Perry - The frontrunner has no clothes

[sonias]

Dana Milbank Washington Post 9/13/11
The frontrunner has no clothes

The applause identified Rick Perry as the crowd favorite when he took the stage in Tampa for Monday night’s Tea Party debate, greeting his lesser rivals as “fellas.”

But two hours later, those fellas – and a gal from Minnesota – had made some serious progress toward exposing the broad-shouldered Texas governor as an empty suit.

Sometimes they challenged Perry from the left (on Social Security and Medicare) and sometimes from the right (on immigration, taxes and mandatory vaccines), but it all came back to the same thing: The frontrunner was befuddled – seemingly stunned that his rivals would question his right to the Republican presidential nomination.

The lowest point for the man atop the polls came when Michele Bachmann accused Perry of cronyism, suggesting that he forced girls to receive the HPV anti-cancer vaccine because his former chief of staff was lobbying for the vaccine maker, Merck, which also “gave thousands of dollars in political donations to the governor.”

Perry answered with his trademark boastfulness: “It was a $5,000 contribution that I had received from them. I raise about $30 million. And if you’re saying that I can be bought for $5,000, I’m offended.”

$5K? Hell yes, Perry would sell his mother out for less money, so yes he has a lower purchase price than he thinks.
:puke:

[sonias]

1. On the Records: Perry Understated Merck Money

Texas Tribune 9/13/11
On the Records: Perry Understated Merck Money

During the CNN/Tea Party debate Monday night, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota seized the opportunity to point out the connection between Gov. Rick Perry and the drug company Merck, which makes Gardasil, the vaccine that Perry's 2007 executive order would have mandated for Texas pre-teen girls.

Turns out estimates during the debate of how much Perry took from Merck were on the low side.

Bachmann tied the executive order to Merck and Perry’s former chief of staff Mike Toomey, who had lobbied for Merck in Texas, calling it "flat-out wrong" that a drug company gave "thousands of dollars" to Perry.

Perry confirmed a $5,000 campaign contribution from Merck, and defended it, saying he was offended at the suggestion that he could be bought for such a small amount when he had raised about $30 million.

According to a Tribune analysis of campaign finance data received from the Texas Ethics Commission, Perry underestimated. In the past 10 years, he has received $29,500 from Merck PAC, the political action committee for Merck employees, nearly six times more than Perry acknowledged on stage.

During the 2002 gubernatorial campaign, Merck PAC contributed $6,000 to Texans for Rick Perry. During the 2006 campaign — just before Perry issued his Gardasil order — Perry received another $16,000. And in the most recent campaign, Perry’s PAC got $7,500.

Oh how quickly Perry forgets how much he's sold out for.
:eyes:

[efhmc]

2. I am so upset that you think I can be bought out for a measly

5 g. It takes a whole lot more than that.

[sonias]

3. $5K installment purchase plan

What he meant to say is that one $5K payment is low balling it. He can be purchased in $5k increments.

He's such and arrogant a-hole. :puke:

[proverbialwisdom]

4. Hardball covered the additional $500K tonight and even more reported at AoA (link below).

http://www.ageofautism.com/2011/09/cnn-media-jump-to-defense-of-merck-gardasil-after-bachman-interview.html#more

By Leslie Carol Botha
PRLog (Press Release) - Sep 14, 2011

...Everyone by now knows that Perry retorted that Merck’s political action committee gave his campaign $5,000.

In what year was that Governor Perry? It appears the Merck has donated over $25,000 over the course of Perry’s career: $1,000 in 2000; $5,000 in 2002; $10,000 in 2004; $1,000 in 2005; $5,000 in 2006; $2,500 in 2008 and $5,000 in 2010.1

The figure is actually very low for a state as large as Texas….could it be that donations are being funneled from elsewhere - say from a relatively new biotechnological company in Texas? The comment below was posted to an article written by Ed Silverman of Pharmalot fame titled: "Rick Perry And The Gardasil Controversy, Take Two"

‘Interesting to note that a company in Texas with which Rick Perry has a connection with is Gradalis Inc. Move the letters around and it spells Gardasil. In May 2010, Perry’s office gave $3 million to fund G-Con, another Texas Pharma, owned 10% by Gradalis, Inc. The executives of G-Con and the CEO of Gradalis have all given substantial thousands to Perry’s campaign. It was rumored back in 2007 that Perry made a lot of people wealthy, including his family, by mandating the Gardasil vaccine in the State of Texas. If there is government involvement, there is no free market.’2

Gradalis Inc. is a fully integrated biotechnological company in Dallas Texas that focuses on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of drugs, vaccines, tools and diagnostics, primarily in the area of cancer.3 Gradalis? Gardasil? Hmm...

