Despite Beer and Banking ties, New House Speaker Dennis Bonnen sees no need for recusals or new disclosures. Texas Tribune
Bonnen told The Texas Tribune he sees no conflicts of interest, no reason to take any formal steps to distance himself from beer or banking issues
His wife is the co-owner of a liquor distributor, and he himself is the CEO of a bank, yet he "sees no conflicts of interest".
That statement alone should make you question the political integrity of Texas new Speaker.
He's also got many lobbyists in his corner, invested in his bank to boot, people with whom he does business and their financial success is linked to his financial success and they're lobbying for issues in the very House of Representatives that Bonnen oversees.
Yet he sees "no conflict of interest".
At least Straus had the decency to recuse himself from matters relating to horse racing, it appears Bonnen is going to place no such restrictions on his ability to push laws and regulations that benefit him and his. Outstanding news for the liquor distributors, not so much for Texas craft beer and liquor industry, who have already had efforts at reform go awry in past sessions due, in large part, to the power of the liquor distributor industry.
It gets even funnier later down in the article, where Bonnen tries to assure us that "It's good", he's instructed his staff to remain "neutral" on liquor and banking issues. All we have to do is trust him because, you know, he's got a reputation for being a good guy.
Of course, part of the issues with weak disclosure laws is that it's impossible to tell if someone is a "good guy" or no. If it's not clear who they're doing business with then it's not clear whether or not they're doing them a solid.
This is no different than Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner gifting is former business partner a multi-Million dollar contract and then saying "all is well" because he's his "former" partner and there's no longer a relationship there.
I first saw this story on BlogHouston publisher Kevin Whited's Shaarli feed and I about spat out my coffee.
The corruption in Texas Politics has hit a high point, and the only people who could change this are the politicians themselves, you know, the ones benefiting from our current system.
These leadership vacuums in Houston, Austin and Washington D.C. are going to matter to normal people eventually, I just hope by the time they do it's not too late to do anything about it.
Although I'm afraid it may already be.
