« Rally Americans to Indict DeLay (RAID) Protest | Main | U of H's Daily Cougar Takes on Tom Delay »
April 07, 2005
Morrison Calls on Texas Leaders to Sever Sweetheart Deal
MORRISON CALLS ON TEXAS LEADERS TO SEVER 'SWEETHEART LOBBY DEAL' WITH DELAY ASSOCIATE WHO DELIVERED CORPORATE CHECKS TO TRMPACFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, April 7, 2005
CONTACT: Nathan Wilcox 512.922.1925(HOUSTON) -- Attorney Richard Morrison today called on Texas leaders to protect taxpayers by severing a 'sweetheart lobby deal' by which a former chief of staff to U.S. Majority leader Tom DeLay is paid $180,000 a year to represent the state in Washington, D.C.
"This sweetheart lobby deal from Sugarland underscores the corrosive corruption of DeLay's leadership," said Morrison, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination to represent the congressional seat currently held by DeLay. "It smacks of a political payoff to a DeLay crony at taxpayer expense."
Morrison said that lobbyist Drew Maloney, DeLay's former chief-of-staff, is paid $15,000 per month by the taxpayer-funded Office of State and Federal relations to represent Texas' interests in the nation's capital. The contract is insulting and superfluous, Morrison said, in a capital headed by a President from Texas and a Majority Leader who once bragged: "I am the federal government."
Maloney and other top former aides to DeLay operate out of the Federalist Group, a Washington, D.C. lobby firm whose clients include companies that contributed to DeLay's discredited political action committee, TRMPAC, the subject of an ongoing criminal grand jury investigation in Texas.
Morrison said that Maloney personally delivered corporate checks from Houston-based Reliant Energy to TRMPAC, according to documents presented during the civil trial in Austin last month of TRMPAC's former treasurer.
In addition, Morrison said, Maloney's group recently won a multi-million-dollar state grant from Gov. Rick Perry to construct a research center on Sugarland's University of Houston campus.
Morrison said Texans deserve public officials who look out for taxpayers, not for opportunities to enrich their cronies at taxpayer expense.
"Texas has a sitting president, two U.S. senators, a passle of U.S. congressmen, and a governor who all frequently boast to voters back home about the great job they are doing on our behalf," Morrison said. "Taxpayers should not also have to pay a lobbyist to do what these elected officials are supposed to do -- especially a lobbyist whose sole qualification seems to be that he worked for Tom DeLay and delivered corporate checks to a political action committee whose top directors have since been indicted on criminal charges."
Political Ad Paid for by Richard Morrison For Congress
Posted by Lyn Wall at April 7, 2005 09:36 AM | Permalink
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.houstondemocrats.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/100
Comments
JOIN JOHN KERRY IN AUSTIN THIS WEEKEEND: KERRY IN 2008
April 12, 2005 -- 1302 days until Election Day 2008
Join John Kerry in Austin!!
What: KIDS FIRST TOWN HALL MEETING
When: Saturday, April 16th 10am-noon
Where: UT Rec Sports Center -- San Jacinto & 20th Streets (by Memorial Stadium)
Senator John Kerry will hold a Town Hall meeting here in Austin on Saturday, April 16th from 10:00am to noon at UT. The focus of the meeting will be health care for those under 21 – specifically a “Kids Come First” initiative that the Senator is championing in the Congress that would save states $6 billion annually, and cover all children with health insurance. Click here to download a complete summary of the bill.
Space is limited, so please RSVP here to reserve up to 4 seats for you and your family today.
Posted by: Ira at April 12, 2005 09:37 AM
MORRISON NOT OUR STRONGEST CANDIDATE TO TAKE ON TOM DELAY.
We appreciate his efforts in 2004 on behalf of Harris County Democrats, but Richard Morrison is not the right candidate to take on Tom Delay in 2006. Its time for him to stand aside for the good of the country and the Texas Democratic Party.
We must be careful of Michael Fjetland a Republican in DeLay's district who intends to siphon off indepenedents and help re-elect DeLay. We had a shouting match in '04 when I told him he was a lackey for DeLay.
Posted by: Ira at April 12, 2005 09:43 AM