As 2018 approaches, so does the 2018 primary season. I'm sure you've already received more than you want campaign mailers from those running for political office. Many of the mailers come from candidates themselves but you'll also receive mailers from organizations and Political Action Committees, touting one candidate over another. It's important to know who these PAC's are and the typical candidate they support. One of the best resources to gain this information is Transparency Texas.org. An unbiased look at all the different PAC's and donors that take and give to political campaigns in Texas, Transparency Texas is almost a one stop information center. Transparency Texas has listed the top 10 PAC's in terms of donations received thus far for the 2018 election cycle. You can find them here. The top donors thus far are listed here.
Transparency Texas has also listed what they deem as the four political tribes in Texas and where each PAC falls on the scale. This is important, because as a voter, you want to know if the PAC aligns with your own belief system. You may also want to know, in case you're considering to donate to one of these PAC's. For instance, Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR) and Texas Real Estate Association (TREPAC) are the two biggest PAC's in Texas. According to Transparency Texas, they tend to give money to candidates that lean moderate to liberal republican and the occasional democrat. On the other end, is Empower Texans. They give money to candidates who lean more conservative. Here in East Texas, two local PAC's are known to support the more conservative candidate, Grassroots-We The People in Tyler and VOCAL in Longview. (Full disclosure, ETLW is a product of VOCAL and author is the treasurer).
Another source is the Texas Ethics Commission. Anyone can look up a candidate, PAC or incumbent's donations and expenses. (Don't worry, I've already done this for you, coming in Part 2 of this report). I started with the PAC that sent the most recent mailer, Associated Republicans of Texas. They were endorsing Chris Paddie. Their mission statement includes, "ART is committed to winning Texas House and Senate seats by allocating resources to the right candidates, in the right districts, at the right time". See their website here. However, looking at the list of candidates they support, it looks as though, only candidates that fall in the liberal to moderate faction receive any funds. Run by some of the wealthiest individuals in the state they are one of the most influential Texas PAC's. You can read more on ART here. Jay Dean of Longview was also a recipient of this organization.
As mentioned, TREPAC is another big hitter. Their legislative priorities usually tend to align with the Conservative Republican wing of the House, yet their giving heavily favors Liberal Republicans, as evidenced by funding Chris Paddie, Joe Straus, Drew Darby, Byron Cook, Jason Villaba and Charlie Geren. The reason? Texas Association of Realtors likes having a seat at the table. They likely believe they must have one in order to get things done.
Texans for Lawsuit Reform is the largest Political Action Committee in the state. Since 2015 they have received $11 million dollars in donations. Richard Weekley, of Houston is a co-founder of Weekley Homes and co-founder, Chairman and CEO of (TLR), a statewide tort reform organization. He has given $923k since 2015 to this PAC and also gives individual donations to candidates, (we'll see who in just a bit). Robert McNair, Houston Texans owner, also tops the $900k donation mark to them. Their biggest expense has been to the political consultants Murphy, Nasica and Associates, which works exclusively with establishment politicians favored by the House leadership cartel. Paddie, Dean, and Cook have employed this firm that has been known to "get dirty" during campaign season. Ironically, the second biggest expense from TLR since 2015 is to State Senator Bryan Hughes of Mineola.
Clicking on the links above should give you plenty to read and research before I post Part 2 of this blog where I'll be detailing where each SD 1 reps donations came from since the beginning of the last election cycle. It's shaping up to be quite interesting!
Friday, December 29, 2017
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Sweet Little Lies
I was reminded of that Fleetwood Mac song "Little Lies" when I saw the latest mailer from Chris Paddie, House District Nine Representative out of Marshall, Texas. The big headline he wants voters to believe is that he 'Hates Taxes' and that his opponent, Garrett Boersma, also from Marshall, is a Democrat running as a Republican. Anyone that knows Garrett, even Mr. Paddie, knows that Garrett has been a life long Republican and has been consistent in his conservative beliefs, both as a businessman and a city commissioner. When Paddie ran and won his race to become State representative in 2011, it was Boersma who took his place on the Marshall City Council. The two have known each other for years and both have attended the same Republican events in Marshall during that time. One of the most conservative legislators in Texas, Matt Schaefer from Tyler, volunteered and blocked walk for Garrett during his city commission campaign. I guaranty this, if Matt Schaefer thought Garrett Boersma was a democrat, he wouldn't have had anything to do with him. This is but the tip of the iceberg.
The main point from Mr. Paddie's mailer is to give the voter the impression that Garrett was for a massive tax increase on the good people of Marshall. He references the city commission meeting minutes of September 18, 2015 to prove his point. It's a classic diversion technique when a politician doesn't want you to look at his own record. Voters deserve the truth. I think its worth looking into.
The meeting minutes referenced do indicate the Marshall City commission voted to raise property taxes for the maintenance and operations of the city. The rate was passed by a vote of 5-0. However, if you look at the item agenda just above this vote, you'll find a vote being taken to approve the city budget. This vote was 3-2. One of the two votes against the budget was commissioner Boersma. Why would Boersma vote against the budget proposal and then vote for the tax increase?
