Alex Cortes makes a good case for it.
While most of the Republican presidential candidates have criticized President Obama about his waste of taxpayer money on the politically connected and now bankrupt energy company Solyndra, Rick Perry has remained silent. Why? Perhaps because he may soon have his very own Solyndra.
As governor, Perry created the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, which has doled out, at his discretion, nearly $200 million to 133 businesses. More than $16 million from the fund has gone to firms with officers or investors who were major Perry contributors.
One such firm is Convergen, which has developed a lung-cancer treatment that is under Phase II clinical trial. The company was successful in getting Texas taxpayers to put up $4.5 million through Perry’s fund, despite founder David Nance’s investing a measly $1,000. Did Nance’s $335,000 to Perry’s campaigns, association fundraisers, and TexasOne Foundation have anything to do with it?
It likely did, given that Convergen’s proposal failed the regional review process meant to extricate political influence — and was later approved by a state advisory panel that Nance formerly sat on. The amount awarded also happened to be highest amount ever from the fund. Perry and his team know that Convergen may soon look a lot like Solyndra, since only 33 percent of successful Phase II drugs make it to the market.
But this is not an assault on Governor Perry in particular: He is far from alone among his Republican gubernatorial colleagues in advancing corporatist policies.
For example, Virginia governor Bob McDonnell, who’s been mentioned as a potential vice presidential running mate for Perry, has also fallen to corporatism in a variety of ways. McDonnell succeeded in getting his state’s general assembly to increase funding for the Governor’s Opportunity Fund, a $54 million pot from which he can give grants to corporations that create jobs in the commonwealth. He has also created special tax incentives for the wine and film industries and provided the International Speedway Corporation a $1.5 million grant to keep one of its NASCAR races in the state.
via Conservatives and Corporatism – Alex Cortes – National Review Online.
I see his point; the Republicans and Conservatives are going ballyhoo Obama for his green energy debacle, they should be prepared to answer for some of their own misdeeds. Contrary to what some of the Bloggers on the right like to print, corruption and political favors are common on both sides. This needs to end, the era of backroom deals and favors, in this day of so-called transparency needs to end.
In other words; if we are going to point the accusing finger at the other side, we should clean the trash up in our own backyards.