Texas: Johnson

Did Harris County Tax Assessor, Leo Vasquez, know what kind of poo Paul Bettencourt left him in when he quit just days after his re-election? Obviously not.

Harris County Commissioners Court voted unanimously to accept a settlement of a lawsuit filed by the Texas Democratic Party against Paul Bettencourt's Voter Registration Office. Included in this settlement:

• The voter registrar must now comply with all Texas Election Code deadlines. In sworn discovery, Bettencourt's staff admitted that more than 11,350 timely submitted applications were not processed and on the voter rolls when voting started as required by law.

• The voter registrar's employees can no longer have employment or financial interests in outside companies that provide voter information to candidates or political parties, a practice Bettencourt allowed and Vasquez defended regarding moonlighting Republican political consultant Ed Johnson.

The Lone Star Project continues to dig into the Assistant Voter Registrar, Ed Johnson, moonlighting as a gop consultant helping republicans win using the data that he manages. And the Harris County republican party is about as silent as Sarah Palin at a planned parenthood rally.
Further examination of documents obtained by the Lone Star Project show that Republican State Representative Dwayne Bohac (HD138 – Houston) sits at the center of the Harris County elections office scandal. The Harris County associate voter registrar was literally Bohac’s “man on the inside” in a position to assist Bohac in his own campaigns and the campaigns of his political clients.

Paul Bettencourt's office has some explaining to do in a lawsuit filed against them for voter suppression. Turns out there is much more to the story than expected. KHOU has the story:
Johnson is the associate voter registrar at the Harris County Tax Assessor Collectors office, but according to state documents, that's just his day job. Johnson is also a paid director of a small company that provides voter data to Republican candidates for office. That company, Campaign Data Systems, billed at least $140,000 in 2008.
But there is even more to this. From Off the Kuff:
Campaign Data Systems happens to be owned by

Saturday Night Live had a great sketch last night playing off President Barack Obama's legendary calm -- with a bit part for a Kay Bailey Hutchison stand-in.

Better to watch the video below than have me try to do it justice, but the joke lies in Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson playing an Incredible Hulk'ed Obama. Hutchison, played by Kristen Wiig, is one of three Republican senators who make the president angry by voicing their opposition to the stimulus bill. Let's just say he responds in a decidedly partisan manner.

It's absolutely hilarious, and surely the first time Hutchison has made it this far in the national pop-culture consciousness -- even if the actor playing White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel twice refers to her as Senator "Hutchinson."

Look at it this way -- there's never been a Rick Perry character on SNL.