To understand this answer, further research needed to be done. I started by looking at the meeting minutes prior to when Boersma was in office. On September 22, 2011 the city commission voted 5-0 to increase taxes "for specific purposes" the city deemed necessary. Mr. Paddie was on the city commission during this time. The commission also approved diverting money from the budget to pay for the debt they had been incurring by kicking problems down the road. This commission also approved on October 6, 2011 to raise the Water Rates for Marshall citizens. Still nothing mentioned in regards to keeping up the maintenance and operations of the city, things like good roads and infrastructure. Paddie once again voting to kick the can down the road. On December 8, 2011, the Marshall city commission again raised property tax rates by approving a resolution that said "All Goods in transit" are subject to property taxes. This meant any personal property that was acquired in or imported into the state and then forwarded on to another location is subject to property tax. The commission had a choice as to whether or not to impose this tax according to state statutes. That same month, Paddie and the commission voted to take from the Marshall budgets general and water reserve funds and transfer it to the water and sewer operating budget. This would be like taking from your savings account to pay for a budget you're not able to live under. (He has voted to do the same thing as a state representative, taking from the Texas Rainy Day Fund) To accuse Mr. Boersma of raising taxes and implying he himself never did, is disingenuous at best, dishonest in his records at worst.
Fast forwarding to 2015, and the vote in question, according to the Marshall News Messenger, Boersma had proposed his own budget plan at an earlier workshop that focused all of the General Fund excess revenue, along with the property tax revenue, to both reduce the inter fund transfer rate and provide $443,088 for water and sewer, leaving $250,000 for capital outlay. "My concerns are…we're right on the cusp of beginning a strategic plan, and tonight is a great illustration…we got a salary survey literally today," Boersma said Thursday, referring to a Police and Fire Salary Survey comparing Marshall salary information to surrounding cities. "If we're going to make permanent adjustments to our compensation structure…we ought to consider giving a modest raise that will allow us to fully fund the capital expenditures we've been talking about."
Mr. Boersma also wrote about the budget and tax increase here. In the article, he sights that for many years, prior to this vote, the city commissioners in Marshall, including Paddie, had been kicking the problem down the road, never actually trying to solve it. "We have not funded our water and sewer replacement for many years". He emphasized that although the city had received more revenue due to higher property tax evaluations, the city failed in the previous twenty year period to adequately fund for the repair and replacement of city operations or create adequate reserves. For his part, Boersma tried to convince his fellow commissioners to apply this tax increase to projects that the city government is supposed to do, not superfluous items or pet projects. In voting against the budget, Boersma voted against the way in which the property tax increase would be used. He knew money was needed to fix the problems the past commissioners created, and once the budget was passed, he could only hope to work with his fellow commissioners to spend the money in a responsible way.
Back to the mailer. As I said above, creating a false diversion of your opponents record so that no one looks at yours is a classic move by politicians, Paddie is no exception. You can look up his liberal record from my last post. He has a conservative rating of under 63% from all the major conservative organizations, not exactly a conservative stalwart. Since we're talking taxes and his claim that he 'hates' them, lets just look at a few votes from this past legislative session. HB 486, allowing school districts to raise your taxes without a vote. See Texans For Fiscal Responsibility's explanation here. Paddie, wanted school districts to be able to raise your taxes without the required vote necessary by citizens to do so. He also opposed, letting voters have a say when the city or county wants to raise your taxes by the amount over the required limit. In the same bill, SB 1, he opposed lowering the property tax rollback rate from its current 8% level down to 4% or even the compromise of 6%.
Chris says this on his website: "Chris is committed to meaningful property tax relief that arms the taxpayer to successfully challenge their appraisal boards, holds local taxing entities accountable for their rates, and gives families direct approval over local government attempts to reach deeper into our pocket. More than anything, Chris wants to keep more money in your pocket and protect your property". The evidence above proves otherwise.
Chris voted for HB 2766, the "Granny Tax", which charges the most vulnerable, our elderly, a tax when using a nursing care facility. The tax collected would then be funneled back to the nursing home provider. Every democrat in the house voted for this bill. He also voted to change the Texas Constitution by allowing city, county and school board governments to charge higher taxes and rates for services offered by prohibiting mandates the State has set forth and the corresponding funds needed. See HJR 73
There are many other examples of how Chris Paddie does not 'hate' taxes as he claims on his mailer. In fact, it seems to be the opposite. From his time on the Marshall City Council to his time in the Texas House, he has more of a propensity to kick problems down the road for future generations, including teachers. He loves robbing the pockets of future Texans incomes, and we can see that in his votes, where he time and again grows the amount of debt your children owe. I wonder if Chris has Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac in his playlist. I imagine him whistling "Little Lies" while he's driving back and forth between Austin and his district, figuring out what he'll say to his constituents next? Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies...
The main point from Mr. Paddie's mailer is to give the voter the impression that Garrett was for a massive tax increase on the good people of Marshall. He references the city commission meeting minutes of September 18, 2015 to prove his point. It's a classic diversion technique when a politician doesn't want you to look at his own record. Voters deserve the truth. I think its worth looking into.
