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PrintOnce-hailed Texas civic leader now convicted thief
Tue Nov 18, 2008 4:41 AM EST
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WACO — For two decades, one of Waco's biggest champions was the elegant Margaret Mills, who worked tirelessly to restore its crumbling, boarded-up downtown into the thriving center she remembered from her childhood.
The well-coifed, perfectly manicured woman in the expensive suits was often a force to be reckoned with as she held fundraisers and solicited money from reluctant donors who had given up on downtown.
But doubters turned into excited supporters as office buildings, restaurants and stores brought downtown back to life in the late 1980s and '90s.
So the city was stunned when authorities discovered that Mills — the executive director of Downtown Waco Inc. — had been embezzling from the economic development agency. She pleaded guilty to a felony charge last month.
"It was pretty much disbelief when the news came out," said Douglas Brown, a property investor and former Downtown Waco board member. "People thought, `Somebody made a mistake. Surely she can explain this.'"
With her impeccable outfits and stylish blond hair, Mills was hard to miss when she walked in a room. She was smart and socially adept, going from board meetings to political functions to lavish fundraisers with ease, knowing when to be hard-nosed and when to tell a funny story, friends said.
Her husband is a prominent attorney. Mills, 67, was earning nearly $64,000 a year in 2006, when she retired from Downtown Waco just as board members — who had little oversight of the agency — began noticing financial irregularities. She was arrested about nine months later.
Her attorney, Rick Bostwick, said the couple's net worth was less than the $308,000 restitution she was ordered to pay in addition to her prison term. The judge required her to bring $100,000 to her sentencing last week; four friends paid it on her behalf.
Waco police initially suspected Mills may have stolen about $500,000 over several years, spending the money at high-end clothing stores such as Fendi, at restaurants and hotels, and on landscaping at her house and other items, according to documents.
The Texas Attorney General's Office, which prosecuted the case because of the district attorney's ties to the family, alleged she stole about $237,000 and charged her with first-degree felony theft.
But after reaching a deal with prosecutors, Mills avoided a possible life prison term and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of third-degree felony theft between $20,000 and $100,000. She was sentenced to nine years in prison.
She never offered an explanation in court, but Mills said in 2006 she regretted taking "liberties" with the accounts, according to a letter to board members obtained by the Waco Tribune-Herald, which first reported Downtown Waco's financial problems. Her husband also reimbursed the agency $70,000 a few months later.
Now Mills wears a black-and-white striped jumpsuit as she sits in a county jail cell, waiting to be transferred to a state prison unit.
"She totally screwed up and is paying the price for it," said Toni Herbert, a former city councilwoman who took over at Downtown Waco after Mills' departure and before it closed in late 2006. "But people need to remember what downtown Waco looked like more than 20 years ago. Nothing would have happened if she had not had the tenacity, creativity and vision."
Waco's downtown had been declining because of suburban development and the aftermath of a 1953 tornado that killed 114 people. About 400 buildings were torn down, leaving gaping pockets of vacant land throughout the business district.
Downtown Waco got funding mainly from merchants' dues and city contracts for such things as landscaping, street sweeping and security. Over time, the city and Chamber of Commerce became more involved, causing friction when Mills thought they wanted to take credit for her work or control her agency, some said.
Although some still want answers from Mills or to revel in her fall from grace, others wish the town could remember the good she did for Waco.
"It's sad that this will be her legacy rather than what she accomplished," Brown said.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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- Regions: United States , Waco/Temple/Bryan
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{"commentId":4105701,"authorDomain":"bestrhythm-4u"}
good and bad. this is fate
{"commentId":4105701,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"bestrhythm-4u"}
- 5 votes
#1 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:43 AM EST{"commentId":4108970,"authorDomain":"shanman56"}
This IS happening everywhere PEOPLE! EVERYWHERE!
