
"A Third Republican Legislator In A Sex
Scandal!" with the guy's picture and what he
said, which I won't give away the punchline
for you. You will go nuts!
It's right about here.
Earl
Susan,
After reading
Earl’s report and looking at the man’s
pathetic picture I can understand why he has
to chase some poor woman around to try to
get his desires quenched. Even at my
advancing age I would have to be comatose to
even be in the same state as State Rep.
David Almond fully dressed.
Marsha
|
July 14 -
Okay, so Democratic Senate candidate Mikal Watts figured
I wasn’t using my freedom of choice anyway, so he’d
solicited me for an endorsement. I got the letter
today.
Click the little one to see the big one.
I’ve read it twice. The second time I read it out loud
just so I wouldn’t miss anything.
It seems to me that he’s trying to say two things:
1. He is for what is good and against what is bad.
2. He has a lot of rich friends.
No, seriously, that’s about it. He “will demand
change in Iraq.” Well, boy howdy, that statement takes
about the same courage as showering nakkid. I think the
latest polls show that 17% of Americans think we should
continue to get out butts handed to us on a platter in
Iraq.
Watts also daringly supports “better and more
affordable health care.” Gee, he’s for lowering the
price of aspirin? He is also audacious enough to
suggest that “every child should have a quality
education,” (whoa – that’s a new thought!) and that “we
feel safe in our homes and communities as we go about
our daily lives.” (If this Senate thing doesn't work
out, he can sell breakfast cereal.) I don’t think the
man is looking for a debate on the issues, huh? But
hey, he can be in charge of bumper stickers!
Wanna hear the worst part? It has just occurred to
me that Watts spent money for some slick consultant to
write this letter for him. Cheezzzzz….. money for
crapola.
Watts can get right on choice and stem cell
research and then come calling again. Until then, I
think his letter must have been air mail – hot air – and
just floated into my mailbox.
He included a card for me to fill out and return.
I wrote "I fought too hard for safe, legal abortions to
let you go back to coat hangers," and sent it back to
him. I even used my own stamp.
Hey, if
you're going to black out your street
address, you should also black out your nine
digit zip. Anyone who has all nine digits
wouldn't find it especially difficult to
ferret out your street address.
Doyle
Dear
Doyle,
Heck,
Honey, my town is so small that we only have
half a zip code. Anyhowway, I figure
that if Mikal Watts
front porch preachersc
an find me, then there's probably no need to
pretend I'm hiding.
Besides,
a woman armed with a shotgun, a loud dog,
and Texas trespassing laws doesn't fret over
unwelcome visitors.
Susan
|
July 14 -
Local folks who remember and love Fort Bend County's
best newspaper writer ever, Willis Webb, will want to
know that he and Julie survived the floods in central
Texas, and "Writer's Roost" is once again operational.
They made it, but not without adventure.
I'll let Willis himself tell you
about it.
July 13 -
Okay, this is the third source on this, so something is
cooking with
Harris County Judge Jim Squier running for CD22 in
Texas.
Hey Susan
Did you know
your fine Congressional District is
getting a new R candidate for 08?
Judge Jim
Squier, who is the Judge of the 312th
Judicial District Court apparently has
been recruited by the Rep party to run
in the primary. Judge Jim is best known
in the Harris County Family Courthouse
as "Reverend Jim" telling many divorce
litigants about his own strong personal,
religious beliefs.
He recently
told a couple who had been divorced for
a long, long time (and were still
fighting about the custody of their
kids) that he thought they should just
get back together. That wasn't his
call, needless to say.
Just wanted
you to be one of the first to know.
your pal,
Coco
|
He'd certainly give former Sugar Land Mayor Dean Hrbacek
a run for his money with the religious right crowd.
That would be a fun one to watch.
I'm just throwing this out there because I've now heard
it from three people - Coco, a Harris County Republican
precinct chair, and my favorite source, "Shallow Thoat."
I'd bet my best pair of pink boots on it at this point.
The Republican party knows they can't win with Shelley
or Dean, so you know they're looking.
July 13 -
BREAKING. Thanks to Harvey Kornberg at
Quorum Report
(subscription only)
TRAVIS COUNTY DA
SEEKS REHEARING ON DELAY MATTER BEFORE COURT OF
CRIMINAL APPEALS
As expected, Travis County District Attorney
Ronnie Earle filed with the Court of
Criminal Appeals seeking a rehearing on an
indictment against Tom DeLay and others that
was dismissed several weeks ago.
Earle has argued that with their 5-4 ruling, the
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has immunized
individuals that conspire to commit felonies found
in the Election Code, the Water Code,
Natural Resources Code and the
Finance Code.
In his
statement, Earle illustrates his point
explaining that a conspiracy to destroy bank records
would not be an indictable offense according to the
CCA, because the actual felony of destroying the
records appears in the Finance Code rather than the
Penal Code.
The
filing.
July
13 - Just in case you missed it this morning,
check out this
Nick Anderson "rap."
And to think - John Cornyn is bring Karl Rove to Texas
to help his campaign. Oh brother, that's going to
go over like cactus underwear.
July 13 -
The FEC audit of Ted Poe was
yesterday and everything got put on hold.
FEC commissioners agreed to defer final action on a
separate staff audit of the 2004 campaign of Rep.
Ted Poe (R-Texas). The Poe campaign audit found
violations of FEC reporting rules, but the campaign
disputed how the FEC staff conducted the audit.
The FEC auditors contended that the Poe campaign
failed to produce copies of checks documenting some
of its bank deposits. The campaign argued that it
did not have to keep copies of these checks because
they were held by the campaign's bank. The FEC
commissioners had a lengthy discussion of audit
procedures, punctuated at one point by a last-minute
letter from the Poe campaign's lawyer, Donald McGahn,
being circulated among the commissioners. The
commissioners ultimately were unable to resolve the
matter and indicated they would continue to discuss
it.
You know, back when Ole Ted was a judge, he got famous
for making people convicted a theft stand on a street
corner and wear a sign that says, "I am a thief."
I think we ought to make him wear one that says, "I
can't keep up with all the money that lobbyist throw at
me."
July 13 -
T.S. sends us some email that I need about now.
This is especially for
Hal and
Lorrie - my physics and baseball friends, but everyone
who loves the sound of the bat will enjoy it.
July 12 -
(DURN! AND ANOTHER UPDATE AND CORRECTION.)
UPDATE AT BOTTOM:
Okay, so I was at a table full of Democrats last night
when
Larry Flynt went on CNN last night and said he has
nailed 2 more Senators and 25 House members in the
DeeCee sex scandal, and that most of them don’t even
know it yet.
Several of us had to be slapped on the back in
order to breathe again.
Look, I think that what a man does in his private
life is his business. Republicans don’t believe that.
They want to know everything you do behind closed doors,
and that’s just not limited to hoochy-koochy. They want
to look at your mail, hear your phone conversations,
know where you’re going on the internets, what you’re
buying with your credit cards, how you sound singing in
the shower, but mostly they want to know what you do
nakkid. Republicans are real nervous about nakkid.
I disagree with them. I think Americans are
entitled to some privacy from their government.
&
|
