By ENGR101.com Staff
Published April 13, 2011

Governor Rick Perry lapdog-Comptroller Susan Combs has once again jeopardized Texas citizens with her lack of leadership and control.  The “Republicans-In-Name-Only” state legislators appear worried and are moving quickly to control the political damage.

On April 12, 2011 the Austin American-Statesman reported that personal and confidential data of 3.5 million Texans receiving unemployment checks had, until recently, been available on the Internet.  Also left unprotected were the personal records of teachers, state workers, retirees, and practically everyone else who works for a public or private employer in Texas.

Left exposed to anyone who wanted to look, were Social Security numbers, addresses, dates of birth, wages and more, on millions of Texas citizens.

The Statesman article quotes Jason Lavender of ID Theft Solutions of America who said it is potentially “a very big deal for the people who are affected,” noting that the case opens the door for a number of different types of identity theft, not just financial, and that Social Security numbers and birth dates can be sold to illegal immigrants.

Personnel with the Texas Comptroller’s office had placed the information on a publicly accessible server where it was available from the internet for about one year.  The issue was discovered and reportedly fixed on March 31, 2011.

According to the Statesman article, the vulnerable data originated with the Teacher Retirement System, the Employees Retirement System, the Texas Workforce Commission and the Department of Public Safety.  Those four agencies collect personal information, including wages, on practically everyone in the state.  The law requires the information to be reported to the comptroller.

Reuters noted that “the Texas Workforce Commission data breach was the most widespread, containing records of some 2 million individuals.”

People who work for a private employer in Texas probably know that their employer is required to report their wages to the Texas Workforce Commission.  Employers who have had their business accounts audited by TWC are vulnerable to disclosure of critical business information, including payments to, and receipts from, confidential customers and clients who demand a fiduciary duty of protection.

Want to find out where your ex-wife works?  Want to know where that judge or police officer lives – the one who put you in jail?  Thanks to Comptroller Combs’ mismanagement it is now probable that the information is somewhere out there right now on the Internet for the right price, even though the offending site was recently “fixed”.

Wikileaks could have done no worse.

Ms. Combs’ tenure as Texas Comptroller has been fraught with mismanagement.  According to the Statesman, in April 2010 “thousands of consumers seeking rebates for energy-efficient appliances could not get access through phone banks or a website.” This particular incident occurred about the time that the Comptroller, in violation of the Texas Constitution, was refusing to provide an update on the then-suspected, now confirmed state budget crisis. Governor Rick Perry had been facing two strong opponents in the Texas republican primary at that time, and any hint of state financial problems or impropriety could have potentially sunk Perry’s reelection chances.

The Texas attorney general and FBI have opened a criminal investigation, according to Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for Attorney General Greg Abbot who, like Perry and Combs, is a republican. It is highly likely that both the FBI and the AG’s office will concentrate on the lower level scapegoats instead of going after the top political dogs.

There is a law enforcement agency in Texas that does go after top political dogs.  The Travis County District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit prosecutes dishonest politicians — republican and democrat alike.

Now, with the DA’s successful prosecution and recent conviction of former US House majority leader — Tom De Lay — it is apparent that some Texas RINO politicians might suddenly be “sweating bullets”.  Republicans dominate the Texas Legislature and the governorship, so now a new legislative initiative is underway to end state funding of the Travis County District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit, according to a separate article also appearing in the April 12^th Statesman.

Some have suggested the proposed bill shutting down the DA’s office should be titled the “Charlie Rangel Get-Out-Of-Jail Free” bill, named for the politically-connected New York congressman who cheated on his taxes and got away with it, and who taught the country that “if you are a crooked politician and get caught, move the case to where your friends can protect you.”