July 28, 2010

Today is Day 143 of liberal trial lawyer Bill White refusing to release his taxes from his years in public service.

Bill White refuses to release his taxes from 1993-1998, years he held public service positions that required him by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures. While Bill White was Deputy Secretary of Energy (1993-95) and Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party (1995-98), he was required by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures that he has also failed to make public.

July 28, 2010

Over the past several months, Bill White has repeatedly lied to the people of Texas, including denying his trial lawyer background, hiding his shady and unethical business deals, whitewashing his fiscally irresponsible record as Houston's mayor, concealing his anti-gun beliefs, fabricating endorsements, and pretending not to support President Barack Obama and his liberal policies.

“Liberal Bill White has the same reflex reaction every time he is confronted with his past – he lies,” said Texans for Rick Perry spokesman Mark Miner. “Texans have never been so blatantly lied to as they have been by Bill White, who over the past several months has conducted one of the most dishonest and negative campaigns in Texas history.”

In recognition of Bill White’s lying, Texans for Rick Perry presents the “Top 10 White Lies.” This list is accurate as of July 28, 2010, but is likely incomplete and expected to grow.

“Top 10 White Lies”

10.LIE: “I was in the oil and gas business when [President Obama] was a community organizer.”

TRUTH: Bill White was a trial lawyer when President Obama was a community organizer.

9.LIE: “I mean, I tried lawsuits, but never plaintiff’s personal injury. I represented businesses — that’s who I represented.”

TRUTH: Bill White was a trial lawyer and a partner at a law firm which helped pioneer and expand the use of get-paid-if-you-win contingency fees.

8.LIE: “I'm not in the business of recruiting people other than citizens of Texas to shake hands and campaign for me.”

TRUTH: Bill White heavily promoted an endorsement from former President Clinton and sent a fundraising blast email signed by Clinton featuring an image of Clinton with his arm around White.

7.LIE: “Endorsing Sheriffs include: Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez, Zavala County Sheriff Eusebio Salinas (sic).”

TRUTH: Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr. and Zavala County Sheriff Eusevio Salinas Jr. have endorsed Gov. Perry.

6.LIE: “Bill White believes that individual gun ownership is a bedrock constitutional right and opposes new restrictions on it.”

TRUTH: On June 1, 2006, Bill White joined an anti-gun group dedicated to restricting gun owner privacy rights since its creation. Mayors Against Illegal Guns was created on April 25, 2006, included in its statement of principles was opposition to the Tiahrt Amendments, and that the group’s website says, "Since it was formed in 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has been fighting to reform the Tiahrt Amendments.”

5.LIE: “[Bill White’s] campaign said previously that he quit on July 21, 2009, the day that Mayors Against Illegal Guns ran an ad in USA Today opposing the Thune Amendment.”

TRUTH: “Earlier this year, a spokesman for the group told the American-Statesman that [White] resigned July 28, which was the day after John Sharp, then running against White for the U.S. Senate, criticized White for being part of the mayors’ group.”

4.LIE: “I have not made a penny [from Frontera Resources]. I have some stock but it is so subordinated to the other interests that I am told that it has little or no economic value."

TRUTH: Bill White made more than $1 million from Frontera Resources, with profits dating back to 1997.

3.LIE: “I had no financial interest in BTEC during the time of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.”

TRUTH: Bill White received more than $81,000 in compensation from BTEC’s majority owner in 2005, the year he directed a contract to the company following Hurricane Rita, and the Congressional Research Service has defined compensation from a corporation as a “continuing financial interest.”

2.LIE: “There are some people, including me, who believe that the president is spending a lot more money than we're taking in, is spending too much money in Washington. I don't believe in borrowing so much money.”

TRUTH: During the six years Bill White was Houston’s mayor, expenses exceeded revenues every year and $245 million in proceeds from pension obligation bonds were diverted to the city’s general fund to balance the budget. White’s borrowing left Houston with more debt per capita than California.

1.LIE: “I've been critical of both the spending and the cap and trade legislation for a long time.”

TRUTH: Bill White went to the White House to learn how to promote the $787 billion stimulus and wrote the incoming Obama Administration a memo detailing how to sell cap and trade to the public.

