There ought to be a law….

Kathaleen Wall is one of the republicans running to replace Ted Poe in Texas Congressional District 2. A quick look at her fundraising numbers might make one say something like “Needless to say the republican candidate has millions.” but looking beneath the surface tells a different story.

According to her FEC single fundraising report Wall raised a whopping $2,744,692.79 but that includes $2,733,801.79 from the candidate  herself leaving only $10,891 raised from 14 other donors. So Wall is literally trying to buy an election. Her closest primary opponent Kevin Roberts raised $531,311 including a $270,000 personal loan. Rick Waller raised $367,492 including a $300,000 loan.  David Balat raised $155,000 with an $85,000 loan and Johnathon Havens raised $111,000 with an $80,000 loan. None of the republicans are capable of raising money on their own. 

Here is the FEC report on the candidates:

Kathaleen Wall did not list her $2,733,801 donation as a loan but as a candidate contribution. I know if a donation is listed as a loan then it could be paid back, with interest, from campaign contributions but if it is listed just as a self financed campaign donation then it might not be refundable. Regardless there ought to be law preventing people from buying a race like this.

You can view her entire report here.

As I said yesterday:

Candidates need money to introduce themselves to the community, to buy literature, to pay staff, to buy resources like internet access, signs, media buys, and campaign headquarters. If you can’t get your message out you can’t expect voters to vote for you.

You can review all the fundraising information for all candidates in the Congressional Districts of Texas by visiting this link. So with a bit of commentary, here are the numbers from the FEC.gov website:

Congressional District 2
Needless to say the republican candidate has millions, $2.7 million to be exact, but it is all of her money! See my post here. Democratic candidate, Litton, has raised $367,492 to date. More than any other candidate, republican or Democrat excluding any loans or self financing. Some candidates do not have any data on the FEC site. I do not intend to update later. They are not actively raising money and should regroup and run at a later date.

Congressional District 7
Wow. Lots of money being raised in this period. Alex has raised nearly $1 Million. 4 of the 7 candidates look viable. Moser brought in a considerable amount this period mainly from ActBlue which is how it is reported. I thought that the contributions had to be itemized with who actually contributed the money via ActBlue, but I may be wrong. The bottom 3 Candidates should consider dropping out, endorsing someone, then put their resources into the winner of the primary.

Congressional District 29
Notice that Muhammad Tahir Javed has an incredible amount for a single reporting period of $647,775 but……that includes a $400,000 personal loan from his own pocket.The bottom 4 candidates have about $39,000 combined which includes a $27,683 personal loan by Roel Garcia into his campaign.The bottom 4 might consider dropping out. As I have said “This is not a game”.

Today is the last day for reports to be filed for Federal races. Some reports have been filed already, some have not. Some have an incredible amount of money especially in Congressional District 7, some have an incredible lack of money especially in Congressional District 7. Hopefully by tomorrow numbers will be posted for CD2, CD7, CD29, and CD36 to give primary voters a look at who can be viable in the general election.

Over the past month or two forums across the county have focused on questions about the environment, immigration, health care and taking control of the trump administration, but few questions have been asked about the viability of the multiple campaigns. This is a very serious question. Candidates running for an office should be able to say how many votes they need to win in the primary and the general, how much money they need to win these votes, and how they intend to raise the money necessary to win.

Running for office isn’t a game. Lives are literally at stake. It is serious business and requires pre-filing analysis. Candidates should have either a large amount of money or a very large army of volunteers, based upon the office running for, or a combination of both. A combination of both is most probably the best bet to win. Candidates need money to introduce themselves to the community, to buy literature, to pay staff, to buy resources like internet access, signs, media buys, and campaign headquarters. If you can’t get your message out you can’t expect voters to vote for you.

So. Tomorrow we Count de Monet.

The Houston Chronicle probably said it best:

In fact, I don’t think any city in Texas has a chance at Amazon’s HQ2. Mostly because our regressive, anti-woman, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT state leadership has given the state a horrendous reputation on the coasts that only a political revolution will overcome.

But someone really put it in simple terms to Amazon with a letter from a Texan. In short, we don’t like Muslims, Gays, Mexicans, and Teachers. And we love guns, and machetes, and guns, and more guns. At least the writer was being honest.

