However, I will vote for him, because...
BOHICA
Posted on 08/11/2010 9:04:00 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Houston trial lawyer Steve Mostyn will open a new front in his election-year war against Gov. Rick Perry today by launching a television commercial that criticizes Perry's pursuit of the Trans-Texas Corridor.
Mostyn is fast becoming the pre-eminent donor in Texas Democratic politics and a key player in the race for governor. He has put more than $2 million into Democratic causes and campaigns in this election cycle and appears poised to spend several million more.
Much of that money has gone to the Back to Basics Political Action Committee, which has already aired two statewide television commercials critical of the governor.
In the group's third ad, which will launch statewide today, a rancher says Perry "would bulldoze half a million acres of private land — and give it to a Spanish company to build toll roads and let the company set the tolls. When lawmakers tried to stop him, Perry vetoed the law."
The 500,000-acre figure is a reference to early plans for the Trans-Texas Corridor, a long-range plan for 4,000 miles of cross-state tollways, passenger and freight rail lines, and utilities that Perry first laid out in 2002.
The corridor ran into considerable criticism in rural Texas, and members of Perry's administration long ago, even while they were actively developing an Interstate 35 corridor plan, admitted that nothing close to that 4,000 miles would ever be built.
Later, in January 2009, transportation officials declared that the corridor concept was dead.
A few legal remnants of the plan are still on the books, and the state is still working on Interstate 69 from the Rio Grande Valley to Texarkana, which was a key part of the corridor. But the current plans for I-69 are vastly different from what the corridor plan envisioned, Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Chris Lippincott said.
"We're not going to develop Trans-Texas Corridor projects," Lippincott said.
Cintra , a Spanish company, never had a contract to build every road in the corridor, Lippincott said. Also, he said a private company would never have been able to set tolls because the state Transportation Commission would have had final say.
Back to Basics director Clifton Walker said Perry could try to revive portions of the corridor if voters re-elect him.
"Our land, homes and family farms just aren't safe with Rick Perry as governor," Walker said.
Back to Basics has relied heavily on Mostyn's money to pay for statewide television ads knocking Perry for taxpayer spending on his western Travis County rental home and on his 2007 attempt to require schools to offer a human papillomavirus vaccine.
The group's latest ad buy cost about $900,000.
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Bill White said recently that he isn't coordinating with Back to Basics. But if the group's ads are effective, they could prove a tremendous benefit to White: The spots would bruise Perry without costing White any of his own campaign money.
Perry spokesman Mark Miner dismissed the ad.
"Baseless attacks from Bill White's front groups aren't going to solve problems," Miner said.
Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
Stinking Rick Perry is vulnerable on this, because he thumbed his nose at us.
I will not forgive him for it.
However, I will vote for him, because we cannot have the governor or the legislature in Dem hands, not in a redistricting year.
Feds killed the TTC-35 http://texasturf.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=900&Itemid=2, but with no help from Perry.
“Houston trial lawyer Steve Mostyn “
Trial lawyers want to own the State of Texas again... they are buying a Governorship, pouring millions to defeat Perry.
God willing, they will lose and Texas will win.
This is one of the MOST significant ploys by this corrupt "Two Party Cartel". Ole Bubba's mentor at Georgetown (Carroly Quigly)sp would luv this. You put 2 candidates that are so close that whatever the outcome vote the elites win. The whole voting process is so controlled, so influenced by the power brokers that your 'vote counts' is just a joke.
I doubt that the money is there to even consider building TTC anymore, and no one wants a foreign company running our toll roads, so it’s a dead issue.
The trans Texas corridor and refusing to back Jan Brewer of Arizona are examples of Perry’s bad judgment. Hopefully Perry will have a bad enough time getting re-elected that it might be like waking his dumb ass up with a bucket of cold water. Perry, “grow a set” and join Brewer.
Thanks for the ping!
You’re welcome. :-)
If the trend holds, I’d say Perry will be just like Charlie Christ very soon.
Oh, but it’s unfair for corporations to donate money for advertising campaigns yet trial liars are perfectly permitted to drop $2 million to skew a campaign.
I’ve been seeing some of those nauseating TV ads bashing Perry for several weeks. They are all put out by that Back To Basics group that is supporting White. All they do is talk about the past, in the same way that the Obama regime blames everything on Bush.
I haven’t yet seen a TV ad from the Perry camp. Are they just waiting to do a blitz nearer the election? If so, I hope they only briefly touch on how White supported his sanctuary city status in Houston and emphasizes instead what Perry and the Republicans have done for Texas and will do in the future.
BTTT
TTC-35 was pretty much toast after it’s prime mover, Ric Williamson died.
Keeping RINO Rick in the governors seat isn’t much of a win. It’s more like a cheap consolation prize.
I think Rick made enough money with his land flip with brother, Troy Frazier R-Horseshoe Bay, to forget about the TTC.
That ad is sooo yesterday.
Although there’s no reason to try and reflect, we remember vividly.
However, I will vote for him, because...
BOHICA
I'm certainly not a big Perry fan--he's right on some things--and terribly wrong on a lot of others. Of course, I will vote for him---there's no other choice for me.
I'm always taken aback when some individual will drop millions of his own money into a campaign, though---what's in it for them? I'm assuming there's a way that they know they will get a return on their investment--whether their candidate wins or loses.
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