If you don't see it, it is there hidden from you! It is our legacy of our inept and disrespecting society where everyone wants to be nbetter then most others and are always right. They will LIE stright at your face then ask for forgiveness when caught.
These are the "mentors" that we were supposed to look up to and yet they are the worst of all our people. This is why I stopped listening and started to form my own opinions and did my own homework before voting.
They will tell you NOT to do something that they are doing the moment they tell you not to!
{"commentId":4108970,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"shanman56"}
- 6 votes
{"commentId":4109447,"authorDomain":"Extremist-Moderate"}
Why was she facing so much time in prison, for less than a million dollars?!? Contract fraud in Iraq is in the billions of dollars, and I see none even being charged with a crime...let alone facing LIFE. You think there isn't massive pilfering of the bailout billions?
Note that I'm not supporting this woman, send her ass to prison. But send most of Wall Street and all Halliburton executives along with her. Oh, and make those bastards bring in to court some of the billions they've pocketed also....equal justice for all, right?
{"commentId":4109447,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"Extremist-Moderate"}
- 13 votes
{"commentId":4109510,"authorDomain":"shanman56"}
I do agree with the punishment fitting the crime.
SO, the punishment for the Bailout Mess should be multiple life sentences or Death to ANY who played a part in this economic decline!
{"commentId":4109510,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"shanman56"}
- 6 votes
{"commentId":4110145,"authorDomain":"dennisclatham"}
{"commentId":4118961,"authorDomain":"dennisclatham"}
{"commentId":4105788,"authorDomain":"ppflock"}
Oh boo hoo cry me a river she got caught and now she is sorry.
She may have started with good intention but she used the Downtown Waco Inc. as her and her family private piggy bank she belongs is jail and so does her husband.
{"commentId":4105788,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"ppflock"}
- 15 votes
#2 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 6:10 AM EST{"commentId":4105967,"authorDomain":"scleslie"}
$500K? It was probably more than that. That figure is all they could account for with irregularities, how much did she pilfer that looked legitimate?
Think about this woman soliciting you for a donation for your communityand then find out she spent it on a fur coat for herself. I have no sympathy for the picture of her crying in court above. She is getting what she deserves. She should have her Social Security garnished when she gets out to pay back what she stole.
{"commentId":4105967,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"scleslie"}
- 6 votes
{"commentId":4106724,"authorDomain":"maxhousewell"}
Oh boo hoo cry me a river she got caught and now she is sorry.
My exact thought when I read the article, she's a low life thief, give me a break. She's sorry she got caught, not for taking the money. The sad part of the story, you could probably round up her kind in most any city in the country. We had one here to the tune of 1.6 million..
{"commentId":4106724,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"maxhousewell"}
- 9 votes
{"commentId":4108144,"authorDomain":"babin"}
theif!!
{"commentId":4108144,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"babin"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":4118865,"authorDomain":"dennisclatham"}
{"commentId":4105865,"authorDomain":"Rixar13"}
Texas don't take kindly to such behavior but hey, room and board included. Thanx tax-payers.
{"commentId":4105865,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"Rixar13"}
- 4 votes
#3 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 6:29 AM EST{"commentId":4105996,"authorDomain":"qat-woman"}
Texas has plenty of cases of questionable ethics. Not ALL see the light of day and prosecuited.
{"commentId":4105996,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"qat-woman"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":4106474,"authorDomain":"writingathena"}
Dipping into the till, greasing palms, and looking the other way when other people do it--that's how they've done things here in Texas forever. To take a few local scandalas...the DISD credit card scandal, the Ft. Worth Municipal Water Board employees' embezzling, the DISD employee just now sentenced to 9 years in prison for using district money to give kickbacks to their computer vendor, etc., etc.
These kinds of things happen everywhere, but they seem to happen with loathsome frequency in Texas.
I'm pretty sure this woman really didn't think there was much wrong with what she was doing, and was probably able to assure herself -- perhaps somewhat disingenuously -- that people would "understand" and would even "expect" her to "take liberties" with the funds. That's the culture around here, and must have seemed familiar and unremarkable to someone from "old money" or an "old family" in Texas.
