Friday, January 13, 2017

Charlie Geren CAVES on a Major Issue!!!


"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass."
Psalm 37:7

Whoa, whoa, whoa...wait a second...WHAT?!?
Ethics reform went down the tubes in Texas a couple of years ago when Republican leaders deadlocked over a proposal to end the “dark money” loophole, which has been used by GOP and Democratic activists alike to cloak the source of their political donations.

Rep. Charlie Geren, the powerful Fort Worth Republican pushing ethics reform in the Texas House this year, is determined not to let that happen again.

Though he supports closing the dark money loophole himself, Geren said he fears the proposal could be used as a poison pill to kill off a broader package of bills — everything from taking lucrative pensions away from legislator-felons to disclosing all the lobbyist wining and dining that remains unreported.

“We got tangled up in a fight over dark money, and that killed the bill,” Geren told The Texas Tribune Thursday. “We’re going to have some single-shot bills that address individual issues, and you’re not going to be able to decorate them like a Christmas tree with other subjects.”
It's impossible to overstate the significance of Charlie Geren backing down on this issue; for years, attacking so-called "dark money" (ie. anonymous political speech) has been the tip of the spear in Team Straus' jihad against Michael Quinn Sullivan.

In 2013, Geren sponsored SB 346, which would have encouraged the same type of actions as those taken by the Obama administration's IRS at the state level.  Thankfully, in one the single best actions of his final term, then Governor Rick Perry vetoed it.  In 2015, it led to the confrontation on the ethics bill described above.

In 2017, it appears Geren won't even push the issue anywhere with leverage.

This issue used to be his baby...and now he's not even going to push it?!?

Bottom Line: We will certainly take it....

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