Chupacabra Update

Thanks to L-D for the cool pics. Looks dreamy to one slaving away in Houston, although I did get to the beach to fight some fish yesterday. Water was green, and small blacktips, trouts, and a bull red made my day before a thunderstorm ran me off.

Once I got home and cleaned up, I read the paper and found that I was wrong again last week. (I made a note of it in my book.)

I my last post about Governor 39%, I suggested that he was carrying water for the Cattleman’s Association again when he came out for a waiver on Ethanol production. Turns out that he was doing the bidding of Bo Pilgrim instead. Seems that chicken magnate Pilgrim, famous for handing out checks on the floor of the Texas Statehouse, has an interest in the cost of corn, now that he can’t feed his chickens beef offal anymore.

See this from the Chronicle:

THE TIMELINE

A look at Gov. Rick Perry's efforts to seek a waiver from federal corn-based ethanol mandates.
• March 25 : Poultry producer Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim meets with Gov. Rick Perry to ask him to seek a waiver from federal mandates for the production of corn-based ethanol.

• March 31: Pilgrim donates $100,000 to the Republican Governors Association chaired by Perry.

• April 17: Pilgrim speaks to nine Republican governors in closed-door conference on energy in Grapevine.

• April 24: Pilgrim's Pride lobbyists and public relations firm Public Strategies meet with Perry's staff on final details of waiver request.

• April 25 : Perry formally requests waiver from Environmental Protection Agency.

• June 24: Perry attends Washington, D.C., news conference promoting waiver. Event was organized by Public Strategies.

Source: Texas Governor's Office, Republican Governors Association

-And this isn’t the first time Perry has appeared to launder money through the governors Association. This story notes that before the 2006 election, builder Bob Perry (“alcoholic and abusive,” according to testimony from his son, Robert Perry Jr,) gave the Governors Association $1Million, which they later gave to the Perry Campaign.

If it’s not the Permanent School Fund, Teachers Retirement System, or Texas Enterprise Fund, it’s campaign donations. This guy can’t seem to keep his fingers out of the cookie jar. I hope that the Travis County D.A. is keeping a close eye on his housing and travel allowances.

Some might applaud our governor going all out to help struggling Texas billionaires, but somehow I can’t help but think that all this largesse is coming from the pockets of those who can least afford it.