If you would like a little information about how Republican Speaker of the House Tom Craddick is playing (potentially illegally) in Democratic primaries, the two editorials below from the Austin American Statesman and Denton Record-Chronicle should be informative.

Bipartisanship, Craddick style

10:51 AM CST on Saturday, February 16, 2008

Don't ever accuse Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick of blind partisan politics. As presidential candidates speak rhetorically about "reaching across the aisle," Craddick, a Midland Republican, is already doing it.

Moreover, he's apparently putting his money where John McCain's mouth is by giving campaign contributions to friendly Democrats. This is highly unusual, and some people are saying it's illegal.

Craddick, you will remember, barely survived an insurrection in the House of Representatives last year. Democrats and Republicans alike were tired of his autocratic methods, and there was a concerted bipartisan effort to remove him as speaker, a move he subverted by making up his own rules and firing House parliamentarians until he found one that would agree with his interpretations.

Craddick could face another tough fight to keep the speakership when the Legislature convenes again, and he seems to have taken steps to shore up his defenses.

The most interesting step was to give $250,000 to Texas JOBS, a long-dormant political action committee, which straightaway began giving money to Democrats who had sided with Craddick in his fight to keep the speakership.

Texas JOBS had been dormant since the summer of 2006. Its treasury was as empty as a bull fiddle. On Jan. 26, it got a contribution of $250,000 from Tom Craddick's campaign fund. On Jan 11, Texas JOBS gave contributions of $50,000 each to state Rep. Kevin Bailey of Houston, state Rep. Aaron Pena of Edinburgh and state Rep. Kino Flores of Palmview. All those gentlemen are Democrats; all had supported Craddick in his fight to retain the speakership, and all had drawn Democratic primary opponents who were lambasting them over their support for Craddick.

This picture of Tom Craddick reaching "across the aisle" to help colleagues in another political party warms the cockles of our heart, but as much as we like hot cockles, there are a couple of things wrong with it, not the least of which is the possibility that it may be illegal.

It is illegal, you see, for anyone seeking the speaker's chair to use campaign funds in an effort to secure that position. Craddick apparently believes he avoided that pitfall by first giving his money to the moribund PAC, which then distributed it to the friendly Democrats.

There are other people — people with two eyes and half a brain, for instance — who see the scheme for what it is: a 24-hour money-laundering operation. Some of these people are asking the Travis County District Attorney's Office to investigate the affair as a criminal matter.

Unfortunately for Craddick, the Travis County District Attorney is Ronnie Earle, who seems to love nothing more than to investigate and indict shady politicians. Earle is a Democrat, but of the 17 public officials he's indicted since 1977, 11 have been fellow Democrats, so his is pretty much a bipartisan operation, too.

We are positively giddy at all this bipartisanship. We hope Earle keeps it alive by indicting not only Craddick, but also the Democratic weasels who accepted his scrubbed-up "contributions."

We would dearly love to see Tom Craddick "reach across the cell block."

Campaign donations in the wink of an eye

By The Editorial Board | Tuesday, February 12, 2008, 06:22 PM

Travis County prosecutors are right to examine whether House Speaker Tom Craddick tried to boost his return as leader of the Texas House by channeling tens of thousands of dollars to fellow lawmakers who have supported him over the years. If Craddick did that, he has violated state law that forbids a person, including a speaker, from making contributions "to aid or defeat a speaker candidate." The outcome of the probe might well determine whether moneyed interests can easily subvert the law by using a third party.

Craddick's attorney, Roy Minton of Austin, says that Craddick did not break state law nor try to influence his bid to be re-elected speaker. Craddick, Minton says, simply donated money to a political committee, which, without Craddick's direction, donated to three Democrats loyal to Craddick during the last session. That loyalty has cost those Democrats within their own party. Each has a contested primary race.

Craddick cannot afford to lose any potential votes from either party for his own speaker's race. The Midland Republican has held onto his thin margin of support - if that still exists - by abusing House rules. In the last session, he weathered a near mutiny led mostly by GOP House members.

Minton is asking the public to believe a bizarre coincidence and dismiss what seems the most logical explanation - that Craddick is using his war chest to keep his supporters in power so they in turn keep him in power.

In Tuesday's editions, American-Statesman writer Laylan Copelin reported that on Jan. 10, Craddick revitalized an almost dormant political committee, Texans for Jobs & Opportunity Build a Secure Future, with a $250,000 donation. The next day, Texans for Jobs & Opportunity donated $50,000 each to Democratic Reps. Aaron Peña of Edinburg, Kino Flores of Palmview and Kevin Bailey of Houston. Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, wisely turned down a $50,000 contribution from the same PAC.

Minton said Craddick's donation to the political committee and the PAC's subsequent contributions to Democrats were unrelated . So reasonable people are being asked to believe that Craddick did not know where his money was going when he donated $250,000 from his campaign account to the political committee.

Peña, Flores and Bailey said they didn't solicit the money and were not familiar with the PAC that gave them their largest contributions. Peña said his $50,000 check just showed up in the mail one day. How nice. Peña said he isn't returning the money, either: "It's spent."

The matter has ended up before Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle because Texans for Public Justice filed a complaint accusing the PAC and Craddick of violating state law.

Austin attorney Buck Wood was as a lobbyist for Common Cause years ago when he helped draft the state law in question. He told the American-Statesman on Tuesday: "It was passed to prevent exactly what is happening - through either the lobby or the speaker amassing large campaign funds and using them to influence his election by giving out large sums."

The law won't be worth much if it turns out that Craddick or anyone else can so easily subvert it by using a third party to do his bidding.