Chair of tolling authority comes unhinged at toll opponents
Written by Terri Hall
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
Repeating their only song, the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority
Chairman Bill Thornton, appointed by Rick Perry to promote toll roads
at any cost, continues it's mantra
that toll opponents, specifically TURF is to blame for the 281 project
costs going up. Their plan is unraveling, and they have to resort to
lies to try and fool the public into supporting their billion dollar
house of cards.
In fact, the very same day Thornton made these comments, the RMA Board called a special meeting to discuss (and they'll take action at their next meeting) a $95 million loan that will cost the taxpayers $700 million in interest! The RMA can't get the financing together for the 281 toll road, so they're having to grasp at very risky, very expensive loan deals to hold together their sinking ship. Even board member Bob Thompson, their latest convert, expressed deep reservations about going into debt for 7 times the amount of the actual loan, so did Jim Reed. Calling it usury is no exaggeration! Who's causing the costs of this project to escalate out of control? Certainly not the citizens!
Last week after the Sunset Commission and legislators slammed TxDOT (watch it here)
for NOT following the legislative intent of a law they passed to
prohibit FREEway to tollway conversions like they're doing on 281, and
AFTER they witnessed TxDOT lie under oath in full color on this video, it's no wonder the tollers are getting desperate.
No lawsuit was filed until December of 2005, two years AFTER TxDOT
had the gas taxes to expand 281 and add overpasses and frontage roads.
When Cintra-Zachry got involved, the project cost escalated rapidly.
TURF releases explosive footage of depositions from ad campaign/lobbying lawsuit to Sunset Commission
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 – Some very damaging footage of TxDOT’s top brass under oath was presented to the Sunset Advisory Commission at its hearing on the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) today (view here or go to www.TruthBeTolled.com to view). As part of TURF’s lawsuit against TxDOT to stop its illegal lobbying and ad campaign called Keep Texas Moving to promote toll roads and the Trans Texas Corridor in violation of Texas Government Code Chapter 556, several top officials of TxDOT were deposed under oath where they perjured themselves.
TURF gave each member of the Commission a DVD of a new documentary film, Truth Be Tolled TURF Special Edition, made about TxDOT’s Keep Texas Moving campaign that shows portions of legal depositions of TxDOT Executive Director Amadeo Saenz, Director of Government and Public Affairs Division Coby Chase, and Transportation Commissioner Ted Houghton.
TURF showed the Sunset Advisory Commission that TxDOT has made an unprecedented push to win public approval for its controversial toll road and Trans Texas Corridor project, using public money, which is not only illegal, it unfairly stacks the deck against citizens.
Houghton swore under oath that TxDOT had not hired registered lobbyists when these invoices show they have (as well as Houghton’s own admission during a Town Hall Meeting in Hempstead). State law prohibits state agencies from hiring lobbyists and prohibits them from using public money for a political purpose. State agencies are to implement policy, not shape it. Video clips from the Town Hall meeting in Hempstead, January 22, also show Houghton trying to sway the crowd in favor of the Trans Texas Corridor while under oath he was adamant that TxDOT and he had not done so.
San Antonio Toll Party and TURF Founder, Terri Hall, was
honored to speak at the Freedom March in Washington D.C. July 12,
sharing the stage with national activists, talk show hosts, authors,
and elected officials, including Howard Phillips, Naomi Wolff, Chuck Baldwin, and Ron Paul.
The subjects covered ran the gamut from American foreign policy, the
problems and power of the federal reserve, the Real ID, and
Constitutional government, to the North American Union, and the Trans
Texas Corridor/NAFTA Superhighways.
Terri Hall, Chuck Baldwin, and Howard Phillips
Naomi Wolff and Terri Hall
Howard Phillips
Dr. Paul and Terri Hall
Congressman Ron Paul
A great crown of patriots!
Below is the text of the speech Hall delivered to the crowd of 12,000 patriots from all over the country:
I think the words of a patriot of the past, Thomas Paine, that were
uttered on December 23, 1776, reflect where we find ourselves again
today in America.
He said:
“THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and
the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of
their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and
thanks of man and woman.
Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this
consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious
the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is
dearness only that gives every thing its value.”
Rep. Ken Paxton calls for investigation of TxDOT's ad campaign
September 26, 2007
For Immediate Release
Representative Ken Paxton Issues a Statement Regarding the Use of Public Money for Advertising Government Programs
"The Texas Department of Transportation has recently been called
into question for spending taxpayer money promoting the TransTexas
Corridor and other projects. While I appreciate the Department's
efforts to share with the public information regarding its initiatives,
I believe the Legislature has a responsibility to ensure that state
resources are spent efficiently. For this reason, I have requested an
interim charge to research the use of public money for advertising
government programs, as I believe the government should not spend the
money raised from taxpayers to lobby the public." -State Representative
Ken Paxton, District 70.
