The rich are different than the rest of us.
He is said to be the richest man in Texas politics. But voters might have a hard time figuring that out from the information that Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has disclosed to the state ethics commission.
Nowhere does it say that the former CIA agent is a major shareholder in a Houston energy and investment company through a privately held trust. Nor is there a word about the hedge funds, stocks, bonds or publicly traded fuel distribution company that he acknowledges are or have been part of a trust fund that is estimated to be worth as much as $200 million.
It just says the David Dewhurst Trust is valued at “$25,000 or more.”
Some ethics watchdogs question whether Dewhurst, a Republican who has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to help elect GOP candidates in Texas and beyond, has complied with disclosure requirements. Either way, they say, the lack of transparency about his wealth and personal dealings makes it impossible to determine if the lieutenant governor has conflicts of interest.
“It certainly flies in the face of the spirit of financial disclosure,” said Edwin Davis, director of research at nonpartisan watchdog group Common Cause in Washington, D.C.
I’ll spare you any of Dewhurst’s lame and self-serving rationalizations for this. He’s pretty much free to thumb his nose at us over this, since he knows full well that the Texas Ethics Commission will have his back. Clearly, what we’ll need is for a David Dewhurst edition of the Bill Ceverha bill to make it through the Lege. Ironically, Governor Perry would likely be a champion of such a thing, since it would screw with his potential rival for the governorship in 2010. Lon Burnam, please pick up the white courtesy phone. Thanks to Banjo for the link.