A couple of weeks ago Rick Perry was caught on tape with a representative of Bank of America who offered a comforting message to the Texas governor saying that “We’ll help you out.” He wasn’t kidding.
ThinkProgress documented the extent to which BofA had already provided abundant comfort to Perry. He has received over $125,000 from BofA’s PAC. He has received $4 million from the Republican Governor’s Association, to which BofA was a major contributor while Perry was its chairman. In exchange, Perry has been a stalwart advocate of deregulation for banking and financial services. He regards the Consumer Financial Protection Agency as unconstitutional.
But Bank of America is not Perry’s only CFF (Corporate Friend Forever) He is also intimate with AT&T. He recently endorsed the mega-merger between AT&T and T-Mobile (which the Justice Department recently announced it would challenge). I’m sure that had nothing to do with the $500,000 Perry has received from AT&T over the past decade.
In addition, the Dallas Morning News reported last December that AT&T bought 700 copies of Perry’s book, “Fed Up!” to distribute to attendees of an ALEC-sponsored luncheon. (Read more about ALEC)
“…the book purchase was arranged between [AT&T] and the American Legislative Exchange Council [ALEC], the conservative outfit that invited Perry to speak at its annual policy summit.
“A spokeswoman for the Exchange Council said the book order cost more than $13,000. AT&T said the sponsorship was meant to share Perry’s agenda with people who attended the summit, many of whom are state legislators from across the country.”
The relationship between Perry and AT&T, a Dallas-based corporation, raises many ethical and legal questions. Throw in a connection to ALEC and you have the makings of a world-class larcenous affair that suggests a slight modification to the AT&T slogan, “Rethink Ethical.”
This sort of pay-to-play politics is typical of the Perry regime in Texas. He has long run an operation out of the governor’s mansion that produced lucrative state contracts in exchange for political donations.
Texas business as usual. And as I’ve said before “Perry is an evangelical huckster with no substantive record of achievement? He’s Elmer Gantry with a government job and gets his snake oil straight from the well.”
This just shows our government is hopelessly corrupt. It seems as if America is in a race to the bottom at break-neck speed with Great Britain, Israel, South Africa, etc. to become the most authoritarian, fascist, base country in the world.
I read about ALEC. Thanks Mark. Is there any reckoning, any rectification at all? This is why I disowned the entire country. From the time I was small, it felt as if the entire world was sick with the vapors and madness. When I realized this, I took the position of observer.
This is not my country; I just happen to live here.
The rectification is to vote against Republicans – and corporatist Dems as well. And we need to get corporate money out of politics completely.
Yes, all of you should move to Cuba.
I don’t agree with everything Sappho says, but when someone says they want to get away from authoritarianism and fascism, that is NOT Cuba.
However, the Tea Baggers and other rightists who want to deregulate everything and shrink government to the size that it could drowned in a bathtub (see Grover Norquist) would probably be ecstatic in Somalia.
“…race to the bottom at break-neck speed…” Have some hyperbole with your cliche. Are you willing to part with your civil rights along with your citizenship?
What citizenship!? Look, I understand your feelings; however, cliche aside, what I speak is the true. There have been episodes in this country where peaceful demonstrators have been met with egregious force by law enforcement. Agents of law enforcement have even infiltrated demonstrations to create a situations to create derision and provoke a hostile response from authorities. How is that not fascism?
The U.S. is at near bottom in terms of health care and education. Human rights is also pitiful in this country. I read a recent article about the U.S. government medical researchers’ experimenting on Guatemalans with STDs! The cover-up alone is just as monstrous. This is not hyperbole; this is our reality.
This country may still be better than some Middle East countries or China. I hear it all the time. That still does not excuse the atrocities that do happen due to government corruption or at the hands of average American citizens.
I am not quite sure how voting will change things. Politicians, after all, are just corruptible humans. I have never been impressed by them; they will never completely solve problems of a substantial nature. If this country elected scientist and engineers to office, I may reconsider this position.
Our system is left over from Ancient Rome. It is outdated and has no chance of maintaining a functional, stable society for very much longer.
Also, please forgive the minor grammatical errors in my response above.
No wonder big business tycoons complain about cutting taxes! All the money which would have been taxed was funneled into clandestine, shadow government type, lobbying firms instead!
This sort of thing was perfect for conspiracy nut, Glenn Beck. He should have been all over ALEC. If only they were a clandestine group of liberals in place of right-wing nuts.
USA, LLC.
GREAT artwork, Mark! This is up there with the Oz series you did for Shrub, et al.
Thanks. It was fun.
Rick Perry looks like Josh Brolin in W.
I think he looks more like Chuck Woolery.
this is fucking corruption why isnt he in prison?
http://i.imgur.com/2qY3z.jpg
Nice! Should be required uniform for politicians.
Conservatism…