Really, Burnt Orange Report?

April 2nd, 2008 by Jake Hatlin | Posted in OGR On Other Blogs |

For those of you who may not be familiar with the Burnt Orange Report blog, they’ve never met a Democrat they didn’t like (except for the “Craddick Ds”) or a liberal stance that they didn’t embrace. In this writer’s opinion, too much of a one sided blog, but they’re good for reading whenever you need to stir up a little aggression in your life. And frankly, I couldn’t stop laughing for days when Burka called them the “Kid Bloggers.”

Until recently, my only real gripe with BOR was how they shamelessly cheerlead for the Democrat Party and act as mindless drones when it comes to following their party’s line. Anyone who can’t find at least one flaw in their party isn’t to be trusted with even as much as a potato gun, let alone mass communication on political topics. But a funny thing happened one sleepless night spent reviewing campaign finance reports, I found another reason to view them as less than road kill.

During this past primary cycle, BOR was really pushing on its readers to contribute to a new political action committee called the Too Close To Craddick PAC. The PAC’s only purpose was to fund primary challengers against Democrat House Members who support Speaker Tom Craddick. I mean, who ever heard of supporting the Speaker who gave you a Chairmanship and a chance to pass your legislation? That’s ludicrous talk (big…long…sarcastic…eye roll).

But back to the point. On at least two separate occasions, BOR posted blog spots singing the Too Close To Craddick PAC’s praises and encouraging, if not begging, their readers to donate to the PAC to “…help good Democrats challenge three Craddick Democrat state representatives who turned their backs on Democratic leadership…” What BOR didn’t tell their readers was that BOR was TAKING IN REVENUE from of the newly created PAC. Perhaps that tag line should have read, “Donate today so that the Too Close To Craddick PAC can pay the advertising bill I just sent them.”

Think there’s a mistake? Go see for yourself. Check out the Too Close To Craddick PAC’s 30 day out report and see if their only logged expenditure for the period catches your eye.

http://txprod.ethics.state.tx.us/public/363411.pdf

Can anyone say, shenanigans?