Strayhorn vs Abbott

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said Wednesday that Carole 4 names, 3 parties had no right to investigate the organization set up to facilitate the fleecing of Texas home owners.

State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn had no authority to investigate and release a critical report about the performance of the Texas Residential Construction Commission this year, state Attorney General Greg Abbott ruled Wednesday.

Strayhorn's response: She'd do it again, and she all but dared Abbott to try to stop her.

And what does this commission do?

Presenting her report in January, Strayhorn said the TRCC, created in 2003, purportedly to regulate home builders, was nothing more than a "builder protection agency."

"If it were up to me personally, I would blast this Texas Residential Construction Commission off the bureaucratic books," she said.

The law that created the commission supported by Republican and Democratic legislators, requires buyers to go through an inspection and dispute resolution process before they can proceed to binding arbitration or file lawsuits against builders.

Although builders said the process would reduce lawsuits and help resolve disputes quickly and less expensively, Strayhorn said the agency "imposes costly and bureaucratic roadblocks for homeowners."

Strayhorn's tackling the Perry machine. Which Perry machine, you ask? Is that builder Bob Perry or Texas Governor Rick Perry? Actually, it's both.

We all remember Bob Perry as the Houston-area builder who doesn't want his customers to complain about the construction of the houses he builds, the lead Swift Boater and DeLay supporter.