WSJ : Perry's Crony Capitalism Problem

[angelatc]

I saw a couple of those other type Republicans saying that this article troubled them:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...897285614.html

All told, the Dallas Morning News has found that some $16 million from the tech fund has gone to firms in which major Perry contributors were either investors or officers, and $27 million from the fund has gone to companies founded or advised by six advisory board members. The tangle of interests surrounding the fund has raised eyebrows throughout the state, especially among conservatives who think the fund is a misplaced use of taxpayer dollars to start with.

"It is fundamentally immoral and arrogant," says state representative David Simpson, a tea party-backed freshman from Longview, two hours east of Dallas.

[Brian4Liberty]

Interesting article. Another negative for Perry.

So he believes in taxpayer money being re-distributed to his friends, with him having the final say on who gets the taxpayer money? If Perry wants to run a Venture Capital firm, let him go and raise money from voluntary investors, not take it from taxpayers.

The Emerging Technology Fund was created at Mr. Perry's behest in 2005 to act as a kind of public-sector venture capital firm, largely to provide funding for tech start-ups in Texas. Since then, the fund has committed nearly $200 million of taxpayer money to fund 133 companies. Mr. Perry told a group of CEOs in May that the fund's "strategic investments are what's helping us keep groundbreaking innovations in the state." The governor, together with the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the Texas House, enjoys ultimate decision-making power over the fund's investments.

[libertybrewcity]

this is usually how politicians work..unfortunately.

[Brian4Liberty]

A blog from January:

You know what the pigeon drop is, right? Some scam artist convinces an old lady she can get $10,000 for free by withdrawing a mere $1,000 from her bank account. All she has to do is allow the scam artist to hold her thousand dollars for half an hour. I don't have to tell you how it ends.

So do we really not get that Governor Rick Perry is doing a pigeon drop on the whole state? I'm talking about all this crap he's been preaching -- how rich we're going to be because we gave away lots of tax money to his business buddies but didn't bring much money back in as taxes.

Wait. Think about it. We give the money away to Perry's friends. We don't bring in much money. And we get rich?

No. We don't. We get a $25 billion state budget deficit

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfa...nd_nigeria.php

[Brian4Liberty]

Sounds like a cross between Obama's stimulus program and government purchases of private enterprises.

Rick Perry, The First Socialist Governor of Texas?

George W. Bush and Barack Obama have been savaged for propping up Chrysler and GM (”Government Motors”) with taxpayer money. But at least everybody knew about it. Meanwhile, even as he has railed against Washington, Rick Perry has been running his own socialist enterprise — and refuses to disclose anything about it. Apparently by making a large contribution to the governor, an investor can not only get a loan from the governor’s fund, but get a side-by-side equity investment as well. Meanwhile, the governor claims not to know who his fellow investors are, while his office — in the same article — says they know perfectly well who the investors are.

http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/201...rnor-of-texas/

[Brian4Liberty]

This may be the original article on this story.

Perry's tech fund aided firms with ties to his donors

By JAMES DREW, STEVE McGONIGLE and RYAN McNEILL / The Dallas Morning News

Published 03 October 2010 12:43 PM

When Gov. Rick Perry announces that a company will get money from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, he often describes it as an important investment in the state's future.

Behind the scenes, some of the governor's biggest political supporters have been making investments of their own - in Perry and in companies getting money from the tech fund.

An investigation by The Dallas Morning News found that more than $16 million from the Emerging Technology Fund has been awarded to companies with investors or officers who are large campaign donors to Perry.

More...
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/polit...his-donors.ece