Ben Hall should have been on the air with this weeks ago:
The accompanying press release:
Ben Hall Sets The Record Straight
A Clear Choice Between A Visionary And A Liar This Election
(Houston, TX) – The Ben Hall for Mayor campaign released a new television ad to kick off early voting in Houston and to set the record straight as voters head to the polls. Ms. Parker has lied to voters about her mismanaged sixteen years in public office, her corrupt pay-to-play practices as mayor, and now about her challenger’s righteous battle with an overly aggressive taxing agency. Voters deserve the truth so that their decisions at the ballot box are based on a candidate’s record and vision, not lies and misinformation.
“Ben learned the hard way that the IRS does not respond favorably to being beaten in court to the tune of nine million dollars. We thank Ms. Parker for diligently getting Ben’s name out to voters and for those who may still have questions about his relationship with the IRS, his answer will be heard loud and clear across Houston this week,” said Julia Smekalina, press secretary for the Ben Hall campaign. “Ben has paid all his taxes but refused to be bullied into giving the IRS more than their fair share. Just like Ben defended his client and his family, as mayor he will defend every Houstonian to make sure that city officials use every tax dollars efficiently to address the needs of the whole city – not just to benefit the well connected at City Hall.”
Since Ms. Parker has no record to run on, she thought she could lie to voters to trick them into giving her two more years in office. But Houstonians see right through her underhanded schemes and empty promises. Ben is the only candidate who is offering real policy solutions to this city’s challenges and as voters head to the polls, the message is clear: “Hall for All” will be the next mayor of Houston.
So Ben Hall beat the IRS and the vindictive little bureaucrats came after him. Have you seen that story in the press? Of course not. Just like you haven’t seen stories about Parker taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from contractors that do business with the city. Or stories outlining that Parker became a millionaire while earning a public servant’s salary.
Parker has been attacking Hall since before he even announced his candidacy, which makes this line in Mike Morris’ Houston Chronicle article on the race today seem a little odd:
Mayor Annise Parker launched her campaign for a final two-year term earlier this year with an upbeat tone, saying the city’s booming economy meant she had “the wind at my back” and questioning what issues any opponent could use against her with such broad optimism among voters.
It’s interesting that the only other time that “the wind at my back” is found in relation to Parker was in Morris’ cheerleader piece on Parker’s formal campaign launch back on May 11th.
Mayor Annise Parker formally launches her re-election campaign for a third and final term Saturday, with hot dogs, music and, in her words, “the wind at my back.”
But in a piece by KHOU 11’s Doug Miller on May 1st, we find this:
“I think what’s important here is that this is probably the first story we’ve heard about Ben Hall since he announced that defines him, and defines him in a way that clearly is not flattering,” said Bob Stein, a Rice University political scientist and KHOU political analyst.
The timing of this story indicates Mayor Annise Parker’s re-election campaign hopes to create a negative impression of Hall before the challenger has a chance to gain a foothold with the voting public. KHOU investigated Hall’s tax records after a tip from a source within the Parker campaign.
So I think we can take Morris’ sub-heading “The once-upbeat campaign takes aim at challenger” with a grain of salt. Or a bucket of it. Parker’s campaign has been anything but “up-beat”.
You’d think that a politician that has been in office going on 16 years would have done something, anything that she could point to with pride and say, here, I did this. Such as:
- Fought to keep red-light cameras up after the public clearly wanted them down.
- Rain tax.
- Paid city workers with rain tax money instead of improving drainage.
- Paid for bike trails with rain tax money instead of improving drainage.
- Stopped allowing people to feed the homeless.
- Prioritizes street repairs for affluent neighborhoods and neglects poor ones.
- Took hundreds of thousands of dollars from contractors doing business with the city.
- Became a millionaire on a public servant’s salary.
You know, something like that list.
Oh. I see what you mean. Ooopsie.