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'Crony capitalism' draws attention in GOP race
The Houston Chronicle ^ | September 10, 2011 | Patricia Kilday Hart, Austin Bureau

Posted on 9/11/2011, 2:14:12 AM by 2ndDivisionVet

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 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 homebuilder 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 homebuilder'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 homebuilder 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 governor Sarah Palin took aim against career politicians who reward their campaign contributors with government favors.....

(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Front Page News; Government; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: cronycapitalism; palin; palindronesattack; perry; sarahworship; texas
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Two page article.
1 posted on 9/11/2011, 2:14:17 AM by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Shoot I had it made til Sarah opened her big mouth. LOL


2 posted on 9/11/2011, 2:19:16 AM by vicar7 ("Polls are for strippers and cross-country skiers" Sarah Palin)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Liberal hit-piece on Perry. yawn.
This is nothing new for Houston Chronicle, they must think its their only job.


3 posted on 9/11/2011, 2:19:21 AM by WOSG
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
In the linked article, 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."

I've never heard any claims, credible or otherwise, that this is the system by which Governor Palin operated, and I think this is the line she'll be running on. Sarah Palin was not, and is not, for sale.

4 posted on 9/11/2011, 2:29:24 AM by Spartan79 (I view great cities as pestilential to the morals, the health, and the liberties of man.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

My brother was a construction contractor (not in Texas) and he was regularly assailed with shotgun lawsuits blasted out at any and all contractors involved in a job that may or may not have had one or more “defects”. It was a regular occurrence and had nothing to do with him personally. His work was never actually questioned. But because he had been on a particular job site, he was a defendant in a lawsuit.

It was part of big safari type game hunts conducted by trial lawyers looking for bear.

So I am skeptical when I read the bellyaching of this article that the home builders didn’t lose enough cases. There’s a good chance that the vast majority of those cases were some POS lawyer’s idea of a big game hunt.


5 posted on 9/11/2011, 2:31:10 AM by samtheman (Palin. In your heart you know she's right.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

6 posted on 9/11/2011, 2:31:25 AM by South40 (Perry: There is a path to citizenship for ILLEGAL ALIENS who have served THEIR country)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Good Lord, the Houston Chronicle, the second biggest commie rag in Texas next to the Dallas Morning News...

These folks can make up more lies than the Kremlin. ROFL!


7 posted on 9/11/2011, 2:42:58 AM by RowdyFFC
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To: WOSG

Oh my. The Houston Comical is really going deep in the mud for this one. They dug up the old liberal mayor of Austin Carole Stewart Keeton McClellan Rylander Strayhorn for an opinion. The one who ran against Perry for Governor in 2006 as an independent with the slogan “one tough Grandma” and then lost the race in 2009 to get her old job back as Mayor of Austin. As soon as I saw her name, I could have guessed the rest of this tripe. Oh the Comical - predictable as always.


8 posted on 9/11/2011, 2:48:56 AM by KingKongCobra
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To: WOSG
Liberal hit-piece on Perry. yawn.

Go ahead, yawn. But frankly, myself, and millions of others have had enough of this cronyism. Our goal is to weed them all out. Including Perry. He's a crony of the first degree.

So while you are yawning, we will be entrenched doing the work that needs to be done, to recover America from socialists, and crony politicians, like Perry. It ain't over. The battle has just begun.

This ain't a liberal theme. It's an anti- crony theme, steam rolling from the grassroots, to recover America from socialists, and cronyism.

If we fail, well, I don't really want to consider that, since failure is not an option.

9 posted on 9/11/2011, 3:02:43 AM by takenoprisoner (Constitutional Conservatism is Americanism.)
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To: takenoprisoner

Right there with you, TakeNoPrisoner!


10 posted on 9/11/2011, 3:09:18 AM by GlockLady (Sarah Palin - The Antidote - Going Oval January 20, 2013!)
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To: takenoprisoner

Agree... I will vote for Perry over Zero, but he isn’t what I am looking for.


11 posted on 9/11/2011, 3:12:00 AM by wolfman23601
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To: GlockLady
Right there with you, TakeNoPrisoner!

Welcome aboard the steam roller. I have a Tea Party to attend tomorrow. I intend to find out first hand how my local Tea Party feels about Perry, and cronyism. I'll give you a report tomorrow night.

good night all

12 posted on 9/11/2011, 3:24:40 AM by takenoprisoner (Constitutional Conservatism is Americanism.)
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To: takenoprisoner
But frankly, myself, and millions of others have had enough of this cronyism

Given his commanding lead in the polls and that he will likely be the nominee, you want to try embracing his fundraising capabilities.

13 posted on 9/11/2011, 4:06:31 AM by Kazan
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To: WOSG

Worthy of a Sheila Jackson Lee fan. How much harrumphing from the Chronicle was on display over her shinnanigans? Some brilliant poster said it best. “We know all these Perry allegations already. We just don’t give a damn. “ That pretty well sums it up.


14 posted on 9/11/2011, 5:07:35 AM by RitaOK (TEXAS. It's EXHIBIT A for Rick. Perry/Rubio '12)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

IF anyone wanted to know what Sarah Palin was talking about when she criticized “Crony Capitalism” in her Iowa Tea Party speech on 9/3 — This is the perfect example. Thanks to Gov. Rick Perry for providing such an obvious example there in Texas for us to see. It’s TEXTBOOK.


15 posted on 9/11/2011, 5:36:34 AM by patriot preacher
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

IF anyone wanted to know what Sarah Palin was talking about when she criticized “Crony Capitalism” in her Iowa Tea Party speech on 9/3 — This is the perfect example. Thanks to Gov. Rick Perry for providing such an obvious example there in Texas for us to see. It’s TEXTBOOK.


16 posted on 9/11/2011, 5:36:42 AM by patriot preacher
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To: RitaOK
Some brilliant poster said it best. “We know all these Perry allegations already. We just don’t give a damn. “ That pretty well sums it up.

Not so brilliant, really. And it sums up little beyond the self-deluding wishes of Perry's supporters. The overwhelming majority of Republican primary voters have little clue about Perry's record and the details of these allegations. The vetting process has barely begun and it is going to be brutal, and rightfully so. Perry supporters are kidding themselves if they think that simply because these stories are dismissed as "old news" in Texas they'll be similarly dismissed by primary voters.

17 posted on 9/11/2011, 8:09:19 AM by AHerald ("Do not fear, only believe." - Mark 5:36)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Follow the money.


18 posted on 9/11/2011, 1:23:22 PM by RoadTest (Organized religion is no substitute for the relationship the living God wants with you.)
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To: RitaOK

“Some brilliant poster said it best. “We know all these Perry allegations already. We just don’t give a damn.“

I said that here a few weeks ago. Others might have said it prior to me, of that I am unaware. If you were reffering to me with your “brilliant” adjective, I humbly thank you.


19 posted on 9/11/2011, 2:23:11 PM by Grunthor (If you are emotionally attached to any politician you are a light weight, a mental midget, a moron.)
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To: Kazan

“Given his commanding lead in the polls and that he will likely be the nominee”

Ricardo commands about as much as Fred Thompson and Giuliani did in September of ‘07. He will not be the nominee.

He will not make it past the first contests and early next year he’ll be gone. But before that happens he will be targeted, scrutinized and probably destroyed.

Palin would do well to stay out of this race for a few more months. Then she’ll be in the best strategic position to take it all.


20 posted on 9/11/2011, 3:04:27 PM by BarnacleCenturion
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