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David Tuthill
Kirk
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9/01/10 and the
Well's dry.
When I was a kid growing up in Dallas and spending
summers in Paris, Texas, there was a country western song -- "Oh, my bucket's
got a hole in it, got a big hole in it ...". It ought to be
our theme song these days.
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No one has any money because so many people are
either out of work or worried about losing their job or their home or all of the
above. Dallas Taxpayers are having to cut back on our personal spending,
but we can't count on City Hall or the Commissioner's Court showing any mercy on
our plight. |
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Judd D.
Bradbury:
Thanks for writing. You hit the things that needed saying. I
am livid about the county vote. I have an article that I read
yesterday about pay cuts in the private sector. Apparently only
taxpayers are subject to this reality not government employees.
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Our bucket's got a hole in it, and it don't work no more.
I'm crazy about Judge Foster and like Commissioner Dickey a lot, but they are
dead wrong about voting to raise property taxes.
It looks like Mayor Leppert will lose his fight against raising city property
taxes. Once again, Councilwoman Hunt may be the deciding vote on an
important issue. She's already made the Southern Sector council members
mad over her Love Field concession vote. If she votes for a tax increase,
she will make the voters in North Dallas mad. What's a girl to do?
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But you know, having
politicians raise our taxes is just a drop in our leaking bucket. |
We've got a District Attorney
who cannot stay out of the news -- the bad news:
Dallas
County DA Craig Watkins' role in sex abuse case under fire
(GROMER JEFFERS Jr. and JENNIFER EMILY,
DallasNews.com,
9/1/10). Watkins is not only a pitiful
district attorney who includes plea bargains in his "convictions" numbers, but
according to the Jeffers/Emily story, he's a bully who picks on little girls (a
10 year old who was sexually molested by her stepfather). Think about when
you were a 10 year old. The little girl must have been getting pressure
from her family to lie and say the pervert did not assault her. I know a
family where the father molested 4 of his 5 daughters. When one of the
girls went to the authorities over what was being done to her, her mother and
extended family called her a liar. Rather than locking the old pervert
away, he was left of out jail to prey on the younger girls. Even when the
authorities went after him for raping the youngest 2 girls, he didn't see prison
time due to his age. A little 10 year old girl is not capable of standing
up to family pressure -- particularly not after having someone she trusted as
her father rape her.
I have been saying for 4 years that Craig Watkins is no friend to victims, and
this story out of Collin County is confirmation. Whether Danny Clancy
(Republican challenger) had anything to do with this mess hitting the fan just
now or not, nothing takes away from this sleazy man adding pressure to a
traumatized little girl to keep his client (her rapist) out of prison, where he
belongs.
| Rev. Stephan Broden (her GOP
opponent) had nothing to do with this story, but he certainly is looking good
these days. |
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Bob Hosea:
Eddie Bernice thinks giving the money back clears things. Boy is
she wrong. I am glad Broden is running. Truth be told, I would
vote FOR anybody running against her. On any issue there is
someone in power in Dallas who is rotten to the core and in a
position to make a decision.
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We've got a long-time Congresswoman who served on the Black Caucus Foundation
Board from 2002-2006, and gave her grandkids and relatives scholarship
money that was intended to be delivered to worthy students in her district.
She claims she didn't know the rules for distributing Foundation scholarships.
So, either she slept through the Foundation Board meetings, or she's stupid.
Worse, she claims not to know any worthy applicants in her district.
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Initially, she said, "I recognized the
names when I saw them. And I knew that they had a need just like any
other kid that would apply for one." Had there been more "very
worthy applicants in my district," she added, "then I probably
wouldn't have given it" to the relatives. |
There is a silver lining to
this mess. Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ) came down hard on her head, rather
than making excuses for her.
Black
Caucus Foundation chair denounces Eddie Bernice Johnson, 'self-dealing' in
scholarships
(TODD
GILMAN,
DallasNews.com, 8/31/10). That
is so refreshing in politics for a politician to call out a member of his own
party.
Rev. Stephan Broden (her GOP
opponent) had nothing to do with this story, but he certainly is looking good
these days.
Betty Culbreath has a great commentary on Congresswoman Johnson's
transgressions:
Comments based on
information published in DMN 8-29-2010 Proof also printed in news.
Congresswoman duped Community again. Congresswoman Eddie B Johnson is
either out of touch or is arrogant enough to think People in District 30
are fools.
Congresswoman Johnson said "I doubt if there is anybody in my district
going to question me giving to a kid to help him with college".
Congresswoman, you are very wrong. I and many other people in Dist
30 question your using money from a foundation meant for needy students
in our Dist 30 to give money to
1. People who don't live in Dist 30.
2. Relatives, someone as close as a grandchild.
3. Staff member's kids.
The Foundation was set up to help poor minority kids attend college.
It's a fund other non-minority Congress members do not enjoy.
The most disturbing thing is for Congresswoman Johnson to declare a lack
of ?very worthy students? in Dist 30. Biggest lie ever been told.
The GPA of 2.5 is the lowest of any I know. There are thousands of
students in Johnson's district with a 2.5 GPA who are college bound.
Where did Johnson's office post the availability of the funds? I
serve on a committee, and we beat the bush trying to find help for kids
with higher GPA in the district.
The other very disturbing thing is Johnson's claim to not know the
rules. How can you give a college grant and not know the rules?
How can we pay you and your staff and neither know the rules? The
amount of money is so small that Johnson could have given it from her
pocket to her relatives, if they needed help. Johnson could have also
helped Givens if he needed help.
Johnson used that money because she has access and power over the money,
plain and simple. Not one person related to her or Givens was a
hardship case.
Greed is the name of the game. The fact that it is Johnson gives
me deep pain. I have supported Johnson since her first State Rep. run
for office. I assumed she played by the rules and was honest, but
now I have lost what little trust I had in elected leadership.
To be a Congresswoman and take money from "the least of thee" is a sin
of the worst kind. Young people working two jobs trying to attend school
would have been able to pay for almost a half semester with that money.
The funds were given by corporations for the kids' benefit. Now,
they know the very person charged with following rules and making sure
they received college assistance gave it to her own.
't hear about this. The Black community
won't talk about it. Like always, Johnson will be reelected.
Black Voters and single member districts are still being duped. |
Maybe not, Betty. Maybe those kids and their
parents and grandparents will remember this in November.
So, we've got a leaking bucket, and our elected officials are playing with our
public money like it's their personal stash. We've got a District Attorney
whose sympathies are with the bad guys, not with their victims for whom he is
charged to seek justice. We've got a Congresswoman who is a cheap crook.
But, you know what we've got? We've got people paying attention.
We've got Rep. Donald Payne taking on not only a fellow Democrat, but a fellow
Black Democrat.
Maybe the council will hold the line on our taxes. It could happen.
sb
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