Best Perk in Politics...Perry & the "Good ol' Boys"

The Best Perk in Politics
By GAIL COLLINS

Let me tell you just one story about Rick Perry’s hatred of the good-old-boy corporate mentality. There is a hugely rich real estate titan in Texas named Bob (No Relation) Perry who was a very big donor to conservative causes and everything having to do with the Rick Perry gubernatorial career. (No Relation) Perry also had a problem, which was, like all the pressing concerns of extremely wealthy Texans, solely involved with the future development of the state economy and the common good.

(No Relation)’s particular policy-oriented issue was that people were filing lawsuits when they discovered the new homes they had just purchased were full of mold.

Really, it was a big problem. Extremely bad for economic growth. And the governor had a solution. Perhaps he worked it out while lounging, with his feet up, in the leather seats of other people’s corporate jets. In 2003, he pushed for the creation of the Texas Residential Construction Commission to settle the mold disputes, saving everyone a great deal of time and litigation expense. Governor Perry then filled said commission with members who were well versed in the issues they would be deciding because of the fact that they were representatives of the housing industry. One of them was (No Relation)’s general counsel.

It is really, really hard to horrify the Texas State Legislature, but this thing did, and the lawmakers got rid of it in 2009.

So you can see that Rick Perry is a man of the people. Unless they have mold.

The free plane rides don’t seem to have shattered any Texas ethics laws, most of which are of the foam-rubber persuasion. And you have to admit: private jets are the best. When you get to the airport, they’re waiting for you. You can keep your shoes on. Nobody tells you to turn off your Kindle until the plane has reached cruising altitude. It’s the one rich-person perk I truly, desperately envy.

“I envy the single malt scotch as well, but the plane’s right up there,” said Craig McDonald of Texans for Public Justice, an estimable nonprofit research group that specializes in following the money. Texans for Public Justice has done a couple of reports about Perry’s travel gifts, one of which I fell in love with when I saw the phrase “Flatonia sausage magnate Danny Janecka.” Also, there was a story about how the Texas Motor Transportation Association paid $14,580 to fly Perry and his family to the Rose Bowl, when the University of Texas was playing in 2006. A gubernatorial spokesman told The Dallas Morning News that the governor was on official business hosting a barbecue to try to persuade California companies to relocate to the Lone Star State.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/05/opini ... .html?_r=1

Don'tcha just love that "Good ol' Boy", "Man-of-the-People", "aw-shucks" act... rofllol

Perks of the office? Like Obama getting to use Air Force One to fly to campaign appearances?

Nice deflection... But presidents have been flying to campaign stops since there was an "Air Force 1"... Got anything else...?

Isn't it nice to know that Parry is taking care of those "job creators" so well... Sux if you're a homeowner with a defective house....

Or like Obama handing out big checks to bankrupt solar companies so their owners can give themselves big paydays? The good old boy enviro buddy network? The taxpayers are so screwed when the President has no problem bailing out his buddies with hundreds of millions of dollars.

You mean big checks to the "job creators"? Why, that's the "Conservative Way"....

SS109 wrote: Or like Obama handing out big checks to bankrupt solar companies so their owners can give themselves big paydays

I'd like a source on that...what bankrupt company did Obama personally hand a check to? Or did you mean that a solar company received a loan during his administration and it later went bankrupt? Nah...doesnt sound inflamitory enough.

Do you have an opinion on Perry's actions other than your guy did it too?

You mean solar companies like this:

Solyndra: Advanced by Bush for 2 Years (Solyndra Timeline)

It’s often claimed that the Solyndra loan guarantee was “rushed through” by the Obama Administration for political reasons. In fact, the Solyndra loan guarantee was a multi-year process that the Bush Administration launched in 2007.

You’d never know from the media coverage that:

* The Bush team tried to conditionally approve the Solyndra loan just before President Obama took office.
* The company’s backers included private investors who had diverse political interests.
* The loan comprises just 1.3% of DOE’s overall loan portfolio. To date, Solyndra is the only loan that’s known to be troubled.

Because one of the Solyndra investors, Argonaut Venture Capital, is funded by George Kaiser — a man who donated money to the Obama campaign — the loan guarantee has been attacked as being political in nature. What critics don’t mention is that one of the earliest and largest investors, Madrone Capital Partners, is funded by the family that started Wal-Mart, the Waltons. The Waltons have donated millions of dollars to Republican candidates over the years.

http://cleantechnica.com/2011/09/15/sol ... -timeline/

You mean THIS solar company? (Hint: Regurgitating the same old FauxNews/RedState/NewsMax/Limbaugh talking-points doesn't make them true... and never will....)

Ah, but we digress.... The topic is Perry's packing an anti-consumer agency to protect his big donors, fat-cats, and buddies at the expense of the homeowners who bought defective homes, and can't get a fair settlement.

LadyJazzer wrote: Nice deflection... But presidents have been flying to campaign stops since there was an "Air Force 1"... Got anything else...?

Isn't it nice to know that Parry is taking care of those "job creators" so well... Sux if you're a homeowner with a defective house....

And there has been plenty of "good-old-boys" for all politicians of every stripe to go around for ages! Got anything else? Of course not.

Dr Philban wrote:

LadyJazzer wrote: Nice deflection... But presidents have been flying to campaign stops since there was an "Air Force 1"... Got anything else...?

Isn't it nice to know that Parry is taking care of those "job creators" so well... Sux if you're a homeowner with a defective house....

And there has been plenty of "good-old-boys" for all politicians of every stripe to go around for ages! Got anything else? Of course not.

Wasn't that the point of of the OP? Perry is more of the same...just one more politician who places his own interests above those of his constituents. Can we assume then that this kind of behavior is OK with you?

archer wrote:

Dr Philban wrote:

LadyJazzer wrote: Nice deflection... But presidents have been flying to campaign stops since there was an "Air Force 1"... Got anything else...?

Isn't it nice to know that Parry is taking care of those "job creators" so well... Sux if you're a homeowner with a defective house....

And there has been plenty of "good-old-boys" for all politicians of every stripe to go around for ages! Got anything else? Of course not.

Wasn't that the point of of the OP? Perry is more of the same...just one more politician who places his own interests above those of his constituents. Can we assume then that this kind of behavior is OK with you?

No cupid... you can't assume sh*t. If I said that, then you can take it to the bank, but don't f**king put words in my mouth. ALL POLITICIANS are pond scum in my world... right, left, independents, libertarians, socialist (oops, I already said left), Paulians and girl scout leaders. ALL POLITICIANS put their interest above those of his/her (you didn't mention women... you got something against women) constituents. They are called kleptocrats and plutocrats, you know, all those folks that work in Washington... you must have heard of them? So Lady Jazzer's little "revelation" is about as surprising as ribs at a BBQ. It's all just worthless partisan rhetoric. Boring.