Houston Democrats

In Oct. 2005, Rick Perry defended Tom DeLay, saying, “I'm for Tom DeLay. I don't get confused about what's going on here.”  (AP, Oct. 24. 2005)

 

“When it comes to ethics reform, Rick Perry just doesn’t get it.  Tom DeLay’s resignation has everything to do with corruption,” said Bell. “Now is the time to turn the focus from how bad one man is to how good we can all be, and we can do that by tackling tough ethics reforms during the special session.  The only thing standing in the way is Rick Perry.”

 

Bell broke a seven-year-long “ethics truce” when he filed the successful complaint against DeLay in 2004. “But if there is an ‘ethics truce’ in Washington, there is a wholesale ‘ethics surrender’ in Austin thanks to Rick Perry and his pals,” said Bell. 

 

Chris Bell has proposed a “Don’t Mess With Ethics” reform plan that would directly address many of the problems raised by the DeLay ethics scandals, including closing soft money loopholes by clarifying and strengthening the soft-money prohibition in Texas law.

 

Bell also said that the recent spending by James Leininger and Bob Perry in last month’s Republican primaries highlights the need to consider another element of Bell’s reform plan: a $100,000 aggregate contribution limit.  Already in 2006, Mr. Leininger has spent more than $2 million and Mr. Perry, no relation to the Governor, has spent more than $500,000.

 

Chris Bell’s “Don’t Mess With Ethics” reform plan: http://www.chrisbell.com/ethics_plan.