Bad news for Rick Perry

sig material right there.

 

Yep. I said this in my first post on the matter.

I never said that a gene can't go from being advantageous to disadvantageous (your human brain example). It obviously won't be a matter of chance whether humans vs. cockroaches survive a nuclear holocaust.

 

hahaha, it would seem you have stumbled across a fertility festival.

 

Either that, or there were no movie studios, publishing houses, Penthouse letter columns, law journals or cultural anthropology departments back then; so if you were creative, articulate or wanted to talk about sex then Gideon's Digest was the only gig in town.

 

This thread seemed to have the right title for this news story. While no surprise to me (I've known about this for years), this will surprise some of his supporters. They need to know just what kind of man they are backing. Read this and ponder, folks.


'Crony capitalism' draws attention in GOP race

By PATRICIA KILDAY HART, AUSTIN BUREAU

Updated 11:26 a.m., Sunday, September 11, 2011

In its brief but controversial life, the Texas Residential Construction Commission won far more detractors than admirers. Former Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn called it "a builder protection agency" that created additional roadblocks for homeowners living with shoddy construction. To state Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, the agency served only "to shield home builders from being responsible" for defective work. The Texas Sunset Commission concluded the agency did "more harm than good."

The TRCC, however, had at least one friend who mattered: Houston home builder Bob Perry, who has given Gov. Rick Perry more than $2.5 million during his tenure in office. An advocate for the agency from its creation in 2003 until it closed its doors in 2010, the home builder's imprimatur was significant. His lobbyists played a key role in its inception; his company's general counsel, John Krugh, was appointed to serve on the commission by Gov. Perry, no relation to Bob Perry, one month after the home builder gave a $100,000 campaign contribution to the governor.

Now dormant, the TRCC serves as a case study of how wealthy contributors can shape public policy. In this year's hard-fought Republican presidential primary, the agency likely will get renewed scrutiny as Perry's Republican competitors search for ways to distinguish themselves from the Texas governor. In a speech last week in Iowa, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin took aim against career politicians who reward their campaign contributors with government favors.

"There is a name for this. It's called 'corporate crony capitalism,' " she said. "I believe in the free market and that is why I detest crony capitalism. And Barack Obama has shown us cronyism on steroids. It will lead to our downfall if we don't stop it now."

While Palin won applause from her conservative audience by focusing on the president, many political observers believe her remarks were aimed at another target: Rick Perry, whose lengthy tenure in office leaves him vulnerable to the charge he has rewarded campaign contributors with government favors. She raised a question central to the GOP's mission: If Republicans hope to defeat Obama because he engages in "crony capitalism," is Perry the right candidate to carry that message?

"When she said 'crony capitalism,' who else could it be? It had to be Perry," said Dr. Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "She mentioned Obama, but whoever wrote her speech, it had a Republican dimension to it."

'Everybody does it'

To Sabato, the salvo from Palin provided evidence that the Republican contest was far from decided. He expressed doubts, however, that Palin or other Perry opponents would make much headway with the "crony capitalism" charge.

"People are cynical," he said. "Basically, people expect a certain level of corruption from all high officials. After all, you can go through and name probably 200 individuals that Obama has appointed who gave him big contributions. People shrug their shoulders and say 'everybody does it.' "

Sheila Krumholz, director of the bipartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign finance issues, agreed that Perry is "helped by the fact that this is the system by which all candidates raise money and the system in which they operate."

However, she added, "I do think there are lines in the sand which, when candidates cross them, they do so at their peril. There have been instances of a scandal or perceptions that candidates in the pocket of specific interests and that will be fodder for their opponents. I don't think he can count out the ire of the voters."

Inherent conflict

To Texas lawmakers of both parties, the TRCC crossed that line of propriety.

"This was a reward," said state Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, who fought to shut down the agency. "Bob Perry gave a ton of dough and got rewarded."

But Anthony Holm, a spokesman for the home builder, said it was "absurd" to link the creation of the agency to campaign contributions to the governor. "A state agency in Texas can only be created by 181 Democrats and Republicans," he said, referring to the Texas Legislature.

The creation of the agency meant that consumers with complaints of poor workmanship had to go first to the agency for dispute resolution, instead of the courthouse. Farrar said that in practice, that meant "consumers lost a lot of rights."

A state Sunset Commission report bears out that charge: Before lawmakers decided to end its existence, the TRCC resolved only 12 percent of its cases to the satisfaction of consumers. The rest wound up going to court, the report noted, "the very outcome" the TRCC was supposed to avoid.