{"commentId":4106474,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"writingathena"}
- 6 votes
{"commentId":4109653,"authorDomain":"uncleandy"}
Well, I believe it is a beginning of face saving trend by various Republicans that are still in power.
We will witness all kinds of prosecutions as the Republicans start digging up the bodies from the Elephant Bone Yard in an attempt to make peace with the Democrats around the country.
I would guess the reasoning is if they don’t do it, the Democrats will, so they will just get it out of the way now and take credit for serving up social justice for everyone.
It is an old strategy in a new and changing world.
{"commentId":4109653,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"uncleandy"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":4106175,"authorDomain":"leighjohn"}
There is a saying, "no good deed goes unpunished" and this is such an event.
I have to wonder where are all those persons who benefited from her efforts, are they too busy enjoying their new found wealth, they certainly have not come to her aid it would seem.
On the other hand one cannot condone such acts as there is no excuse to indemnify ones self like this because you have done a good deed or good deeds. The good deed in and of itself should be its own reward.
This is what we need to say to our politicians when they offer themselves for service and so when we catch them doing other wise they should not get a slap on the wrist but have their wrist politically chopped off.
So I am sorry to see this lady in this predicament but she really didn't have to do it ( as Mrs. Reagan would say, "Just say no") and so her efforts is just another of those social vanities to which many of us Americans ascribe to.
{"commentId":4106175,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"leighjohn"}
- 2 votes
#4 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:27 AM EST{"commentId":4106617,"authorDomain":"spikegary"}
She did 'bring $100K to court given to her by 4 different people', so I guess everyone hasn't abandoned her. I feel for the city and it's citizens-there's just no justification for this lady to do what she did, but she will be paying for her sins.
{"commentId":4106617,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"spikegary"}
- 6 votes
{"commentId":4110665,"authorDomain":"dennisclatham"}
{"commentId":4106202,"authorDomain":"ezeques"}
{"commentId":4106203,"authorDomain":"charles-l-burns"}
Imagine that, someone actually being held accountable for their actions...if only it applied across all spectrums of our society.
{"commentId":4106203,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"charles-l-burns"}
- 7 votes
#6 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:31 AM EST{"commentId":4116054,"authorDomain":"xcomunic8ed"}
amen
{"commentId":4116054,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"xcomunic8ed"}
{"commentId":4117749,"authorDomain":"scleslie"}
Yea but notice it only happens to people like her and not the rich, a celebrity, or politician.
Look at the example of Mr. Stevens from Alaska. He was convicted of 7 counts of bribery and taking gifts for favored political positions. Not only did he not go to jail, but he was still able to run again and the dumb Alaskans voted for him to retake his seat.
Then we have the guy who works for the Department of Revenue who was caught not claiming the rent from his rental properties on his income taxes. He was not arrested for tax evasion and his excuse was he did not know that the rent he was being paid was considered income. HOLY COW! Some idiot working for the IRS did not know that the money he was making off his properties was income and subject to be taxed by the IRS.
We really live in a two tier system of wealth and justice in the United States where all men are created equal as long as you are not poor or middle class.
{"commentId":4117749,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"scleslie"}
{"commentId":4106346,"authorDomain":"Weaver"}
Seems as though she was more concerned about her Uptown appearance then in Downtown Waco.
{"commentId":4106346,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"Weaver"}
- 6 votes
#7 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 7:53 AM EST{"commentId":4106887,"authorDomain":"EthanMessier"}
Ziiiiiiiinnnng!
{"commentId":4106887,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"EthanMessier"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":4106510,"authorDomain":"celiaarm"}
One thing you can say for Texas, they dish it out heavily. Hey she was looking at LIFE for what she did. 9 years at her age is not a small piece of time to do.
Greed is a horrible thing.
{"commentId":4106510,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"celiaarm"}
- 2 votes
#8 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:14 AM EST{"commentId":4106690,"authorDomain":"jimmym"}
Are you kidding ??? She won't do anywhere near nine , She'll be out soon as it all blows over on some kind of made up bull. I'll bet she does less than three.
{"commentId":4106690,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"jimmym"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":4117787,"authorDomain":"scleslie"}
She will be out as soon as it blows over as long as she shows 'dem 'da 'money. If she is totally broke as the article says, she will do her time. Bull@!$%# only walks when there is money to push it along in this country.
{"commentId":4117787,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"scleslie"}
{"commentId":4106570,"authorDomain":"susibv"}
Texas is, afterall, a Bush state.
'nuff said.
{"commentId":4106570,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"susibv"}
- 1 vote
#9 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:21 AM EST{"commentId":4109843,"authorDomain":"hflowers"}
Well being from Texas..I guess you just sized up the whole state... and we all, must get invited to Bush's ranch for supper...
dang I must have missed the memo....
What the heck does Bush being from Texas have to do with anything related to a person who was found to be stealing from others...?
give it a break....nuff said.
{"commentId":4109843,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"hflowers"}
{"commentId":4113983,"authorDomain":"susibv"}
dont get your panties in a ruffle.......puh-leeze.
Sheesh.
with reactions like that one might think a nerve was hit.
{"commentId":4113983,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"susibv"}
{"commentId":4106911,"authorDomain":"asergeantsmom"}
"Her husband is a prominent attorney."
(Brown, 2008).
{"commentId":4106911,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"asergeantsmom"}
- 1 vote
#10 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:54 AM EST{"commentId":4106947,"authorDomain":"gycnews"}
unbelievable . . . why did she do it, I am sure a person of her stature knows what is wrong and right. Well all her good deeds down the drain.
{"commentId":4106947,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"gycnews"}
- 1 vote
#11 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:57 AM EST{"commentId":4111295,"authorDomain":"aligrosso"}
POWER.....it's the reason why there must be accountability on all levels - we're dealing with humans............
{"commentId":4111295,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"aligrosso"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":4106991,"authorDomain":"conservative007"}
Maybe now Mills can hook up with Rezko and swap stories. Do they have co-ed prisons? Surely they can be pen pals.
Why didn't Mills just use the government to get her spouse a lucrative government contract like Barbara Boxer did?
Or suck up to one of those foreign oil countries like Hillary Clinton's husband. Man, she sure could have learned from watching how liberals do it, getting rich while avoiding prison and avoiding that tag of "greedy".
This would be a good one for a Bush pardon before he leaves office if he can get some dough for his library out of it, like Hillary Clinton's husband.
{"commentId":4106991,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"conservative007"}
- 1 vote
#12 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:01 AM EST{"commentId":4111558,"authorDomain":"joewaite4392"}
Nicely said. Blame the liberals for cronyism...I guess you can make any point about anything when you pick and parse your stories...Poor donkeyrider, it looks as if you and your ilk have been bucked off November 4, 2008...The majority has spoken, enough said.
{"commentId":4111558,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"joewaite4392"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":4116079,"authorDomain":"xcomunic8ed"}
Yeah Joe, everything that is wrong for the past 30 years is Obama's fault.
{"commentId":4116079,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"xcomunic8ed"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":4107469,"authorDomain":"avantreese"}
If we've learned anything from Uncle Leo it's that all old people steal. We shouldn't be surprised.
{"commentId":4107469,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"avantreese"}
- 1 vote
#13 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:39 AM EST{"commentId":4109203,"authorDomain":"shanman56"}
I can certainly attest to that as well! They even do it as they complain and blame the "younger generation" for the troubles in the world!
{"commentId":4109203,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"shanman56"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":4110916,"authorDomain":"celiaarm"}
Your day will come Shan-man and Avantreese. Old will overtake you, bwahahahaha!
{"commentId":4110916,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"celiaarm"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":4123303,"authorDomain":"shanman56"}
CC;
My day will come when I steal something as a senior?
NOT! I have more scruples than most who follow their "Higher Power" that for damn sure!
NOBODY is REWARDED for doing things the right(eous) way ANYMORE!
Why is that? There are FAR TOO MANY self-serving A-holes in the world who could give a RATS_behind for anyone who might simply ask them to turn off their cell phone for a little while, so they could actually drive safely or not annoy someone at the bank or post office!
{"commentId":4123303,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"shanman56"}
{"commentId":4108359,"authorDomain":"upswing"}
A similar conviction was brought aginst our local "Development Manager."
I have a theory that all of these Develop Managers are on the take.
People offer them all kinds of kickbacks toget preferential treatment for their companies.
Theft seems like an unavoidable temptation of the job that few people could resist for ever...
{"commentId":4108359,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"upswing"}
#14 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:29 AM EST{"commentId":4108403,"authorDomain":"TiredofTaCrap"}
3sh_tstotawind
Oh boo hoo cry me a river she got caught and now she is sorry.
She may have started with good intention but she used the Downtown Waco Inc. as her and her family private piggy bank she belongs is jail and so does her husband.
This could/probably will read in 2012
He may have started with good intention but he used the office as his families private piggy bank, he belongs is jail and so does his wife.
We all make bad choices in our life and society tends to focus on the negative, or at lease the media does! My vote is CNN changes to GNN, Good News Network! Also I've not seen anyone in this post point out she a dam Republican too, might of known it!! Hopefully 2012 will come and we'll see how good it is then, get ready!!!!!!!!
{"commentId":4108403,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"TiredofTaCrap"}
#15 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:31 AM EST{"commentId":4108642,"authorDomain":"TheEarthIsTheLORDs"}
When anyone falls from grace, it is always heartbreaking. To see another human being publicly and openly disgraced, after having done so much good prior. Then in a time of temptation, ensnared.
I won't rejoice in this outcome. Nor can I pass judgement upon the person. What would I have done in her place?
{"commentId":4108642,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"TheEarthIsTheLORDs"}
- 1 vote
#16 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:44 AM EST{"commentId":4109360,"authorDomain":"conservative007"}
If you are a liberal, you would probably have done exactly what she did.
{"commentId":4109360,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"conservative007"}
{"commentId":4110036,"authorDomain":"alacount"}
What would you have done in her place? What would be wrong with doing the RIGHT THING? For cripes sake, she knew she was doing wrong,,,,,don't YOU know right from wrong?
{"commentId":4110036,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"alacount"}
{"commentId":4116323,"authorDomain":"dougdemilo"}
If you are a liberal, you would probably have done exactly what she did.
Actually, I am one of those bleeding heart liberals. I have had under my control far greater funds than she did. and never took any. but then, maybe I'm just different from everyone else on this planet - NOT.... you lost. be an American and get over it.
{"commentId":4116323,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"dougdemilo"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":4108657,"authorDomain":"BLOG23"}
A repiggy & a worthless arrogant Texassan...home of the chimpass bush
{"commentId":4108657,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"BLOG23"}
#17 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 10:44 AM EST{"commentId":4109119,"authorDomain":"conservative007"}
Sounds like a typical community organizer to me.
{"commentId":4109119,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"conservative007"}
#18 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:10 AM EST{"commentId":4110094,"authorDomain":"alacount"}
tro// alert
{"commentId":4110094,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"alacount"}
{"commentId":4109241,"authorDomain":"MRZK"}
So when do we go after the big fish in the Bush Administration???
Trials and jail time is the answer for them all. Put them all in the Ted Stevens wing of the penitentiary.
