Posted on 08/11/2006 5:40:30 PM PDT by Dubya
Posted on Fri, Aug. 11, 2006
Strayhorn dismisses political attacks
AUSTIN Independent candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn was under fire from her three main rivals in the governors race Friday amid allegations that she used her state staff in the comptrollers office to perform campaign work and that she authorized nearly $130 million in tax refunds to clients of one of her most generous contributors.
Strayhorn, a Democrat-turned-Republican who switched to independent in January, dismissed the broadsides as phony attacks from Austin insiders, and particularly from Republican Gov. Rick Perry.
When you take on the governor and his Austin crowd, watch out, Strayhorn told reporters after speaking with the Texas Association of Broadcasters.
The Perry camp launched the first salvo earlier in the week, posting video clips on the governors political Web site showing Strayhorn driving away from a campaign appearance in a state-owned sportutility vehicle after reading material compiled from her state staff. Independent candidate Kinky Friedman followed with a complaint asking Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle to examine whether Strayhorn had violated the law barring the use of state employees for political work.
On Friday, Democratic hopeful Chris Bell piled on, suggesting that Strayhorn had given favorable treatment on a tax case to a client of a key supporter. At issue was Strayhorns recent ruling that Texas Instruments was due a $128 million refund for overpayment of sales taxes.
TI is represented by the tax consulting firm of Ryan & Co., which through its political action committee and executive staff has given tens of thousand of dollars to Strayhorn during her two terms as comptroller.
Using state employees for political purpose is illegal, Bell said. Giving gargantuan tax refunds that benefit your largest contributor is perfectly legal, but its worse.
Bell said he would push for legislation barring anyone representing businesses in a tax dispute with the state from making campaign contributions to the comptroller.
Strayhorn pointed out that she is a full-time officeholder who heads one of the largest agencies in state government, but she rejected assertions that her office is subsidizing her campaign for governor.
I am comptroller 24/7, and I build an absolute firewall between anything thats political and the state office, she said.
The Friedman camp, which is competing with Strayhorn for votes from Texans without allegiance to the major parties, said the comptroller is a veteran campaigner with adequate resources. Recent financial disclosure forms show Strayhorn with about $8 million in her account, second only to Perry among the four major candidates.
I find it very difficult to understand why Comptroller Strayhorn would have put herself in the position of defending her actions while sitting on a campaign war chest of millions of dollars, said Dean Barkley, Friedmans campaign director. She could have avoided these questions by simply paying her campaign staff to do this work. John Moritz, 512-476-4294 jmoritz@star-telegram.com
In Texas, football and politics are blood sports.
They sure are.
Granny Carole is an IINO!
LOL Well I don't know what that means. I guess you have her pegged.
IINO means Independent In Name Only. Most of her support comes from trial lawyers and teacher's unions
Thank you for the info.
Perry has a great video that rips Carole "Four-Names-Three-Parties" Strayhorn:
http://www.rickperry.org/cks/OfficialBusiness.wmv
Thanks for the url.
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