Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Rick Parry Making Money the Old Fashioned Way: Insider Business Deals With Cronies

[BY AMAN BATHEJA

THE FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM

Since his first race for office more than a quarter-century ago, Gov. Rick Perry has emphasized his roots as a rural farmer.

Yet Perry's bank account no longer reflects those humble beginnings as his bottom line has soared in recent years, records show, thanks largely to a handful of real estate deals that critics allege were achieved through the presidential candidates' political connections...

While much of the scrutiny has focused on land deals Perry made while a statewide official, "real estate investor" doesn't properly capture all of his recent financial activity, just as "farmer" is too simple a description of Perry's earlier years...

Perry bought 10 acres of undeveloped land in 1993. That property drew interest from Michael Dell, a computer magnate who needed Perry's tract to connect his new home to municipal sewer lines. Dell took the property off Perry's hands for $465,000, more than triple what Perry had paid for it two years earlier. Perry reported a $342,994 profit on the sale in his 1995 tax return.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/29/2379942_p2/texas-gov-perry-became-a-millionaire.html#ixzz1WWR4s5tz

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