1. CNN - http://edition.cnn.com//2011/POLITICS/09/13/truth.squad. ...
2. Pharmalot - http://www.pharmalot.com/2011/08/rick-perry-and-the-gard ...
3. Gradalis Inc. http://www.gradalisinc.com/


COMMENTS:

Rick Perry's receipts from Merck are actually far greater than $25,000.

According to Bloomberg Businessweek (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-13/perry-s-merck-donations-greater-than-said.html), " also has donated about $500,000 to the Republican Governors Association, a group which Perry chaired twice and has been among his most generous campaign donors."

"In addition, Mike Toomey, a former Texas state House member who served as Perry’s chief of staff, became a lobbyist for the firm after leaving the governor’s office. Toomey also is a founder of the pro-Perry Super PAC, Make Us Great Again, which is raising money to help get the Texas governor elected to the White House."

Half a million dollars? Geez, I definitely wouldn't do a favor for someone who gave me that much money...

Posted September 15, 2011 at 06:40 PM

[sonias]

6. Good find

Thanks for the links. I didn't know about the Gradalis/Gardasil/G-Con connections.

Of course Perry would find a way to give taxpayer money to a company that would then give him donations. That's his m.o. Pretty much the reason we called the Enterprise fund - Perry's personal slush fund. Follow the money trail and you'll see Perry stuffing money in his pockets. :mad:

[proverbialwisdom]

5. Related.

http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/2011/09/what-do-merck-employees-think-of-sane.html

September 15, 2011
What Do Merck Employees Think of the SANE Vax Discovery of Gardasil Contamination

No reaction from official channels on S.A.N.E. Vax's find of genetically modified HPV DNA that is in the Gardasil vaccine and one of its victims blood.... even though it not supposed to be in either.

But Merck employees are commenting. Anonymously of course on Cafe Pharma (the table below is all wonky and I am too tired to fix it... so go to the source to read). This is indicative of the sentiment: please see link.


.

BACKGROUND: http://www.ageofautism.com/2011/09/lab-finds-hpv-dna-in-blood-of-gardasil-recipient-2-years-post-vaccination.html

[sonias]

7. Perry has long history with super PAC friend

More on how Perry is being put up for auction to the highest corporate bidders by his scum/criminal mind friend Mike Toomey

AAS 9/16/11
Perry has long history with super PAC friend

(snip)

That raises the question of how Toomey can put aside his friendship with Perry, as well as his ownership of a resort island on a New Hampshire lake with Perry campaign strategist Dave Carney, as his so-called super PAC tries to raise millions of dollars to elect his friend. After all, Toomey has a track record in Texas with similar quasi-campaign operations that have landed him either in court or in the middle of controversy.

In 2002, Toomey helped lead an effort by the Texas Association of Business to spend $1.7 million in secret corporate donations to state legislative candidates that, its lawyers argued, did not have to be disclosed to the public as long as the business group did not coordinate its ads with campaigns. It was later revealed that John Colyandro, a campaign consultant, sat in on the group's meetings and helped create its advertising campaign, including a direct mail piece for a Colyandro client.

(snip)

In a second instance, Toomey financed an effort last year to put the Green Party on the ballot so that, at least theoretically, it could siphon voters from Perry's Democratic opponent. Toomey's involvement surfaced in a court hearing; the Perry campaign at the time denied that Toomey was acting on its behalf.

(snip)

With the rise of super PACs in this year's presidential race, Toomey will be doing what he always does: helping Perry by tapping business donors, many who are Toomey's clients.

Since 2001, 42 of Toomey's clients have donated about $5.5 million, or about 5 percent of Perry's contributions, during the governor's tenure, according to Texans for Public Justice, a group that tracks political spending in Texas.

Re - :puke: