Oct. 5, 2004, 9:17PM
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
By EDD C. HENDEE
When news broke that Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, a fiercely partisan Democrat and long-time detractor of U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, had secured indictments against three of DeLay's Texas political allies, a lot of heads were turned. But a lot of those heads did not belong to people looking on with objective interest, but to Democrat political operatives in Texas and around the country, looking over their shoulders to see who was next.
Some of the indictments handed down were based on alleged abuses of Texas' ban on corporate soft money for state political activities. At issue are donations made by corporations to a political action committee called Texans for a Republican Majority during the state legislative campaign of 2002.
Republicans dominate every aspect of Texas politics because there are many more Republicans in the state than there are Democrats. In the Texas Legislature, Democrats had been able to forestall the GOP's takeover in the congressional delegation by demanding no changes be made to the state's congressional map after the 2000 Census (after 10 years of Republican gains around the state).
DeLay, Texans for a Republican Majority (also called TRMPAC), and Republicans across the state fought to win a legislative majority in Austin to finally draw a fair map for the state, which was completed in late 2003.
Democrats, feeling the last little bit of power they have in the state slipping from their grasp, would prefer to blame Tom DeLay rather than their own break from Texas values on issues pertaining to the security, prosperity and families of this nation.
All of this is fine, or at least, not illegal. It may not be very friendly or very wise to hate your political opponents, but it's not against the law, at any rate. And neither is the ubiquitous practice of state and national party offices donating hard money and soft money back and forth. Hard money is from personal donations and political committees, and can be used in Texas for all political campaign activity. Soft money comes from corporations and therefore can only be used by political groups to cover administrative expenses (though administrative expenses have never been exactly defined by the courts).
So, what happened in 2002 is that companies gave money to TRMPAC as companies give money to liberal and conservative groups all the time. TRMPAC used this soft money on administrative expenses in some cases, and in other instances gave that money to other political organizations. Companies and individuals also give money to state and national political parties like the Republican and Democratic national committees who, in turn, donate some of that money to state and local groups with similar goals.
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One of the indictments against a TRMPAC official says he broke the law by giving $190,000 in soft money to the Republican National Committee, which in turn allegedly sent $190,000 in hard or politically utile money. Indeed, this hard money was used by TRMPAC to help Republicans win a Texas Majority (as the name of the group makes clear).
District Attorney Earle would have us believe this arrangement so common in American politics that it is taken for granted as a means of dispersing campaign money around the country by both parties is illegal.
For the benefit of the Travis County district attorney, here are some examples of how soft and hard money have flowed on the Democratic side over the past few years:
*
On Oct. 31, 2002, the Texas Democratic
Party sent the DNC $75,000 of hard money.
The same day, the DNC sent the Texas Democratic
Party $75,000 of soft money.
*
On July 19, 2001, the Texas Democratic
Party sent
the
DNC $50,000 of hard money. The same day,
the DNC sent the Texas Democratic Party
$60,000 of soft money.
*
On June 8, 2001, the Texas Democratic Party
sent
the DNC
$50,000 of hard money. The same day,
the DNC sent the Texas Democratic Party
$60,000
of soft money.
*
On May 14, 2001, the Texas Democratic Party
sent
the DNC $50,000
of hard money. The same day, the DNC
sent the Texas Democratic Party $60,000
of soft
money.
* On Sept.
1, 1999, the Texas Democratic Party sent
the DNC $50,000 of hard money.
The same day, the DNC sent the Texas
Democratic Party $60,000 of soft money.
Mr.
Earle, call your office: Your state party
has a few things they'd like to discuss.
Oh, and by the way: When can we expect
your office to indict the Democrats on
these same "infractions"?
Hendee, a Houstonian, is active in Republican Party politics. |
