Clean Up Texas Politics | Houston Chronicle: LAUGHING AT THE LAW

Clean Up Texas Politics | Houston Chronicle: LAUGHING AT THE LAW: "Despite the existence of a century-old Texas law designed to keep corporate and union money from buying state elections, Texas Association of Business officials easily found a way to funnel corporate cash into key legislative races three years ago. It might have gone unnoticed if the officials hadn't used the group's newsletter and several e-mails to members to claim credit for helping to defeat Democratic incumbents and give the GOP legislative control.

Actually, they exaggerated a bit at the time, claiming that $1.9 million in donations had gone into the effort, when the real figure was $1.7 million. TAB President Bill Hammond and colleagues might have been more restrained in their gloating had they foreseen it would provoke a swarm of civil suits by defeated Democratic legislators. The blatant end run around election law also triggered a criminal investigation."