Giving a double bankruptcy insider a couple of second chances - with Texas tax dollars. Hey, but Rick likes him!
http://www.billwhitefortexas.com/blog/001689.phpPerry handed $4.5 million to friend with history
of bankruptcy, lavish spending, lawsuits
HOUSTON -- Details about David Nance's fiscal past and spending habits raise more questions about why Rick Perry gave his friend David Nance $4.5 million in taxpayer dollars.
Nance personally filed for bankruptcy twice, and a pharmaceutical company he led, Introgen, collapsed in bankruptcy in 2008.
The trust overseeing Introgen's liquidation is suing Nance to recover $669,000 in excessive personal expenditures. Nance spent money on "limousine services, $900 hotel rooms, designer clothing, spa visits, wines, first-class air fares and golf equipment."
The trust also is attempting to recover $87,000 that Nance spent to purchase and ship a Hummer to England. The Hummer was being used, according to the Dallas Morning News, to court a venture capitalist.
"Perry used taxpayer money as a 'Second Chances Fund' for his friends. Perry's been a career politician so long he forgot it's not his money. Perry gave his close, personal friend a $4.5 million taxpayer-funded handout just a year after a company Nance ran filed for bankruptcy," said spokesperson Katy Bacon.
In recent days, Perry has desperately tried to distance himself from his close friend. On Thursday, Perry told reporters, "I can't tell you the last time I had a conversation with David Nance."
Before Perry and his friend David Nance realized that their corruption was possibly illegal and that there would likely be a criminal investigation into their activities, Perry and Nance spoke glowingly of each other.
Nance and Perry both told the Dallas Morning News that they were big fans of each other. Perry said he has a "nice, close personal relationship" with Nance. He continued, saying "I think he is a very, very bright innovator."
When questions were raised about Nance's background, Perry stood up to support his friend saying, "Frankly, I don't have a problem giving people second chances. I did not see him do anything that has been unethical, illegal or immoral."