Calls to Perry donor raise questions

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: Houston Chronicle

On the same day Houston homebuilder Bob Perry received three phone calls from someone at the Republican Governors Association, he overnighted a $500,000 check to the group.

Two days later, the executive director of the RGA personally handed Perry a contribution for the same amount.

Records of the phone calls between Bob Perry, no relation to the governor, and the RGA were contained in a lawsuit filed by Rick Perry's unsuccessful Democratic challenger, Chris Bell.

While Texas law allows for unlimited contributions, lawyers on behalf of Bell believe the contributions were routed through the RGA because the Perry campaign had attacked Bell for accepting a $1 million contribution from the late Houston trial lawyer John O'Quinn.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Calls-to-Perry-donor-raise-questions-2146780.php

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Look what made it in the news again. Looks like Perry is going to have to call in the damage control team to do a clean up. There's one group of people who won't be hurting for work, Perry's campaign staff in charge of defusing all the explosive tidbits from his political past. As a matter of fact, I heard if you're skilled at cleaning the stink of bullshit until it's as fresh as spring rain, even if only temporarily, and able to possibly relocated to Washington DC in the future, it could turn into a a full time clean up gig.

[No Elephants]

1. The amoral minority strikes again.

In related news, if a home builder has $2.5 million to give away to a gubernatorial candidate alone, just how overpriced ARE his houses?

This is part of our problem today. People used to go into business for themselves to make a living. Now, they do it to make a killing.

And, then, they're going to complain about class warfare and paying their fair share of taxes (really, much less than their fair share, but that's another issue)?

Finally, never let any (current) winner of class wars shame you out of waging class warfare with everything you've got. (And, you'd better be doing that if you expect to have anything to eat ten or so years from now.)

[cstanleytech]

3. You considering his homes to be overpriced has no legs to stand on as far as

making it an issue that could be used to show why he is unfit for office, now if it was say an issue of him selling a home thats valued at say 300,000.00 and he sold it to someone or a something like a corporation for 1.5 million then it might be an issue if its their way of backdoor contribution.
Which imo should be looked at as its one way they could hide donations/bribes that they dont want made public.

[Roy Rolling]

4. ???

It is a comment that is symptomatic of the whole problem----excessive amounts of money going into politicians' campaigns from businesspeople that are crying poverty. If they have millions to buy politicians, things are not as desperate as they claim in their crocodile tears about being crippled by taxes and regulations. Whether a businesses products are overpriced is speculation, but spending millions to lobby for more accomodating laws instead of investing in innovation is not the way to grow the economy.

Finding sympathetic politicians like Perry who will advance narrow business interests for the sole benefit of a wealthy businessperson over the general benefit of society is why Perry is unfit for office in the eyes of many.

[turntxblue]

5. Good point, RR.

When you think about how much money big business and the extremely wealthy put into politics, it's amazing that they're able to successfully argue their case against raising taxes on the top 2%. Does anyone really believe that the Koch brothers just can't afford a tax increase--when they're able to buy and sell our political system? What a pity it would be if higher taxes on the wealthy meant there would be less money available to influence our governing body!

[cstanleytech]

12. Of course they could afford it and it wouldnt hurt their lifestyles much if it even had any real

impact in that area for them at all, the real issue here is not that they cant afford it imo but rather they believe the money will be used for things they dont approve of and imo they need to grow the fuck up and get over it.
Just because the government spends money on something we dont approve of isnt an excuse that lets us get out of paying taxes.

[Jane Austin]

9. How about his using undocumented workers to

build his houses and nobody in Texas will investigate?

[susanr516]

10. Yep.

Notice how the "sanctuary cities" bill went from emergency item to the trash heap when Bob Perry hired HillCo to lobby against it.

[cstanleytech]

11. That would be legit especially if he is bitching about the government not doing enough to secure the

border and would be the ultimate hypocrisy.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SoapBox]

6. ... sleaze ... skeeze ... slime ... scum ...

Oh there are SO many words to describe Gov. Crazy and The Party of Thug and Bully.

...Let's Make Perry a NO-TERM President! (fill in any name from the Reich Winger side)

[starroute]

7. Wouldn't be the first time for the RGA -- remember this?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34520-2004May17.html

May 18, 2004

A Senate committee investigating millions of dollars in fees paid to powerful Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff and public relations executive Michael Scanlon also plans to examine $500,000 in contributions from Scanlon's firm to the Republican Governors Association.

The money was paid by Scanlon's firm, Capitol Campaign Strategies, to the RGA in the closing months of the 2002 election. But it was not disclosed until the association filed "amended" financial reports on April 27 of this year. RGA officials said the failure to report the donation and thousands of dollars of other contributions was an accounting error. . . .

The money was received at a time when the RGA changed its legal status from an arm of the Republican National Committee to an independent organization free to receive large "soft money" contributions from corporations, unions and others. . . .

On Oct. 21, 2002, the RGA reported two transfers of cash to the Republican National State Elections Committee, a soft-money arm of the RNC. One was for $450,000, the other for $2 million. From Oct. 17 to Oct. 31, 2002, the RNC's state elections committee sent seven checks to the Alabama Republican Party for a total of $603,000 and five checks to the Bob Riley's campaign for Alabama governor for $600,000.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

8. It's just how they operate.

If there weren't so many loopholes for them to jump through though, this sort of soft money manipulation wouldn't be possible.