Thursday, September 30, 2010

Old Yeller: A Dog Named Slick Rick

Now most of you may remember Old Yeller and think it’s a Disney movie, but it’s really a story about a Texas hound named Slick Rick. Well sir, this hound is really bad at debating because his history keeps getting in the way. So instead of going out and trying to debate, he manufactured a cover story that smells all the way from Dalhart to Brownsville, and all places in between. But this hound can sniff out a special interest dollar quicker than a bloodhound on a pork chop, and friends that’s a slick trick indeed.

Now there was once a man named PT Barnum, and he and Slick Rick certainly believe that a sucker is born every minute. Not satisfied with having misled Texans on property tax relief, fast track TXU coal plant construction, the Trans Texas Corridor, and the sale of State Parks' mineral rights and management, Slick Rick huckstered up other proposals. They were: the sale of the Texas lottery, and a mandatory HPV virus vaccine for 11 to 12 year old girls.

Merck brought us Vioxx; a medical mistake that was recalled under massive lawsuits and desperately needed another revenue source. Their record for public safety leaves much to be desired. Texans answered that they did not want their loved ones to be the guinea pigs courtesy of Merck and that was stopped too.*

The lottery sale was to be $14 billion to $20 billion lump sum payment of a proven billion dollar a year money maker and the deal was for a forty year exclusive revenue source or $14 billion for $40 billion guaranteed. This deal makes no accounting sense to anyone, but a quick change artist or someone who might pocket a handsome commission. But Texans got wind of these deals and Slick Rick sulked all the way to a ten thousand dollar a month tax payer funded home and the Governor’s Mansion mysteriously burned down.

We had this hound for ten years, so why would anyone want him for another four?

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vioxx

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