By Juan Montoya
When, in recent memory, has anyone raised an eyebrow when a purely Democr
atic partisan political event was held in this city and a plethora of public entities stepped forward to foot the bill for it?
The City of Brownsville would send the crews to mow the lawn, paint the steps, attend to the traffic, and generally attend to the needs and wants of the luminary invited to beat the hustings on behalf of the local political bigwigs.
The Public Utility Board crews would make sure the lighting was perfect, the Brownsville Independent School District would comply as well, bringing the tables, added workers, and other resources and personnel as needed.
There was no need to fill out P.O.s to pay for the personnel and resources. There was no one to question the use of the public's monies and materials. Dems ruled the roost here.
However, with the falling fortunes of Democrats and the rising consciousness of local voters that a purely political visit by former President Bill Clinton to bail out the lagging fortunes of U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz and Cameron County county Judge candidate John Wood, could not be justified as a public expense, that has changed.
Solomon Ortiz, who has been accustomed to being wined and dined on the public nickel for as long as he can remember (at least 27 years), will get a bill from the city.
The city and PUB billed the Ortiz for Congress Committee $1,957 for costs to prepare public property for a political rally last Monday on his behalf.
Poor Ortiz. Fresh from a debate drubbing at the hands of Republican challenger Blake Farenthold where he was reminded that District 27 belonged to the peole and not to him, the last thing Ortiz wanted was to get charged for appearing at a rally in "his distirct."
“My district, my district,” chided Farenthold. “It is not your district, Mr. Ortiz. It is our district, the people’s district.”
Ortiz lamely responded that “Instead of responding to the issues facing South Texas directly, Blake Farenthold chose to spend the debate dancing around topics and reciting rehearsed Republican talking points.”
“Such empty political speech was a clear tactic to hide his utter lack of qualifications to serve as a federal representative,” Ortiz said.
Yet, one could tell the point stung Ortiz, who pollsters say is going to have to carry Cameron County big to offset low support numbers in the norther part of "his" district in Nueces and San Patricio counties.
Ortiz tried to make points by pointing out that he had brought home more "bacon" than many other federal representatives.
"I am number six in terms of earmarked projects in the House of Representatives," he said, obviously unaware that earmarked projects have become a dirty word in fiscally-conservative circles in Washington and the country.
Farenthold chided Ortiz for continuing to receive payments from his holding of an ownership in trust of a port security company he owned with the brother of his former aide Lencho Rendon.
"I sold my share of the company," Ortiz protested, only to have Farenthold remind him that his finance reports that he still receives payments from his shares.
Ortiz, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, helped direct earmarks and federal grants worth tens of millions of dollars to the Port of Corpus Christi, the nation’s fifth largest port.
When, in recent memory, has anyone raised an eyebrow when a purely Democr
atic partisan political event was held in this city and a plethora of public entities stepped forward to foot the bill for it?The City of Brownsville would send the crews to mow the lawn, paint the steps, attend to the traffic, and generally attend to the needs and wants of the luminary invited to beat the hustings on behalf of the local political bigwigs.
The Public Utility Board crews would make sure the lighting was perfect, the Brownsville Independent School District would comply as well, bringing the tables, added workers, and other resources and personnel as needed.
There was no need to fill out P.O.s to pay for the personnel and resources. There was no one to question the use of the public's monies and materials. Dems ruled the roost here.
However, with the falling fortunes of Democrats and the rising consciousness of local voters that a purely political visit by former President Bill Clinton to bail out the lagging fortunes of U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz and Cameron County county Judge candidate John Wood, could not be justified as a public expense, that has changed.
Solomon Ortiz, who has been accustomed to being wined and dined on the public nickel for as long as he can remember (at least 27 years), will get a bill from the city.
The city and PUB billed the Ortiz for Congress Committee $1,957 for costs to prepare public property for a political rally last Monday on his behalf.
Poor Ortiz. Fresh from a debate drubbing at the hands of Republican challenger Blake Farenthold where he was reminded that District 27 belonged to the peole and not to him, the last thing Ortiz wanted was to get charged for appearing at a rally in "his distirct."
“My district, my district,” chided Farenthold. “It is not your district, Mr. Ortiz. It is our district, the people’s district.”
Ortiz lamely responded that “Instead of responding to the issues facing South Texas directly, Blake Farenthold chose to spend the debate dancing around topics and reciting rehearsed Republican talking points.”
“Such empty political speech was a clear tactic to hide his utter lack of qualifications to serve as a federal representative,” Ortiz said.
Yet, one could tell the point stung Ortiz, who pollsters say is going to have to carry Cameron County big to offset low support numbers in the norther part of "his" district in Nueces and San Patricio counties.
Ortiz tried to make points by pointing out that he had brought home more "bacon" than many other federal representatives.
"I am number six in terms of earmarked projects in the House of Representatives," he said, obviously unaware that earmarked projects have become a dirty word in fiscally-conservative circles in Washington and the country.
Farenthold chided Ortiz for continuing to receive payments from his holding of an ownership in trust of a port security company he owned with the brother of his former aide Lencho Rendon.
"I sold my share of the company," Ortiz protested, only to have Farenthold remind him that his finance reports that he still receives payments from his shares.
Ortiz, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, helped direct earmarks and federal grants worth tens of millions of dollars to the Port of Corpus Christi, the nation’s fifth largest port.
Since 1997, the port — which is in Ortiz’s district — has hired Amtex Global Services, Ortiz’s former firm, on contracts that have ranged from $900,0000 to more than $1 million annually. The company continues to pay Ortiz for the sale of his stake in it.
So despite his protests, Ortiz continues to profit nicely from securing defense earmarks for the ports.
In fact, in the latest earmark figures available for defense earmarks in general(2008), Ortiz is listed as having been responsible for defense earmarks totalling $11,100,000.
And in the period from 2003 to 2008 campaign contributions from earmark recipients to Ortiz total $117,285.
In fact, in the latest earmark figures available for defense earmarks in general(2008), Ortiz is listed as having been responsible for defense earmarks totalling $11,100,000.
And in the period from 2003 to 2008 campaign contributions from earmark recipients to Ortiz total $117,285.
So what a measly $1,957 to pay the city when Ortiz has made a mint with every Homeland Security initiative where there is money to be made in the ports?
But Ortiz is hearing footsteps. And now that he has to pay, will he still come? Or will we wait until election time again?
3 comments:
nice little propaganda piece - but the reason the issue with the bill for the event was controversial was because it consisted of a visit by a president (which communities usually pay for).
and earmarks being a dirty word in washington? since when? we haven't slowed down congressionally directed spending since we started (and all in all earmarks only consist of 1-2% of our federal budget). i for one am glad to hear that our congressman has been so effective at bringing back my federal tax dollars - lord knows we need them.
farenthold/mishou talk down to earmarks because if we elected them - they wouldn't be able to secure them as freshmen members.
So we should re-elect Ortiz because congressional spending hasn't slowed down? I want to see the label on that prescription bottle.
...Ortiz is a great example of what's wrong with Washington... Wake up Brownsville... When will we actually sit down and weigh the candidates by what they bring to the table? Ortiz has succeeded in bringing money primarily into his own pocket... Cabled should be fired and an investigative committee should be formed to hold liable all who had their hand in the cookie jar... Ortiz is incoherent and is dependent on his staff to formulate a complete response.... Open your eyes folks... Stop the madness, Vote Farenthold...
Post a Comment