July 13, 2010

Today is Day 128 of liberal trial lawyer Bill White refusing to release his taxes from his years in public service.

“Liberal Bill White refuses to release his income taxes from his years as Deputy Secretary of Energy and Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, just as he refuses to offer any new policies for moving our state forward,” said Texans for Rick Perry spokesman Mark Miner.

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 12, 2010

"During tonight’s online town hall, which had a breathtaking 11 participants according to UStream, Bill White once again failed to unveil one new policy initiative. Texans having a difficult time sleeping this evening may want to replay Bill White’s comments.

"The people of Texas want a leader like Gov. Perry, who has positioned Texas to have one of the strongest economies in the country, not someone like Bill White who profiteered during Hurricane Rita when he was mayor of Houston, has refused to release his tax returns, and served on the board of a company under investigation by Congress for polluting groundwater.

"When will Bill White learn that tearing down Texas is not a solution for the future?"

July 12, 2010

A company that paid Bill White more than $2.6 million is one of two companies under investigation by Congress for admittedly pumping diesel and other dangerous chemicals into the groundwater, though Bill White attempted to deceive the Texas Farm Bureau regarding this startling truth last week.

Bill White served on the BJ Services Board of Directors from 2003-2010, and BJ Services has admitted to Congress that it used diesel fuel while fracturing between 2005 and 2007. As a board member, Bill White had oversight of these actions and all of the company’s operations.

“Bill White is shamefully trying to use the fracturing industry to cover up the fact that the company that paid him more than $2.6 million – while he was mayor of Houston – is one of two companies Congress is investigating for admittedly pumping diesel and other dangerous chemicals into the groundwater,” said Texans for Rick Perry spokesman Mark Miner. “Bill White refuses to be held accountable for the rogue actions of his company, which has already admitted to Congress that it has been polluting.”

On July 8, 2010, White told the Texas Farm Bureau, “How could a governor of Texas attack a citizen of the state and one of its leading businesses on the basis that the whole industry was under investigation by Representative Henry Waxman of California? How could he do that? Simple answer. Because Rick Perry thought it would score political points and it would be more interested in getting re-elected than the truth or who he would hurt. Draw some other conclusion from those facts if you can.” [1]

On Feb. 18, 2010, the House Energy and Commerce committee issued a release stating, “As Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in the last Congress, Rep. Waxman requested and received information from the largest hydraulic fracturing companies - Halliburton, BJ Services, and Schlumberger - on the chemicals used in their fracturing fluids. According to this data, two of these companies used diesel fuel in their fracturing fluids between 2005 and 2007, potentially violating a voluntary agreement with EPA to cease using diesel. Halliburton reported using more than 807,000 gallons of seven diesel-based fluids. BJ Services reported using 2,500 gallons of diesel-based fluids in several fracturing jobs. Halliburton and BJ Services also indicated that they used other chemicals - such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene - that could pose environmental risks in their fracturing fluids.” [2]

While mayor of Houston, Bill White earned more than $2.6 million serving on the BJ Services board. Words used to describe this agreement include “unusual,” “rare,” “ill-advised,” and “dangerous.” [3, 4]

July 8, 2010

While mayor of Houston, liberal trial lawyer Bill White used eminent domain to condemn land that helped one of his top campaign donors close a $12.5 million land deal, leading to a lawsuit from the landowners. The city was forced to settle the lawsuit for more than twice the appraised value of the property. [1]

White hid this abuse of power from the Texas Farm Bureau today, just as he has hidden his taxes for his years in public service for 123 days and counting.

“While mayor of Houston, liberal Bill White abused eminent domain to help one of his top campaign donors make millions of dollars,” said Texans for Rick Perry spokesman Mark Miner. “Bill White has a history of abusing his public positions to personally profit, from unethically steering millions in taxpayer dollars to a company he had a financial relationship with following Hurricane Rita, cashing in on his Washington experience under President Clinton to make millions in the Middle East, to rewarding campaign donors with land grabs.”

Developer Ed Wulfe and his wife, who benefitted from the condemnation, have donated $25,100 to Bill White since 2003, according to campaign financial reports. [2]

In describing the condemnation, Andrew Wheat, research director for Texans for Public Justice, said, "It looks as if the city of Houston was all too eager to bulldoze the people — and condemn the property — that prevented a powerful political donor from realizing his ambitions.” [3]

Also criticizing the condemnation was South Texas College of Law Professor Matthew Festa, a specialist in land use law. According to the Houston Chronicle, Festa “said he was particularly troubled by a memorandum White wrote explaining his decision. In the March 11 memo to council members, White says that if the city has to take just part of the land for the road widening, it makes better sense to take the entire plot. A city often has to pay the full value of a tract in condemnation cases if a partial taking renders the remaining land less valuable, legal experts say. ‘If the public pays fair value of the whole tract,’ White wrote, ‘it should keep the whole tract and put it to public use if there is one.’ Those last four words — ‘if there is one’ — imply that the park idea came later, Festa said. To take land, a local government has to need it for a public use, he explained. ‘It sounds like he's willing to come up with some ex post facto justification for the taking after he's decided to take the property,’ Festa said. Although doing it that way may not be illegal, Festa said, it is ‘odd and troubling.’” [3]