You have to get up pretty early in the morning to pull one over Brian Babin. In a letter to his constituents Babin falls for the FBI Secret Society prank based upon a joke between two FBI agents over text. From his email:

These text messages from high ranking FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page show the depth of anti-Trump bias at the FBI and DOJ, which we now know included the existence of a “secret society” to coordinate their efforts. I urge all my constituents regardless of party affiliation to take precautions to protect themselves from possible violation by the FBI. I highly recommend the Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Foil for best protection.

Babin has also called for an investigation into the Russian meddling in our election. Actually he hasn’t. In fact Babin wants the investigation investigated. It is clear he will do anything to protect trump, his family, and his connections to the Russian government.

Sad.

Someone has to pay for the Trump tax cuts.

As I said before “We have a race!” Congressional District 7 should be a competitive race to unseat the incumbent John Culberson. I find this race interesting because of the fundraising effort.

There are 6 Democrats in the primary with 4 raising serious money for the election according to the latest FEC reports. Joshua Butler and James Cargas have not raised much money with only $10k and $3k cash on hand. Butler was considering a run as an independent then came back to running as a Democrat. With $3,000 he might want to consider running for school board. James Cargas ran before and raised just as little money as he has today. You have to thank Cargas for running when it wasn’t a possible winning district but if you can’t raise money, you can’t raise interest in your candidacy.

Running for office is serious business. It requires serious fundraising efforts. It is extremely hard work but in this day and age money is required to get your name and position out to the voters. If you do not put the time and effort into raising money you will not be a serious candidate. Hopefully Butler and Cargas will bow out and support one of the other candidates. Let’s thank them for running.

So who is left? Alexander Triantaplyllis, Elizabeth Fletcher, Laura Moser, and Jason Westin with Cash on Hand of $535K, $403K, $271K, and $167K respectively. They have each raised $668K, $550K, $401K, $262K. Culberson has $388K and his republican opponent has $90K COH. Westin’s $262K is OK if he was running for State Representative. He might want to reconsider at the next FEC report.

The other 3 have raised significant amounts of money for a primary. The general will require millions to be competitive. It looks like Alex and Elizabeth have the ability to raise this money. Moser might struggle as will Westin. Their next reports might show something different.

It is good to see qualified candidates with the ability to raise money to run a serious campaign. CD7 will be fun to watch. Good luck to the candidates in the primary.

I’ve said it before but I am now convinced it is true. Remember when we used to say “Not all republicans are racists, but all racists are republicans”? The events over the last week have turned the Party of Lincoln into a party for racists. You have to wonder why those who claim “I’m not a racist….” haven’t left the party.

Former republican Joe Scarbrough left the party on national TV. He has been critical of Donald Trump prior to his election and has now moved to being critical of the entire party. Ana Navarro, republican political commentator, has called out Trump and the republican party for over a year now but will not leave the party. She should. Many should. Her party no longer exists. It’s become a safe haven for racists protected by the President of the United States. What is she waiting for?

That all changed last Saturday.

There is no excuse, none, zero, zip, for any republican to remain silent about Trump’s response to the white supremacists and nazis in Charlottesville. As President George W Bush once said “You are either with us or against us. Republicans need to take a side but the vast majority have not.

Our Congressman Brian Babin, representing the Clear Lake area, issued a dimwit response to the violence much like Trump did.

“There is no place in America for the violence and extremism that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia. We must stand united against all forms of evil and violence directed at our fellow Americans. I call for a swift and complete investigation by the Department of Justice.”

Way to take a stand Babin. It really isn’t that hard to take a stand and say something like: 

“At least three people were killed and 20 people seriously injured in an act of terror today in Charlottesville. The vile beliefs of the perpetrators of this violence insult our fundamental American values and must be condemned in the strongest terms.  

The President’s talk of violence ‘on many sides’ ignores the shameful reality of white supremacism in our country today, and continues a disturbing pattern of complacency around such acts of hate.”

The daily caller, a white wing rag founded by Tucker Carlson, wrote that Babin is attempting to obstruct the Russia probe:

Texas Republican Rep. Brian Babin is asking for congressmen to sign onto a letter requesting that special counsel Robert Mueller appear publicly in a congressional hearing, The Daily Caller has learned.

“Every nominee for United States Attorney must be confirmed by the Senate, a process that brings to the forefront any concerns regarding the nominee’s ability to hold their position in a decent and impartial manner. However, as Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III and his team of lawyers investigate our very own president, we as a nation wait in the dark with very little information about those given this great authority,”

Babin is considered armed with dangerous misinformation and should not be trusted to tell the truth. Last seen with Donald Trump.