Posted on 08/31/2010 12:36:19 PM PDT by La Lydia
Lord help you, and I’m not a religious man.
http://www.caller.com/search/?q=anna%20jimenez%20district%20attorney&t=news
Nueces county has 4 Hispanic Republican candiates up for eleciton on November 2. In the rest of the state of Texas there are 7.
Ortiz's travel costs probed
By Rick Spruill
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
CORPUS CHRISTI U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, is among six congressmen under investigation for their use of daily stipend cash received while on taxpayer-funded trips overseas, according to a Wall Street Journal article published Tuesday.
Citing unnamed sources, the article said the investigation, a probe into whether certain House members have used per diem travel cash for personal expenses in violation of House rules, has been referred to the House Ethics Committee.
Jon Steinman, communications director for the Office of Congressional Ethics, would not comment on whether an investigation has officially been opened.
Investigators have questioned Ortiz, along with fellow Democrats Alcee Hastings of Florida and G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina and Republican Reps. Joe Wilson of South Carolina, Robert Aderholt of Alabama and Mark Souder of Indiana, according to the article.
When traveling overseas on approved business, House members are given cash to spend on meals, cab fare and other travel-related expenses. However, congressional rules governing whether travelers can spend the money for other purposes and whether they must return unspent money are unclear.
In March, Ortiz told the Journal he had never repaid per diem cash received while on overseas trips and was unaware of any rule requiring House members to do so.
If that was the policy, Ortiz said in the article, you could never get many members traveling.
Jose Borjon, communications director for Ortiz, responded to questions Tuesday regarding the investigation.
Congressman Ortiz, like many members of Congress, has used a combination of personal and per diem funds to pay for appropriate travel-related expenses such as meals and local transportation, Borjon said in a statement.
New House rules issued in May require members to spend all per diem on official expenses or return the unused portion. Borjon said the congressman intended to follow the new instructions.
In 2008, Ortiz reported $5,886 in per diem expenses for trips to Colombia, Greece, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan, France, United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan and Germany.
In 2009, he reported $3,911.89 in per diem expenses for trips to Brazil, Argentina, Panama, Jordan, Algeria, Tunisia, Romania, Italy, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom, according to records filed with the clerk of the House of Representatives.
How much Ortiz spent and what he bought while on the trips was not reported.
Blake Farenthold, Ortizs Republican opponent in Novembers congressional election, had a news conference Tuesday afternoon in response to the Journal report.
He called on Ortiz to publicly disclose the amount of money he has received for overseas travel and to return to the taxpayers what he has not spent.
I live in San Antonio, a city that was noted by the Mexican government to have corrupt politicians EIGHT years before the Alamo and the Texas revolution. And in my lifetime I've seen people that had been convicted of crimes win re-election.
Once these little mini-kingdoms get established, it takes decades to be rid of them. And Mr. Ortiz senior has been a king for a long time. Maybe their time is actually up, but I wouldn't place a bet on it.
I hate to be the naysayer here but I traveled during my career too. When I was on expense account I was reimbursed for what I spent. If someone else bought me a meal, I didn't claim it.
However, when I was on a per diem, the money was mine. If my choice was to eat peanut butter and jelly in my hotel room and buy a nice box of chocolate for my wife when I got back that, was not against company policy.
I don't think you know the mood in Corpus Christi and Nueces County. People are tired of the Robstown mafia controlling the county. For years county taxpayers have been milked to benefit Robstown and the Ortiz machine. In the past they got away with plundering the rest of the county by offering up Hispanic candidates that could attract votes from Hispanic voters across the county. Now, two things have happened. There are now more Republican voters living on Padre Island and Port Aransas than live in Robstown, and middle class Hispanics second and third generation Hispanics living in Corpus Christi are outraged at the high property taxes they are paying to subsidize Robstown.
Earlier in this decade, the county commission dominated by Oscar Ortiz, brother of Solomon Ortiz, built a minor league baseball stadium in Robstown next to the brand new Taj Mahal county fairground complex without a bond election. Robstown doesn't have the population to support a minor league team, and this stadium was authorized after the city of Corpus Christi had already committed to building a minor league stadium in downtown Corpus Christi. Now Robstown's minor league stadium is empty, but county tax payers will be paying for it for years. Prior to the 2008 elections, the county commission wanted to compound their overspending in Robstown by building $35 million convention center in Robstown. They also built an airport and county library in Robstown. People are fed up with corrupt Robstown DemocRATS and their cronies.
Ortiz is known around the world.
Knock off the Libya-bashing, Solomon Ortiz (D-Texas) says
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2336723/posts
Didn’t Gadhafi once give him an aspirin, or was it Saddam Hussein or Kim Jung Il?
We had several dynasties in and around San Antonio. Most of them have crumbled, although not so much because they were put out of business but rather because of in-fighting among the thieves (excuse me, “members”). One even used to openly refer to themselves as the “south-side mafia”.
Some of them have tried to regroup but so far haven't been too successful. If we (taxpayers) are lucky, they'll never be successful!
Silvestre “Silver” Reyes and Solomon Ortiz, 2 Texas border Dems, makes you think, doesn’t it?
“If my choice was to eat peanut butter and jelly in my hotel room and buy a nice box of chocolate for my wife when I got back, that was not against company policy.”
And that makes perfect sense if you’re working for a private company. But when it’s taxpayer money that’s funding my trips, I just can’t justify asking for more than I spend. And that’s also the official policy for the state—not to request to be reimbursed more than you’ve spent (although lots of people ignore it because it isn’t enforced).
In the 80’s they ran a story about the deputies in the Co. jail selling dope the the prisoners.
When they found out the dope the jailers were selling came from the police dept. property room, confiscated from dopers, the paper shut up.
By the way, is Chris Lawrence, the beach patrol officer or whatever he was, still in the fed pen?
I heard he got himself 25 years for child porn. Good place fro him.
The way per diem worked for me was:
5 days on the road X $125 per day = $625
When I got back they cut me a check for $625. I didn't get "reimbursed", nor were receipts required. It was straight up x dollars per day.
Where in the world is Solomon Ortiz?
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