Posted on 09/11/2011 7:37:28 PM PDT by Clyde5445
Gov. Rick Perry's presidential pitch goes something like this: During one of the worst recessions in American history, he's kept his state "open for business." In the last two years, Texas created over a quarter of a million jobs, meaning that the state's 8% unemployment rate is substantially lower than the rest of the nation's. The governor credits this exceptional growth to things like low taxes and tort reform.
It's a strong message. But one of the governor's signature economic development initiatives—the Texas Emerging Technology Fund—has lately raised serious questions among some conservatives.
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Nothing to see here just move along....just move along.
Honestly I’m not intimidated by him at all. I feel his fire will burn out quickly and Romney will remain Palin’s greatest rival in the race. (But maybe I overestimate him too.)
All very interesting, and hardly earth shattering.
You speak as if Palin is IN the race. I look forward to her announcement however.
Your hatred of Perry only helps the Soros Marxist.
Are you getting so desperate to SMEAR PERRY your recycle this obvious hit piece from the left wing drifting WSJ ?
I support Palin too and she supported Perry and campaigned for him ?
So what is your real agenda outside of dividing the GOP best options ?
Your Perry deranged haters smell like Obot or Paul trolls !
I am a member of the Houston Technology Center and the Rice University Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, and E&P Nanonet at Rice. Several of the entrepreneurial emerging tech-green tech-clean tech firms being founded in Texas are benefitting from this pool of government capital. My personal observation is that the quirkier ideas do not receive the private seed capital, but do stand a chance with some of the government capital. Personally I do not object to government funding of what are essentially R&D enterprises, and it is just inevitable that some people with connections to government are going to do better at accessing those funds than the people who do not have connections. To me it is still crony capitalism, but not entirely a bad thing, certainly better than crony marxism, which is what Communist President Barry Solyndra Van Jones Obama engages in on a mega scale. It is a less than perfect situation to have government directly investing in these firms. A better solution would be to have a professional run Venture capital firm backed with government money, and audited, with guidelines for deploying seed capital, and a portfolio approach to recouping investments, just like any venture capital firm does.
How do all you dedicated Perry Haters seem to peddle Left wing propaganda rubbish here non stop!
Because everyone has a different definition of conservatism and every candidate has flaws.
Man your comment is a knee slapper.
A much better solution would be to get the government completely out of the business of picking winners and losers.
I’m with you . Perry is as phony as a 3 dollar a bill . First time saw him being asked a tough question and he poked his finger in the guy’s chest and walked off like he was some prima donna sent the signal flares up .
It stupid and reckless to trash our options with left wing propaganda like this crap from a Lefty from Dartmouth.
Our enemy is the radical Marxist who is destroying this country . http://www.redstate.com/erick/2011/08/15/does-the-wall-street-journal-have-an-ethics-problem-with-charles-dameron/
When Sarah Palin spoke out about crony capitalism, she was attacking Obama directly and Rick Perry indirectly.
Perry is a cross between Joe Isuzu and Elmer Gantry.
[I am a member of the Houston Technology Center and the Rice University Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, and E&P Nanonet at Rice. Several of the entrepreneurial emerging tech-green tech-clean tech firms being founded in Texas are benefitting from this pool of government capital. My personal observation is that the quirkier ideas do not receive the private seed capital, but do stand a chance with some of the government capital. Personally I do not object to government funding of what are essentially R&D enterprises, and it is just inevitable that some people with connections to government are going to do better at accessing those funds than the people who do not have connections. To me it is still crony capitalism, but not entirely a bad thing, certainly better than crony marxism, which is what Communist President Barry Solyndra Van Jones Obama engages in on a mega scale. It is a less than perfect situation to have government directly investing in these firms. A better solution would be to have a professional run Venture capital firm backed with government money, and audited, with guidelines for deploying seed capital, and a portfolio approach to recouping investments, just like any venture capital firm does.]
Thanks FlyingEagle. I can give a little different perspective, knowing some of the people devoted to the Harry Reid Center here in Nevada and some of the people pushing UNLV joint ventures. Of course, I’ve long exposed Reid as someone who has taken money and will be following up on some of his solar friends in Nevada given the Solyndra collapse. My own view is that these R&D University ventures always have a slush fund component at some level. I hope you will keep us informed as to whether Perry was Snow White in the Texas dealings or whether there is a problem.
Your left wing hit piece from a Obot from Dartmouth was outed as Crap .
This crony capitalism BS is a Left wing talking point from Axelrod .
Just joined here in 2009 to troll here just before the midterms ?
Welcome to FR.
I feel obliged to differ with your characterization: Perry is no liberal. There certainly are some republicans who are more conservative, e.g. Cain, or Col West. But Perry is no Olympia Snow nor John McCain, etc. He is a regular conservative, no doubt not conservative enough for some on this forum, re some issues, but Perry is electable. And he generally is conservative: openly Christian, pro-life, pro-2nd Amendment, has a ccw, is for limited Federal government, and is strong on the military. He does not have a perfect conservative record, but he certainly is electable.
Here is the opinion of Perry by a former opponent in the last Governor race:
Qoute———
Kinky for Perry
By Kinky Friedman | The Daily Beast
Rick Perry has never lost an election; I’ve never won one. Maybe that’s what’s wrong with the world. On the other hand, I’ve long been friends with Bill Clinton and George W., and Rick Perry and I, though at times bitter adversaries, have remained friends as well. It’s not always easy to maintain friendships with politicians. To paraphrase Charles Lamb, you have to work at it like some men toil after virtue.
I have been quoted as saying that when I die, I am to be cremated, and the ashes are to be thrown in Rick Perry’s hair. Yet, simply put, Rick Perry and I are incapable of resisting each other’s charm. He is not only a good sport, he is a good, kindhearted man, and he once sat in on drums with ZZ Top. A guy like that can’t be all bad. When I ran for governor of Texas as an independent in 2006, the Crips and the Bloods ganged up on me. When I lost, I drove off in a 1937 Snit, refusing to concede to Perry. Three days later Rick called to give me a gracious little pep talk, effectively talking me down from jumping off the bridge of my nose. Very few others were calling at that time, by the way. Such is the nature of winning and losing and politicians and life. You might call what Rick did an act of random kindness. Yet in my mind it made him more than a politician, more than a musician; it made him a mensch.
These days, of course, I would support Charlie Sheen over Obama. Obama has done for the economy what pantyhose did for foreplay. Obama has been perpetually behind the curve. If the issue of the day is jobs and the economy, Rick Perry is certainly the nuts-and-bolts kind of guy you want in there. Even though my pal and fellow Texan Paul Begala has pointed out that no self-respecting Mexican would sneak across the border for one of Rick Perry’s low-level jobs, the stats don’t entirely lie. Compared with the rest of the country, Texas is kicking major ass in terms of jobs and the economy, and Rick should get credit for that, just as Obama should get credit for saying “No comment” to the young people of the Iranian revolution.
More to the point, could Rick Perry fix the economy? Hell, yes! Texas is exhibit A; Rick’s fingerprints are all over it. He’s been governor since Christ was a cowboy. The Lone Star State is booming. The last time I checked, Texas is kicking in a hell of a lot of the U.S. GDP. Unemployment is lower than the vast majority of the other states. Hell, we could probably even find a job for Paul Begala.
As a Jewish cowboy (or “Juusshh,” as we say in Texas ), I know Rick Perry to be a true friend of Israel , like Bill Clinton and George W. before him. There exists a visceral John Wayne kinship between Israelis and Texans, and Rick Perry gets it. That’s why he’s visited Israel on many more occasions than Obama, who’s been there exactly zero times as president. If I were Obama I wouldn’t go either. His favorability rating in Israel once clocked in at 4 percent. Say what you will about the Israelis, but they are not slow out of the chute. They know who their friends are. On the topic of the Holy Land , there remains the little matter of God. God talks to televangelists, football coaches, and people in mental hospitals. Why shouldn’t he talk to Rick Perry? In the spirit of Joseph Heller, I have a covenant with God. I leave him alone and he leaves me alone. If, however, I have a big problem, I ask God for the answer. He tells Rick Perry. And Rick tells me.
So would I support Rick Perry for president? Hell, yes! As the last nail that hasn’t been hammered down in this country, I agree with Rick that there are already too damn many laws, taxes, regulations, panels, committees, and bureaucrats. While Obama is busy putting the hyphen between “anal” and “retentive” Rick will be rolling up his sleeves and getting to work.
A still, small voice within keeps telling me that Rick Perry’s best day may yet be ahead of him, and so too, hopefully, will be America’s.
Unquote———
Apparently FR is now the site of Perry hit articles from the Harvard Crimson and the Dartmouth Whatever.
Besides, the Perry - Hutchison race has been over for 15 months, Besides, this guy is hardly the only one writing about how Perry is taking care of his contributors with state funds.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.