According to the Center for Public Integrity, "The State of Texas General Appropriations Act of 1997, which appropriated taxpayer funds to the mansion from August 1997 through August 1999, contained a clause specifying that: 'No funds under the control of any state agency or institution, including but not limited to state appropriated funds, may be used directly or indirectly to hire employees or in any way fund or support candidates for the legislative, executive, or judicial branches of government of the State of Texas or the government of the United States.'" Looks like someone might want to call you on it, indirectly using state appropriated funds to support your candidacy. "For 1998 and 1999, the Texas Legislature appropriated approximately $350,000 per year to the maintenance and operation of the Governor's Mansion. The mansion administrator, Anne DeBois, confirmed to the Center for Public Integrity that state employees, on salaried time, are responsible for maintaining the rooms in which overnight guests stay."

George, we know you told Johnny Mac during the March 2 debate that , ""these [overnight gurests] are my friends, John. These are, these are my relatives." Well, now, Guv, if somebody stayed at my house overnight and gave me $3,000 for the privilege, you'd better believe that he would be a friend of mine, too. But that isn't the point, really, is it sir? "'It's explicit that you can't use state resources to influence an election,' said Steve Collins, general counsel of the Texas Legislative Council, a nonpartisan office within the Texas Legislature that assists lawmakers with bill-drafting and research. Collins said the issue rests on 'whether [the overnight visits] were intended to influence the outcome of any election.'" Looks pretty bad, Guv, doesn't it? The help of those sixty folks, be it money help or in-kind assistance, came with a sleep-over, didn't it? There are lots of fine hotels withing walking distance of of your State's Mansion, so it's not as though you were handing out the only available rooms in town.

Also, the pattern of sleepovers doesn't look very good, Guv. "Beginning in mid-1997, political figures and big money fund-raisers who would play major roles in Bush's presidential campaign began to stay over, a clear break from the previous two years, when the guests indeed were predominantly friends and family. An analysis of the overnight records from January 1995 through February 2000 shows that Bush's march toward the GOP nomination began as early as 1997, when for the first time Republican political leaders and fund-raisers began to visit overnight." The report goes on to name names "The transition from guests comprising friends and family to being presidential-campaign advisers began in earnest in June 1997, when Wall Street investor Robert Woods "Woody" Johnson stayed overnight at the mansion. Johnson, along with Bush's cousin Jonathan Bush, has been the point man for the candidate's Wall Street fund-raising; both are Pioneers. Johnson has donated more than $23,000 to Bush's gubernatorial and presidential campaigns."

Later in 1997 Lawrence B. Lindsey, now the campaign's lead economic adviser, visited, followed by Gov. Pataki, an early Bush supporter, and longtime Bush fund-raisers Brad Freeman and Craig Stapleton. Then there was Indianapolis mayor and now domestic policy advisor Stephen Goldsmith and Washington speechwriter Landon Parvin. Additional GOP national figures came in 1998: Sen. Hagel, Sen Ashcroft, Rep. Kasich, lobbyist Tom Tauke, and financier Ted Forstmann. Forstmann is the money man behind a national voucher movement; Tauke represents Bell Atlantic and turned down a Bush offer of campaign manager. Visitors in 1999 featured former secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, William Bennett, Regan's secretary of Education, and return visits by Bush money men Freeman, Stapleton, and Don Evans. Here's a complete list of guests with their financial contributions listed.

In sum, "as Bush's presidential ambitions grew, so did the frequency of overnight stays by political allies and fund-raisers. Beginning in mid-1997, the mansion came to act as a gathering place and springboard for the nascent 2000 campaign, helping to rope in key supporters early in the presidential cycle. But the overnight visits to the taxpayer-supported mansion might have violated Texas law. The legislation that appropriated the mansion's funds from mid-1997 to mid-1999 directly prohibited the use of state resources to support candidates for elected state or national office. Many of the overnight guests who stayed at the Governor's Mansion during that period, most for the first time, were national politicians and fund-raisers who would later become key advisers in Bush's presidential campaign."

When Bush criticizes Gore for past White House campaign abuses, it looks to us like the pot's calling the kettle black. The difference between Gore and Bush on this issue is that the Democrat is saying that he's made mistakes and wants to reform the campaign finance laws, particularly with respect to soft money. As one Texas reporter has suggested, perhaps Bush uses John Wayne as his role model. Dubya, like the Duke, refuses to admit mistakes. The fat cat and big brain sleepovers at the Governor's Mansion have the smell of impropriety about them, if not the stench of illegality. Bush's bad-mouthing of Gore on the subject of campaign finance irregularities does not appear to be wise under the circumstances. --Politex, 3/16/00

1st in Children without Health Insurance %...1st in Toxic Air Releases...1st in Smog Days (Houston)...1st in poorest counties(3)...3rd in Hunger %...5th in Highest Teen Birth Rate...41st in Breast Cancer Screenings...45th in Mothers Receiving Pre-Natal Care...46th in Public Libraries and Branches...46th in High School Completion Rate...46th in Water Resources Protection...47th in Delivery of Social Services...48th in Literacy...48th in Per Capita Funding for Public Health...48 in Best Place to Raise Children (29th before Bush)*...48th in Spending for Parks and Recreation...48th in Spending for the Arts...49th in Spending for the Environment...50th in Women with Health Insurance...50th in Teachers' Salaries plus Benefits... *Children's Rights Council. further documentation
Only one accredited child-care center exists for every 2,637 children. A fourth of children still are not immunized by age 2. --Texas Freedom Network.

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