State Sen. Bob Duncan, R-Lubbock, initially supported creation of the agency but became dismayed when Perry appointed Krugh to the commission. While on the commission, Krugh worked actively against legislative changes that many believed would have made the TRCC more responsive to consumers.

The Texas Senate confirmation hearing for Krugh illustrated the inherent conflict in naming Bob Perry's lawyer to the commission. Duncan asked Krugh about his opposition to legislation that would have made the agency more consumer friendly. When Krugh replied that he opposed them "as a builder," Duncan admonished him.

"I'm asking you to take off your builder hat. When you are sitting on this commission, you are sitting in a fiduciary (capacity) for the State of Texas. You have to make decisions based on … what's fair and balanced, not what's in the best interests of the builder."

Krugh, who no longer works for Perry Homes, could not be reached for comment, but in a 2005 interview with Texas Monthly, he said he hoped the agency would help homeowners avoid costly and unpredictable litigation. "The old system drove them to their lawyers and their experts and they got caught up in what I call this vortex of litigation, and they couldn't get out," he said. "The third-party intervention at least gives the homeowners some control over what goes on before they get caught up in that vortex."

Consumer complaints

A few years later, however, when the Sunset Commission examined the TRCC's operations, it got a barrage of consumer complaints, sharing their experiences with the agency.

"We as Texans are faced with another layer of government that has no power to enforce construction standards and can not resolve homeowner's construction complaints," wrote one dissatisfied home owner. "I have incurred additional legal and expert fees throughout this entire process and I am back to where I would have started prior to the establishment of the TRCC - that is before the court to resolve this dispute."

Another Houston-area homeowner reported that the commission often overturned findings of its own experts. "The TRCC inspector ruled in (the home owners') favor but once again, the builder whined and the judgment was overturned in favor of the builder. There seems to be a pattern of certain builders whining like babies and TRCC obliging them."

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-t...alism-draws-attention-in-GOP-race-2164766.php


So this is the kind of man Republicans want to get their nomination? They either don't know the facts about Perry (this is just one of many they won't enjoy hearing), or they don't care, which makes them as corrupt as Perry is. So what are the excuses for this tidbit, Republicans? "Everyone does it?"

 

a friend of mine is chief of staff for a senator here in austin and deals directly w/ bob perry - it is shocking how much pull that guy has w/ our elected officials.

 

Sadly, it doesn't shock me at all. I've known about his influence for a very long time. More specifically, his influence over Rick Perry. He isn't the only "influence" of a similar nature, and no, not "everyone" does this. Rick Perry is shameless about it. Shameless, and corrupt.

 

Bizarre. Why would anyone go to that trouble, when they could simply make a post here directed at you saying the same ludicrous thing? Why desire to keep the comment "secret?"

What is he/she afraid of?

 

Isn't it obvious what they're afraid of? A big brother, Orwellian, fiscially irresponsible, secular, multicutural, gay, Muslim, Mexican, vaccination liberal government out to destroy God, liberty, and guns?

 

Your mother been tellin' you stories about me again?

 

Point taken! ;-)-

 

You forgot socialism and bears.

 

More bad news for Rickie boi

via TPM --

The DOJ has found that the congressional redistricting map signed into law by Rick Perry was designed with the intention of discriminating against minorities.

In other words, it doesn't just have that effect. That was the idea.

 

Umm isn't that the whole point of redistricting usually? Or is it only the Democrats who redistrict for the good of the people?

 

Of course people redistrict to reduce the other party's votes. The democratic legislature in Illinois just gerrymandered the hell out of their districts to deny democratic votes.

The issue is that while there aren't many rules regarding gerrymandering (at least rules that are enforced) one of the few are the protections from the voting rights act that specifically mandate that new districts can't dilute minority voting strength. And despite the fact that 90% of Texas's population growth was from minorities, Texas actually lost Congressional "minority" districts in this new map. (for example, merging Hubert Vo and Scott Hochberg's state rep districts or the ridiculous district that they drew from Austin to San Antonio) Texas received 4 new congressional districts and it can be argued that none of them allow for a viable minority candidate. At best the district that now has Doggett running against Joaquin Castro can be called a "minority district" but even that is diluted with the primarily Caucasian vote in Austin.

This new map isn't as bad as the 2003 map which was even more ridiculous (and the Supreme Court ordered them to redraw that one) but its still pretty bad. Justice Department rejection was all but certain the moment they made this so a court battle was inevitable.

 

Straight lines, highways and rivers, not fractals.

 

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So ummm... when are you giving all your possessions away?