Things Heat Up in the Salinas/Guajardo Jr. Kitchen...The Ghost of Elections Past

News from The Monitor this morning may spell trouble for the Salinas/Guajardo Jr. campaigns. According to the report, Hidalgo Investments Inc. a land development company co-owned by J.D. Salinas and Arturo Guajardo Jr. along with two other men, was delinquent in filing their franchise tax in November of 2005. Salinas is quoted as saying that, "It's been a while back," and "I haven't been active with them". Oh-oh, those same comments echo the words of another candidate a few years ago who was running for governor of Texas. That's right, Tony Sanchez had more than a fair shot at winning the election until Rick Perry's camp released information that the Savings & Loan Co. that Sanchez was CEO of was involved in a money laundering scandal in the 1980's. Sanchez retort was that he was unaware of any illegal activities his company was involved in, and only after he found out, did he cooperate with law enforcement officials. It didn't affect him in the legal sense, but it sure as hell wasn't a bump on the road to the governor's mansion. It cost him the election in that any non-hispanic voter who wasn't quite keen on the idea of Rick Perry running the state for the next four years, was handed reason number one to not vote for Tony Sanchez. And there went that, the idea that one of our own could hold the state's highest office. Now, is tax delinquency on the same level as money laundering charges? HELL, NO, LET ME BE CLEAR ON THAT! Hell, it's not even the same league in most courts, but it does raise the question of validity. Especially since both J.D. Salinas and Arturo Guajardo Jr. are using fiscal responsibility as their platform. As a voter, you have to wonder, if these guys are partners in a business that falls behind on it's tax responsibilities, how well can they do handling OUR fiscal responsibilities? Of course, this may be just a bump in the road for the county clerk candidate and county judge candidate, but it's something that voters need to take into account the next time they see, hear, or read an ad that touts fiscal responsibility as the reason why we should vote for these candidates.