July 27, 2010

Today is Day 142 of liberal trial lawyer Bill White refusing to release his taxes from his years in public service.

Bill White refuses to release his taxes from 1993-1998, years he held public service positions that required him by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures. While Bill White was Deputy Secretary of Energy (1993-95) and Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party (1995-98), he was required by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures that he has also failed to make public.

July 27, 2010

Liberal Bill White has no problem fabricating facts to cover for his lies, and he is now falsely claiming the support of two Democrat sheriffs from South Texas who on Monday publicly endorsed Gov. Perry for re-election.

“Bill White has a problem telling the truth, from hiding his profits from the company he formed to exploit his Washington contacts, denying his anti-gun beliefs, pretending not to have profiteered from Hurricane Rita, and now fabricating endorsements,” said Texans for Rick Perry spokesman Mark Miner. “Bill White's campaign of deception continues in his attempt to mislead the public by falsely claiming the endorsements of border sheriffs who stood beside Gov. Perry in support of his re-election.”

Yesterday Bill White issued a press release that attempted to deceive the public by promoting the endorsement of Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr. and Zavala County Sheriff Eusevio Salinas Jr. [1]

However, Bill White’s false press release was exposed when the two Democrat sheriffs joined six other South Texas Democrat sheriffs in publicly endorsing Gov. Perry at the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas annual conference. [2]

Sheriff Salinas said, “I stand with Governor Perry. I have never spoken to Bill White about an endorsement and never authorized his campaign to use my name.”

July 26, 2010

Today is Day 141 of liberal trial lawyer Bill White refusing to release his taxes from his years in public service.

Bill White refuses to release his taxes from 1993-1998, years he held public service positions that required him by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures. While Bill White was Deputy Secretary of Energy (1993-95) and Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party (1995-98), he was required by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures that he has also failed to make public.

July 22, 2010

Liberal Bill White’s pathological lying continued Wednesday as he told the Dallas Morning News two new tall tales.

In an article titled, “Texas gubernatorial candidate Bill White tries to distance himself from Obama,” Bill White falsely claimed, "I was in the oil and gas business when he was a community organizer,” and, "There are some people, including me, who believe that the president is spending a lot more money than we're taking in, is spending too much money in Washington. I don't believe in borrowing so much money.” [1]

“Liberal Bill White has selective memory when it comes to denying parts of his past that he does not want the people of Texas to know,” said Texans for Rick Perry spokesman Mark Miner. “Bill White has no problem inventing stories that are complete fabrications, such as claiming to be in the oil and gas business when he was actually a trial lawyer and pretending to be against a $787 billion spending bill that he was eager to help sell to the American public.”

At the time President Obama was working as a community organizer in Chicago from 1985-88, Bill White was a trial lawyer at Susman Godfrey, the firm which helped pioneer and expand the use of get-paid-if-you-win contingency fees and where Bill White served as partner until 1993. [2,3]

Also, on Feb. 20, 2009, just three days after President Obama signed the $787 billion stimulus into law, Bill White traveled to the White House for a meeting on how to sell the stimulus to the American public. Following the meeting, “White – a Democrat who plans to run for the U.S. Senate - said that taking as much funding as possible makes sense.” [4]

One week later, Obama Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett wrote Bill White a letter thanking him for supporting the administration. Bill White responded to her on March 11, 2009, writing, “Our leadership has supported many of the President’s initiatives.” [5]

July 20, 2010

Shady businessman Bill White is sinking to new lows in his unusual effort to deny his profits from Frontera Resources, the company he formed to exploit his Washington connections made under President Clinton and do business in the Middle East.