The meeting minutes referenced do indicate the Marshall City commission voted to raise property taxes for the maintenance and operations of the city. The rate was passed by a vote of 5-0. However, if you look at the item agenda just above this vote, you'll find a vote being taken to approve the city budget. This vote was 3-2. One of the two votes against the budget was commissioner Boersma. Why would Boersma vote against the budget proposal and then vote for the tax increase?
To understand this answer, further research needed to be done. I started by looking at the meeting minutes prior to when Boersma was in office. On September 22, 2011 the city commission voted 5-0 to increase taxes "for specific purposes" the city deemed necessary. Mr. Paddie was on the city commission during this time. The commission also approved diverting money from the budget to pay for the debt they had been incurring by kicking problems down the road. This commission also approved on October 6, 2011 to raise the Water Rates for Marshall citizens. Still nothing mentioned in regards to keeping up the maintenance and operations of the city, things like good roads and infrastructure. Paddie once again voting to kick the can down the road. On December 8, 2011, the Marshall city commission again raised property tax rates by approving a resolution that said "All Goods in transit" are subject to property taxes. This meant any personal property that was acquired in or imported into the state and then forwarded on to another location is subject to property tax. The commission had a choice as to whether or not to impose this tax according to state statutes. That same month, Paddie and the commission voted to take from the Marshall budgets general and water reserve funds and transfer it to the water and sewer operating budget. This would be like taking from your savings account to pay for a budget you're not able to live under. (He has voted to do the same thing as a state representative, taking from the Texas Rainy Day Fund) To accuse Mr. Boersma of raising taxes and implying he himself never did, is disingenuous at best, dishonest in his records at worst.
Fast forwarding to 2015, and the vote in question, according to the Marshall News Messenger, Boersma had proposed his own budget plan at an earlier workshop that focused all of the General Fund excess revenue, along with the property tax revenue, to both reduce the inter fund transfer rate and provide $443,088 for water and sewer, leaving $250,000 for capital outlay. "My concerns are…we're right on the cusp of beginning a strategic plan, and tonight is a great illustration…we got a salary survey literally today," Boersma said Thursday, referring to a Police and Fire Salary Survey comparing Marshall salary information to surrounding cities. "If we're going to make permanent adjustments to our compensation structure…we ought to consider giving a modest raise that will allow us to fully fund the capital expenditures we've been talking about."
Mr. Boersma also wrote about the budget and tax increase here. In the article, he sights that for many years, prior to this vote, the city commissioners in Marshall, including Paddie, had been kicking the problem down the road, never actually trying to solve it. "We have not funded our water and sewer replacement for many years". He emphasized that although the city had received more revenue due to higher property tax evaluations, the city failed in the previous twenty year period to adequately fund for the repair and replacement of city operations or create adequate reserves. For his part, Boersma tried to convince his fellow commissioners to apply this tax increase to projects that the city government is supposed to do, not superfluous items or pet projects. In voting against the budget, Boersma voted against the way in which the property tax increase would be used. He knew money was needed to fix the problems the past commissioners created, and once the budget was passed, he could only hope to work with his fellow commissioners to spend the money in a responsible way.
Back to the mailer. As I said above, creating a false diversion of your opponents record so that no one looks at yours is a classic move by politicians, Paddie is no exception. You can look up his liberal record from my last post. He has a conservative rating of under 63% from all the major conservative organizations, not exactly a conservative stalwart. Since we're talking taxes and his claim that he 'hates' them, lets just look at a few votes from this past legislative session. HB 486, allowing school districts to raise your taxes without a vote. See Texans For Fiscal Responsibility's explanation here. Paddie, wanted school districts to be able to raise your taxes without the required vote necessary by citizens to do so. He also opposed, letting voters have a say when the city or county wants to raise your taxes by the amount over the required limit. In the same bill, SB 1, he opposed lowering the property tax rollback rate from its current 8% level down to 4% or even the compromise of 6%.
Chris says this on his website: "Chris is committed to meaningful property tax relief that arms the taxpayer to successfully challenge their appraisal boards, holds local taxing entities accountable for their rates, and gives families direct approval over local government attempts to reach deeper into our pocket. More than anything, Chris wants to keep more money in your pocket and protect your property". The evidence above proves otherwise.
Chris voted for HB 2766, the "Granny Tax", which charges the most vulnerable, our elderly, a tax when using a nursing care facility. The tax collected would then be funneled back to the nursing home provider. Every democrat in the house voted for this bill. He also voted to change the Texas Constitution by allowing city, county and school board governments to charge higher taxes and rates for services offered by prohibiting mandates the State has set forth and the corresponding funds needed. See HJR 73
There are many other examples of how Chris Paddie does not 'hate' taxes as he claims on his mailer. In fact, it seems to be the opposite. From his time on the Marshall City Council to his time in the Texas House, he has more of a propensity to kick problems down the road for future generations, including teachers. He loves robbing the pockets of future Texans incomes, and we can see that in his votes, where he time and again grows the amount of debt your children owe. I wonder if Chris has Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac in his playlist. I imagine him whistling "Little Lies" while he's driving back and forth between Austin and his district, figuring out what he'll say to his constituents next? Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies...
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