The Cost of Being a Cowboy
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott thinks he’s Texas Tough.
He ain’t.
And he ain’t nowhere near smart enough to be Governor.
Here’s how this goes in people language instead of lawyer language:
Three plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Texas in a Voting Rights Act dispute. Wendy Davis was one of them. They won in front of a three judge panel in Texas. Attorney General Greg Abbott’s side lost.
So, the lawyers on the winning side asked that the State of Texas pay their legal fees because the State of Texas was wrong, wrong, wrong.
Attorney General Abbott decided to go with the “oh those gnats!” legal argument.
It did not work. At all.
“Rather than engage the fee applicants, Plaintiff Texas basically ignores the arguments supporting an award of fees and costs,” Collyer writes, adding that the state “expresses indignation at having to respond at all, and presumes that the motion for attorney fees is so frivolous that Texas need not provide further briefing in opposition unless requested.”
Bottom line: Collyer said she would “award $466,680.36 to the Davis Intervenors, $597,715.60 to the Gonzales Intervenors and $32,374.05 to the Texas State Conference of NAACP Branches.”
Okay, so one million dollars of taxpayer money goes to lawyers because Greg Abbott wanted to play smartass.
The judge also called it “arrogant and ineffective lawyering.” Yep, that pretty much sums up Greg Abbott.
Thanks to Kyle for the heads up.
In South Dakota,the state lost a case filed on behalf of Native American families who have had their children removed and given to white foster families. Lead lawyer for the state,one Sarah Frankenstein(I kid you not) then sued the winners to pay state’s attorney fees and lost again…..for some strange reason. She then went to Montana and promptly lost a case for the state against Native Americans. No word if she sued to have her attorney fees paid.
1Well, bless his little pea-picking heart! I sure do hope that Wendy beats him badly come November and takes over the leadership of Texas. If she fails, you will be stuck with this twerp and that does not bode well for the good people of Texas at all.
2Let’s hope another alleged fiscal conservative bites the dust over his huge waste of taxpayer money. It is astounding that he is even close in the polls with Wendy Davis. There’s some definite st00pid in the TX GOP.
3Fiscal conservatism at its best! Throw the blighters out!
4If only they’d send the bill to the Texas GOP.
5I think the term “indignation at having to respond at all” also applies to how he feels about the average Texas voter.
6Now, that’s gonna make a great ad.
“One million dollars of YOUR money goes to lawyers because Greg Abbott wanted to play smartass.
The judge also called it “arrogant and ineffective lawyering.”
We call it selfish, lazy and insulting to our judicial system.
How about you?”
Wendy Davis For Texas.
Paid for by The World’s Most Dangerous Beauty Salon
7Abbott is just another dipstick right-winger who wastes taxpayers money defending the indefensible.
8Now that’s thumb sucking!!!!
9@Maggie #9- Are you sure it’s a thumb? Definitely sucking, though.
10As much as I enjoy this discussion, I think it may be (more) important to get Mr Abbott out of the AG’s office. Think about it, Gov Perry has been in office since …. well too long and he hasn’t burnt down the Governor’s Mansion. Wait. Poorly chosen cliché. Anyway Gov Rick hasn’t really hurt anything a good pressure washing wont cure. An AG office that provides incompetent opinions and incompetent representation before real practicing attorneys can harm Texas beyond reputation
11Perry appointed all his favorite people to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. One very long lasting and nasty result was the siting of a low level radioactive nuclear waste dump in W. Texas. With a wave of a magic wand, the same people amended the license and we now have 100+ containers of God knows what that got shipped from Los Alamos when one of the same kind of containers exploded at WIPP in easter NM. As a result of the exploding container, WIPP was closed and the 100+ containers were shipped to our supposedly low level facility.
This is not inconsequential, Micr. Just sayin’
12What’s a mere million of taxpayer’s money?
13More where that came from.
Thank you Marion. Low level waste indeed. Talk about bait and switch. Losing a ton of money because he’s rude is terrible but filling our state up with stuff that can kill indefinitely, that seems worse to me. Out with Abbott. How about that for a bumper sticker? or take an old yard sign and paint it up with acrylic paint: OUT WITH ABBOTT. I have several old signs if you need one.
14Virginia recently had a governor (Rethug) who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar concerning a donor. Even the guv’s wife was involved in this. They are to be tried separately. They wanted a joint trial in order to save legal fees (he is actually a lawyer). Then they tried to hit up the state to pay for all of this. Huge snarling and spitting contest erupted in Richmond. Turns out he will have to pony up the money for both trials. Then the guy who served as AG in his administration also tried to get legal fees out of the state when the courts struck down one of his cases (he tried suing the professor at the U of VA who said climate change is real cuz that isn’t what a real professor is supposed to do). I gotta tell ya! Some birds have way more feathers than anyone would believe!
15If this ruling is appealable, my guess is that Abbot will do so, thereby exponentially increasing the fiscal hit to the state.
16What is the accepted name for ass? Abbott.
17@ Marion #12, Marge Wood thereafter… need I remind anyone that the facility in Andrews, Tx has numerous states shipping this toxic waste via 18 wheelers to this facility, and that it sits at the base of the Ogillala Aquifer, which supplies water to a 7 state region? And just wait until one of those 18 wheelers cracks up enroute to Andrews, busting containers all over roadways, into creeks, rivers, etc. Oh.. a busted up 18 wheeler strewing its contents in all directions? Never happens. I just cannot stand what the Republicans have done to this state, and elsewhere.
18If being smart was a requirement for being governor most of the governors in recent years would not qualify, including the current one.
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