Bill White was finally forced to admit to having made millions from Frontera in a major Dallas Morning News investigation published last weekend, but yesterday his campaign continued to lie about his Frontera profits, telling the Associated Press: “He didn't make a profit until after the market turned around and the company went public in 2005, said his spokeswoman Katy Bacon.” [1]

This is completely untrue, as the AP also reports: “In 1997 when White was the state's Democratic Party chairman, he reported selling between 5,000 and 9,999 shares Frontera stock for net gains of $25,000 or more, and two separate sales of less than 100 shares for net gains of less than $5,000. He also reported earning from $500 to $4,999 from interest, dividends, royalties and rents from Frontera in 1997, according to his financial statement provided to The Associated Press by Perry's campaign.” [1]

“Liberal Bill White is now lying to cover up his lie about not making a penny from the politically connected company he formed to do business in the Middle East,” said Texans for Rick Perry spokesman Mark Miner. “First Bill White said he never made a penny, then he admitted to making millions, but only since 2005. This second lie ignores the minimum $25,000 net gain in stock sales Bill White reported to the Texas Ethics Commission in 1997. When will Bill White stop lying? What is so shady about his Frontera business dealings that he does not want the public to know he profited? The only way to learn the truth about Bill White and Frontera is for him to release his missing tax returns.”

The annual personal financial disclosure that then-Texas Democratic Party Chairman Bill White filed with the Texas Ethics Commission on May 28, 1998, containing his 1997 financial activity and Frontera profits, is available online here at www.liberalbill.com (see below).

Today is Day 135 of Bill White refusing to release his taxes from his years in public service. He has also failed to release past financial disclosures that are no longer available to the public.

Bill White refuses to release his taxes from 1993-1998, years he held public service positions that required him by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures. While Bill White was Deputy Secretary of Energy (1993-95) and Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party (1995-98), he was required by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures that he has also failed to make public.

SOURCING

[1] “Texas governor's race heats up over business deals,” Associated Press, 7/19/10, http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/politics/7115388.html

Bill White 1997 Personal Financial Disclosure

July 15, 2010

Today is Day 134 of liberal trial lawyer Bill White refusing to release his taxes from his years in public service. He has also failed to release past financial disclosures that are no longer available to the public.

“Another day, another scandal for shady Bill White,” said Texans for Rick Perry spokesman Mark Miner. “Every time Bill White releases some tax returns, more scandals are unveiled. Bill White should come clean and release his missing tax returns and all personal financial disclosures he has filed while in public service.”

Bill White refuses to release his taxes from 1993-1998, years he held public service positions that required him by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures. While Bill White was Deputy Secretary of Energy (1993-95) and Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party (1995-98), he was required by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures that he has also failed to make public.

July 19, 2010

For years Bill White claimed, "I have not made a penny,” from an energy company he formed to pursue energy deals in the Middle East after he resigned as Deputy Energy Secretary under President Clinton. But in a major Dallas Morning News investigation published this weekend, Bill White was finally forced to admit to having made millions from the company he formed to exploit his Washington connections. (SOURCE: “Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White profited from failing oil and gas company,” Dallas Morning News, 7/18/10, full article below)

“Yet again liberal Bill White is caught in a lie following the release of some of his past tax returns,” said Texans for Rick Perry spokesman Mark Miner. “Though Bill White has released only half of his income taxes for his years in public service, it has been revealed that he steered business following Hurricane Rita to a company he had a financial relationship with, that he hid millions in compensation he received from his past employer while Houston’s mayor, and now he has admitted to making millions from a company he formed to exploit his Washington connections and do business in the Middle East. As Bill White’s ethical scandals continue to mount, the demand only grows for him to come clean and release all of his tax returns for his years in public service. What else is Bill White hiding? What else is he afraid of Texans learning about his past business dealings?”

July 16, 2010

Today is Day 131 of liberal trial lawyer Bill White refusing to release his taxes from his years in public service. He has also failed to release past financial disclosures that are no longer available to the public.

“Why does liberal Bill White refuse to release tax returns that supposedly contain financial information he disclosed in financial reports that are no longer available to the public?” said Texans for Rick Perry spokesman Mark Miner. “Every time Bill White releases some tax returns, more scandals are unveiled. Bill White should come clean and release his missing tax returns and all personal financial disclosures he has filed while in public service.”

Bill White refuses to release his taxes from 1993-1998, years he held public service positions that required him by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures. While Bill White was Deputy Secretary of Energy (1993-95) and Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party (1995-98), he was required by law to complete annual personal financial disclosures that he has also failed to make public.