Opinion: Fed Up with Political Corruption in Texas

I would like to suggest that the articles in last week's Dallas Morning News regarding the resignation of State Rep. (D) Terri Hodge be distributed to your audience. I am personally fed up with the corruption WITHIN the Democratic Party -- many of the people in and around the electoral process see it as nothing more than a money-making opportunity for sale to the highest bidder.

To make the point again, on Thursday the 3th ANOTHER elected official in El Paso -- District Judge Manuel Barraza - was convicted of three corruption charges including two counts of wire fraud and one count of lying to a federal agent.

Unless the "reform" elements of Texas politics start taking a tough stand on these issues we can expect nothing but more of the same.  When a half dozen elected officials in Dallas, Texas get convicted of various bribery schemes - all involving affordable housing scams - it should be something that every single "activist" in Texas knows about and is discussing among peers.

What good is it to replace the current WHITE power structure with an equally corrupt Brown and Black power structure?  Absolutely no difference at all.

None. The silence on this issue from the younger reformers and up-and-comers is appalling. Absolutely indefensible.

The result??? A growing number of working-class people are now embracing the misguided Tea Party types as a way to vent their frustrations over "BUSINESS AS USUAL."    

Steve Speir
Travis County Democratic Party Pct. 135 chair
former president Northeast Austin Democrats

Hodge to resign Legislature seat after pleading guilty to tax fraud

12:00 AM CST on Thursday, February 4, 2010

By JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News
jtrahan@dallasnews.com / The Dallas Morning News
Gromer Jeffers Jr. contributed to this report.

State Rep. Terri Hodge provided a dramatic twist to the FBI's public corruption investigation Wednesday by agreeing to resign from the Texas House after pleading guilty to failing to pay taxes on $74,000 in income, including more than $32,000 in bribes.

<!-- image1 starts here --><!-- image1 ends here -->Hodge, D-Dallas, also admitted that she never paid taxes on another $41,000, some of which was money she pilfered from her own campaign war chest for personal expenses. Neither prosecutors nor Hodge offered details.

The 69-year-old legislator choked up several times during an early-morning hearing that was never publicly scheduled, apparently in an attempt to spare Hodge media attention.

Hodge, who did not comment as she left the courthouse, agreed to drop her re-election bid for an eighth term. But she will remain a House member until she is sentenced...

Read more HERE.

07:36 PM CST on Wednesday, February 3, 2010

BY Jacquielynn Floyd / The Dallas Morning News

Just six weeks ago, veteran state Rep. Terri Hodge seemed majestically indifferent to the fraud and bribery charges she faced.

Her longtime constituents weren’t particularly ruffled by her alleged involvement in an interminable, yesterday’s-headline City Hall corruption case.

She was guest of honor at a Yuletide fundraiser staged by some of the heaviest Democratic hitters in Dallas County. Her statehouse party colleagues remained loyal. Even her opponent in the primary race was helpfully sticking to the high road, aiming more at her legislative record than her legal problems.

And at a debate last weekend, she tartly dismissed a moderator’s sly allusions to the role of “character” and “integrity” in her re-election race.

“This is America,” she said grandly...

Read more HERE.