"Silly Season" for the Travis County DA

Former DA Earle’s alleged Improprieties Spice Up Silly Season

Former Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle and current First Assistant DA Rosemary Lehmberg are faced with allegations which could negatively affect Lehmberg’s campaign for the Office of the District Attorney. Rick Reed, a former employee at the DA’s office and current candidate for the Office of the District Attorney, brought the issue to light recently and wants the public to know about it. The charges stem from a settlement negotiated with four indicted businesses that engaged in illegal campaign contributions. The decision to bring up this issue during election time brings to mind Senator Barack Obama, U.S. Presidential hopeful, and his reference in the recent University of Texas Debate, to the “silly season” of politics.
In 2002, the Republican Majority took control of the Texas House of Representatives, and with that takeover came an investigation into Republican campaign contributions. During this investigation Earle’s office discovered that the corporations in question tried to sway the democratic process. In Texas it is illegal for corporations to spend money on political activities except in limited circumstances.
After the discovery of these improprieties, Earle and his staff settled, albeit questionably, with the corporations. This “settlement” amounted to a $250,000 donation to an educational program “about the role of corporations in American democracy”. Many observers felt that the prosecution did, indeed have the education of the general public in mind when it decided on such a settlement.
Reed, on the other hand did not. Shortly after the settlement was reached and the case dismissed, Reed informed Earle of his disapproval of the type of settlement through e-mails citing his “grave concerns”.
As the money remains unspent, a portion of which is in a trust fund, and the rest is with the UT LBJ School of Law, it appears the information pertaining to this improper act and the maelstrom it will create is just getting started. Ah, the “silly season”…that subtle reminder to get to the polls.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/02/22/0222dismissals.html

Winds of Change Bring Drama

For Texas Democrats the anticipation of becoming a factor in the US Presidential nomination is mounting. March 4th will come soon enough for Texans, but for now the focus is on the other remaining primaries. With New York Senator Hillary Clinton and Illinois Senator Barack Obama traversing the nation in search of the endorsement from remaining delegates, the race for the Republican nomination seeems to be coming to a close. Former Massachussets Governor Mitt Romney withdrew from the race leaving Arizona Senator John McCain as the front-runner, with Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee painfully trailing along. The lack of suspense leads one to believe that on the Republican side, John McCain should be their nomination, and as for the Democrats, that is a different story. The battle between Clinton and Obama may even come down to the wire and be decided by Ohio and/or Texas. The main point of this article is to inform individuals of the current state of our nation, and the nationwide race to secure the nomination for each party. This process educates the general public on the level of dedication needed to campaign across the United States and it also gives insight as to where the nomination will go in each parties respective camp.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/5525168.html