Exactly what role should government have in health care? What does Rick Perry think? And more importantly, what has Perry done?
There’s a good deal of evidence that Perry used his position and influence to award millions in taxpayer dollars to his financial supporters, even when those awards were not in keeping with conservative ideology or didn’t make much business sense.
According to a lengthy and well-researched piece [sub req] in the New Republic, Perry’s been a big supporter of health care ventures, especially when those ventures are tied to people who’ve been big supporters of Perry. That’s not unusual: politicians help those who help them.
What may be a bit unusual is the extent of Gov. Perry’s use of taxpayer funds to support selected health care entrepreneurs, and the abysmal performance of several of those lucky entrepreneurs. A couple of examples (there are more) are instructive.
Perry awarded $50 million of taxpayer funds to the Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine (TIGM) at his alma mater, Texas A&M. Most of the $50 million went to supplies and software from Lexicon Genetics – a company in which one of his major contributors was an investor. After several years, the TIGM has little, if anything, to show for the investment; it has ten (10) employees who appear to spend much of their time doing not much. (When the President of Texas A&M complained about the ongoing annual $2 million expense, she was summarily dismissed by the Perry-controlled Board of Regents)
Another $50 million went into the National Institute of Therapeutics Manufacturing (again at the direction of Perry and his associates, and also at Texas A&M). The NITM is still in development, and is closely allied with several of Perry’s financial supporters.
Then there’s the furor over Perry’s support for mandatory HPV vaccines for Texas’ girls, a furor generated in part because Perry’s former chief of staff was lobbying for Merck, the vaccine’s manufacturer and direct contributor of some thirty thousand dollars to Perry over the years plus perhaps a few hundred thousand more via other channels. http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/perry-has-deep-financial-ties-to-maker-of-hpv-vaccine/2011/09/13/gIQAVKKqPK_story.html
Finally, one would do well to remember that Perry, who advocates repeal of the health reform bill and leaving reform to the states, presides over the state with the highest percentage (28%) of people without health insurance. Over a quarter of the state’s population has no coverage.
That’s eleven points higher than the national average.
So, what?
Perry doesn’t seem to be a conservative as much as a politician of the old school; rewarding friends and financial backers and hammering enemies regardless of their political ideology.
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I’m in Texas. People I know that used to make fun of Govnuh Goodhair, and generally say what a crappy job he’s done for Texas now say they’d vote for him as President. Anything to vote against Obama. How stupid is that?
Interesting news. What about Romney and Cain or any others in the field?
perry relations with for profit health care may be the norm for texas
george bush admin as gov had similar health venture – the texas medication algorithm project involving drug companies and antipsychotic medications which was touted as a national model, disreputed, necessitated reforms in texas state government and nd is now subject to litigatgion
Texas also ranks in the top five States that have the highest cost per patient, in terms of Medicare expenditure per beneficiary. I guess that Tort Reform didn’t work as planned –