{"commentId":4109241,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"MRZK"}
#19 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:18 AM EST{"commentId":4109318,"authorDomain":"ezeques"}
{"commentId":4109457,"authorDomain":"conservative007"}
ezeques,
Yeah, the White House and Capitol Building are already booked up for the next two years with liberal crooks. No room there.
Just a few more loose ends to tie up and Obama will be joining Stevens for that Rezko home subsidy bribe he took.
{"commentId":4109457,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"conservative007"}
{"commentId":4109533,"authorDomain":"conservative007"}
Too, I know the Chicago cachement prisons are full of the Obama supporters who shoot each other up all the time. And the Southern prisons are full of the liberal dope dealers. What can we do?
{"commentId":4109533,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"conservative007"}
#20 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 11:32 AM EST{"commentId":4111902,"authorDomain":"joewaite4392"}
When your argument is 100% one-sided as yours is, Donkeyrider, what exactly are you defending? The label? I voted for Dems and Rebublicans, for the people who I felt would do the best job. Unfortunately, we have a sect of society who has a win-at-all-costs mentality and usually there is a root cause behind it. So what's yours, rider? Abortion? 8 years Bush, 8 years Conservative Supreme Court, 6 years Republican House and Senate, ZERO Roe V Wade OVERTURNS!!! Or is it GUNS??? NRA would have you believe BHO would snatch them from your cold, dead hands (while you are "alive"), but BHO has a stance that is in line with gun owners. GAYS?? Oy vay, I would venture a guess that the most hard-line Repubs. are the most closeted homos alive!!! Need I retell the stories? GOD...well, Christian right would have us believe there is a real America and the other America (bible-thumpers are REAL, everyone else lives in Hollywood or Greenwich Village). Should I even get started here? The truth about the Right as it is, it is financed by the likes of Wal-Mart execs, CEO's, the wealthiest 1% who know the majority will never vote with them UNLESS wedge issues can be made into "Real" issues. And then you have donkeyrider, Joe the Plumber, and a wealth of easily hoodwinked individuals who are ready to give up their freedoms for a cause that has brought us where we are today; failed economy, loss of world prestige, and a host of other things that are directly detrimental to the working class. But Hank W. Jr. will stand with the stewardess on stage with his football jersey tucked into his jeans so his big belt buckle shows and the yahoos go crazy. Rove and Limbaugh must be chuckling all the way to the bank...
{"commentId":4111902,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"joewaite4392"}
{"commentId":4112886,"authorDomain":"conservative007"}
WJ,
My argument is as a conservative, for conservatism. I agree with you we've had a flub with recent Republicans, just as with Democrats. You are so right about the win-at-all-costs mentality, predominately from the left (liberals).
This article had no place in the national news, other than it was Texas and presumably a Republican. I don't know the party or ideology affiliation of the crook in the story, choosing not to look because it doesn't matter as both parties are chock full of criminals or criminals in evolution. It immediately provoked from the left more Bush bashing, Texas bashing for producing Bush, etc., the effect that was intended.
I am for the US Constitution, period. I am against "journalism" with a political agenda. I am against any issue trying to use the government to achieve a goal outside the scope of the government. I do have an opinion on every item you cited, as do you.
John Edwards must be right, there are two Americas (kind of like his two women): The one you see as having a conservative Supreme Court (4 libs, 4 conservatives, one ?), an Obama who supports gun rights (totally favors banning guns in Chicago and Washington DC), closet homo Republicans (they're out and it is ok with us), hard line Republicans (none really since the mid 1990's), and Christians who just ruin you lives.
If Jesus had to go shopping, it would be at Wal-Mart, I believe, my best guess. And yee-haw, go Hank Williams! You think his belt buckle is big, you should see mine!
Loss of world prestige? Not true, but even if we did, who cares? If they are only going to celebrate liberals in power here, they obviously don't have America's best interest at heart.
And how dare you, I am NOT easily hoodwinked. It took years of Rush, Sean, Neal, Michael, Herman, Dennis, and others, kneading my mind to finally get it right.
The Democrat Congress, Liberal media, and gubbament educated people brought down the economy. Just wait and see how quickly we don't recover with the full house of scoundrels voted in.
{"commentId":4112886,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"conservative007"}
{"commentId":4110016,"authorDomain":"dennisclatham"}
{"commentId":4110206,"authorDomain":"dungbeetlemania"}
Every time I log into Newsvine, there's this woman's ugly, howling mug. You did the crime, now do the time, woman. And get off my front page.
{"commentId":4110206,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"dungbeetlemania"}
- 1 vote
#22 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 12:05 PM EST{"commentId":4110516,"authorDomain":"jay-nj-pr"}
You know what they say, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions."
{"commentId":4110516,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"jay-nj-pr"}
#23 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 12:20 PM EST{"commentId":4110553,"authorDomain":"truthtrekkers"}
I feel bad that I along with the rest of this country has participated in today's social material philosophy. This woman has obviously committed a crime and must serve her sentence but I propose a few question.
1) What is it that would drive a succesful person such as this to do such a thing?
2) Is anyone else in our society susceptible to this type of behavior?
3) What must we do to ensure that this type of greed is suppressed?
I have some ideas but am really interested in what you Vinners think.
{"commentId":4110553,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"truthtrekkers"}
- 1 vote
#24 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 12:23 PM EST{"commentId":4111020,"authorDomain":"kenyon-1"}
It's good to see that white-collar criminals are finally getting serious time.
Her husband is a prominent attorney, at 64,000 a year ? If that's a lot in Waco, our tax system is extremely unfair. Cost of living is not taken into account.
She stole all that money, yet their net worth was under 308,000 ? Strange, very strange.
{"commentId":4111020,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"kenyon-1"}
#25 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 12:46 PM EST{"commentId":4116869,"authorDomain":"conservative007"}
k-1,
I'm starting to surmise she's a liberal. No matter what you do to help them, no matter how much they are given (or take), they can blow it faster than it comes in.
As to the attorney pay, it is on par with Obama's pay as a lawyer.
{"commentId":4116869,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"conservative007"}
{"commentId":4118732,"authorDomain":"kenyon-1"}
hey donkey , I'm libertarian but I think we're getting off track. This is not about politics, It's about someone stealing from the public. Please stop your attacks on people who aren't even in power yet. I'm sure you'll get your chance.
{"commentId":4118732,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"kenyon-1"}
{"commentId":4123044,"authorDomain":"conservative007"}
Oh, its a story about taxation? I'll re-read it.
{"commentId":4123044,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"conservative007"}
{"commentId":4111381,"authorDomain":"uncleandy"}
Moral ineptitude is the answer you’re looking for. She did it because everyone else was doing it, regardless of what the laws says. She rationalized that if they can get away with it, so can she because she was as good as they were and the revitalization of downtown was her proof. Since she was in charge, she was entitled to spend the money anyway she saw fit, even on herself, because in her mind, it was all for the good of her cause. What she failed to understand was the political side of morality and the fact that once she was acknowledge for her good works, she would have to recount how she accomplished it.
And yes truthtrekkers, since the dawn of time, people have asked those questions. More so, at the conclusion of World War II, one of the big questions the entire world asked is how the Germans could have done what they did. Major research was commissioned into the answer by Universities all over the world. In the 1980’s in the wake of the junk bond fiasco and the conviction of boat loads of stock brokers, the question was asked yet again. Sadly, there is no real answer other than some probably theories. One of which I especially like which is referred to as the Mailgram Experiments.
Here is a link to a video that explains it.
http://www.videosift.com/video/The-Original-Milgram-Experiment-1961
{"commentId":4111381,"threadId":"422104","contentId":"2123298","authorDomain":"uncleandy"}
- 2 votes
#26 - Tue Nov 18, 2008 1:04 PM EST{"canLink":false,"threadId":"422104","isPrivate":false}
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