Perry's staff discussed vaccine on day Merck donated to campaign

[derby378]

Gov. Rick Perry's chief of staff met with key aides about the human papillomavirus vaccine the same day its manufacturer donated money to the governor's campaign, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.

Chief of staff Deirdre Delisi's calendar shows that she met Oct. 16 with the governor's budget director and three members of his office for an "HPV Vaccine for Children Briefing."

That day, New Jersey-based Merck & Co.'s political action committee donated $5,000 to Perry and $5,000 total to eight state lawmakers.

The calendar and other documents obtained by the wire service show that Perry's office began meeting with Merck lobbyists about the vaccine as early as mid-August, months before social conservatives, who are now those most outraged by the order, helped re-elect him in November.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/02/22/22perry.html

[salin]

1. they aren't even worried about theappearance of impropriety

anymore.

[antigop]

5. And some on DU don't seem to be bothered by this n/t

[tanyev]

2. "No relationship between the two events", I am sure.

Just like when UBS hired Perry's son at the same time he announced his idea to sell the lottery.

AUSTIN – UBS, one of two large financial firms consulting with the governor's office over the possible sale of the Texas lottery, hired Gov. Rick Perry's son to work in its Dallas office about two weeks ago.

The governor's office said that there is no relationship between the two events and that Griffin Perry, 23, is a bright young economist who is pursuing a career on his own merits.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/021307dntexperry.1c174d6.html


Fire sale! Gov. Perry's last term in office--everything's up for grabs!

[MagickMuffin]

13. Well Here's some more cronyism

from the same article:

Critics had previously questioned Perry's ties to the company. Mike Toomey, Perry's former chief of staff and Delisi's predecessor, lobbies for the drug company. The governor accepted a total of $6,000 from Merck during his re-election campaign, including $1,000 in December 2005.

According to Delisi's calendar, she met with Toomey three times in the sixth months before the order was issued.

One meeting happened in August, on the same day two that other Perry staffers met with a different Merck lobbyist for a "Merck HPV Vaccine update." The other meetings came just after the November election and just before the legislative session began in January.

REVOLVING DOOR SYNDROME

Remember this is the EXACT same behavior that brought down Tom BugBoy "the Hammer" DeLay and his posse on the Hill....

[bmbmd]

3. Five grand?

Heck, if knew he was that cheap, I would have asked for "favors".

[KittyWampus]

4. One wonders if there's even more filth just under the surface.

[antigop]

6. that's why we need to keep asking questions and digging n/t

[Felinity]

14. I am somewhat embarrassed by the amount.

Texas is a big state, and we are really proud of our own. Now Merck is going to make many millions of dollars here, and they buy our Governor for a measly 5 grand? Our governor should be worth at least 100 grand, probably more.

I'm so disgusted with him, I definitely will not vote for him next time (a lot like the last couple times, now that I think of it). But now it's personal.

:sarcasm:

[PLF]

7. It might be time for a recall perry campaign

[derby378]

8. I don't think Texas law allows for a gubernatorial recall

Does sound nice, though.

[mhatrw]

9. Watch video here! $45,000 in total. 5 grand to Perry, 5 each to 8 Perry GOP cronies.

http://www.rawstory.com//news/2007/TX_Gov._Perry_took_Merck_money_0222.html

[central scrutinizer]

10. tough choice for Repugs

hmmmmmmmm. Do I pander to the fundies, or cash in? Guess, I'll cash in - what are the fundies gonna do, vote for the baby-killing Democrats?

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. $5000, that's it? It doesn't take much to buy a politician these days.

[MagickMuffin]

12. Glad to give it the 5th KNR

Good find Derby,:hi:

Now to keep the pressure on. We need to remove him from office, however, that alone won't solve all our problems.

If we can't recall, can we impeach?!? Like that would work:rofl: