Texas Governor's Start-Up Fund not all it Seems. Paul J. Weber, Chron.com
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has distributed $205 million in taxpayer money to scores of technology startups using a pet program designed to bring high-paying jobs and innovation to the nation's second most-populous state.
But a closer look at the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, one of Perry's signature initiatives in his 14 years as governor, reveals that some of the businesses that received money are not all they seem. One actually operates in California. Some have stagnated trying to find more capital. Others have listed out-of-state employees and short-term hires as being among the jobs they created.
First, it is important to note that I am not in favor of political slush-funds such as the TETF or the Governor's Texas Enterprise Fund(TEF). If you're ideologically opposed to Obama's form of crony capitalism including the scandal surrounding Solyndra then you probably stand in opposition to Perry's brand as well. One of the reasons I support Greg Abbott is that he has come out strongly in favor of eliminating both funds while Wendy! Davis has expressed no such desire, only wanting to "audit" the funds in what one presumes will become a political witch-hunt.
That said, it's very important to realize that the TLSPM is running a little fast and loose with the facts through the sin of omission. First, this fund is not solely subject to the whims of the Governor when it comes to distributing funds. There is a set of standards that each company seeking funds has to meet as well as a 17 member advisory committee that must first vet any company, before it goes to the office of the Governor for approval.
One of the big weaknesses of this advisory firm, however, is that they are all appointed by the Governor and while they ostensibly operate under a code of ethics it is unclear who is the impartial Ombudsman, if one exists, ensuring the advisory board's compliance. In short, oversight is weak. That's no excuse for the media to omit all of this however. Nor should they be given a free-pass to act as if the fund is simply operated by one man (Perry) with no other input.
The bigger issue is that this entire article smells like an oppo-dump. You know that Texas Democratic operatives (if they're worth anything at all) have been sitting on this information waiting to feed it to secretarial journalists who will dutifully reproduce it, uncritically, at the sniff of a Perry rise in the polls. What better way to ensure that you have something in the hopper to counteract any good news that might percolate up against a political figure you've been unable to beat for 20 years now?
During his last Presidential run, the TLSPM took a little bit too much joy in Perry's foibles. It was almost as if two decades of frustration were being purged with every video-snippet or paragraph written about "Oops." Paul Burka and Wayne Slater were so giddy you could hear them laughing behind their monitors as you read their stories.
Now, before you jump up and down and scream "Democrat Bias!" let me remind you that they were equally happy to do this for Jerry Patterson in the Dan (Goeb) Patrick/Lieutenant Governor's race. It just so happens that King Dan is one who the media dislikes very much. All of this suggests that Lockstep's reporting on most races is more based on personality (and possibly, how much attention the Kings pay to the Courtiers) than it is actual issues-based.
This has long been a problem with the TLSPM and it's led to bad Democratic candidates being given a pass, bad Republican candidates who might be nice persons being given a pass, and it's lowered the bar for "good" in almost all Texas political contests.
This is not to suggest that the TLSPM is entirely to blame. Both parties are headed by leaders and activists who exhibit a "look at me" mentality and a tendency to view any political success/defeat as some kind of personal watershed. When you tie a political party's win/loss percentage to your personal worth you've gone way, way off the track. Unfortunately, there are many who have done that in Texas, both in the TLSPM and among the party activists.
