Is anyone doing any real research into this Perry character?

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

The one bankrolling the Not-So-Swifties. No way, no way in hell there isn't good and pithy stuff to be found out about him. Social Network Graphs(namebase.org), background, Lexis/Nexis are all good starts.Just what kind of homes he builds and whom he has built them for would be revelatory.

Ideas?

[olddem43]

1. Don't use the word "character" in the same sentence

with this ass's name. Some people may be led to believe that he has some.

[demgrrrll]

3. My understanding is that his big issue is tort reform because he gets

his ass sued off on a regular basis over new home construction problems. There are probably links. Try Bob J. Perry too.

[johncoby2]

2. Here is some

Lives at 18630 Barbuda in Nassau Bay Texas, south of Houston.
http://www.hcad.org/cgi-bin/AV/AVDetail.asp?taxyear=2004&acct=0965900000046

House valued at $662,010. Hasn't had an increase in property value since 2000 where i went DOWN.
669,510 662,010 662,010 662,010 662,010

Homebuilder.
Gave the governor $100,000 a month before the gov put Perrys chief counsel and VP on the builders commission newly created to oversee the builders.

See http://www.hadd.com/documents/texasnews.pdf for more info.

He is a supporter of tort reform and has devastated citizens rights.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

5. So, he builds big, expensive homes...

With inherent problems, in a "homestead" state. Which means he has a direct stake in Chimpy remaining in office, so the money keeps flowing into Texas by the truckload, and the rich keep buying houses to hide their monies away from court actions and bankruptcy proceedings. Interesting indeed.

[Robbien]

4. Some of the info in various DU threads on Perry:

public integrity site shows Perry $$$ to Repugs is over ONE MILLION in the last elections cycle of 2002 ...

http://www.publicintegrity.org/partylines/search_result...

also, their reputation as builders ain't too hot, including abusive law suits and influence peddling in response to consumer complaints:

http://www.hobb.org/perry/index.shtml

. . .
This guy obviously wants Bush to win because he wants tort reform. What's $100,000 to the swiftvets if it saves him millions in lawsuits?

http://www.texasobserver.org/showArticle.asp?ArticleID=...
As of 2003, Perry Homes had been sued more than 60 times in the past 15 years, according to a search of court records. Now imagine if, instead of homeowners being allowed to sue builders like Perry for defective housing, they were forced into arbitration. Consumer advocates believe arbitration can sometimes be easier to tilt in the homebuilder’s favor than a trial ever would be. Binding arbitration has been a consistent issue in the state Supreme Court of late. The question of third party liability—whether the homebuilder is responsible to pay damages for the harmful actions of its subcontractors—is another issue often before the court. Then there is the matter of lawsuit award limits.
. . .

Also:
http://www.offthekuff.com/mt/archives/002442.html
Less than one month after receiving $100,000 from Houston homebuilder Bob Perry, Gov. Rick Perry (no relation to Bob - ed) named a top executive from Perry Homes to a commission implementing a new law designed to reduce lawsuits against builders.

His donations:
http://www.mojones.com/news/special_reports/mojo_400/20...
$85,000 to Texans for Lawsuit Reform

More on how Perry Homes are infected with mold and now Bob Perry's whole life is preventing lawsuits:
http://www.kpft.org/news/092702story4.html

. . .

http://www.proudliberals.com/home/note_view.cfm?M_ID=3513
The largest contributor to the organization (Swift Boat Veterans for Truth), whose only purpose seems to be to smear Kerry's record, is Bob Perry, of Perry Homes, located in (you might have guessed) Houston, Texas.

Who is Mr. Perry? A comrade of Kerry's? A fellow veteran? A swift boat captain? No. Mr. Perry, who donated $100,000 to this fund, by far the largest donation to date, is a rich Texan homebuilder, and founder of Perry Homes. Perry Homes has been in a lot of hot water recently. In fact they're in so much deep do-do that "Homeowners for Better Building" dedicates an entire page to complaints about them on their website.

Perry in also a major contributor to " Texans for Lawsuit Reform", to which he donated $140,000. Along with fellow Texan Kenneth Lay, Perry is one of the largest donators to the organization, whose aim is to lessen the liability to consumers corporations face in the courts. With the amount of lawsuits currently facing Perry, it's no wonder why he's a fan of "Lawsuit Reform."

In fact, aside from being a major contributor to Bush's re-election campaign, he donated an astounding $900,000 to conservative causes and politicians in 2000 alone.

Who else? Well how about John O'Neill? You may not remember him (I didn't), but he was the attorney personally tapped by Richard Nixon to discredit John Kerry and the anti-war movement back in 1971. He later clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist in the 1970s. He's also a partner at Clements, O'Neill, Pierce, Wilson and Fulkerson, which is President Bush's personal lawfirm. John personally donated $25,000.
. .

Robert J. Perry - CNP Board of Governors 1982, Vice President Executive Committee,1984-85, member 1988; President of Perry-Houston Interests, Inc., a member of the Board of Directors of the Houston, Texas Chamber of Commerce; executive board Boy Scouts of America; former Citizen member, state banking board of Texas; member the Heritage Club. - http://www.seekgod.ca/cnp.htm (i think this is a pro CNP site)

For more on the CNP: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/counc...

. . .
http://www.tpj.org/page_view.jsp?pageid=310&pubid=165

[Blue_Roses]

6. try 2 million

www.newsmeat.com

right there in black n white

[Cleita]

7. Good old-fashioned phone calls?

Back in the days before the internet, I often found that calling up people and asking their flunkies a few pertinant questions yielded some surprising results.

[Hailtothechimp]

8. go to followthemoney.org

Perry contributes 95% of his money (millions in all) to Republicans all around the country. The names of the candidates and the amounts are all right there. Couldn't find the names of any Dems he's given to, either.

His MO seems to be to write big checks in states with no limits on donations, and in states where there are donation limits, and for federal candidates like bu$h, to donate the maximum for himself, for his wife, and for his company, Perry Homes. Probably legal, but seems slimy to me.

He also seems to be a big player in a group called "Texans for Legal Reform" (TLR). Don't know what this means yet, but maybe it will lead to something.

I wouldn't be surprised to find Ken Lay's name somewhere in all of this either. Just have to keep digging.