.

It would be hard to imagine anything meaner than using the hope of a cancer cure to fleece taxpayer money from the state of Texas.

Unless, of course, Rick Perry is involved.

Now, Texas has so many problems piled up that it’ll be two weeks before we have time to worry, but Rick Perry knows a thing or three about priorities.  Friends with money is Priority #1.

It seems that a couple of Rick Perry’s rich political contributing buddies put up $1,000 between them and formed a company that was gonna cure cancer.  They called it Convergen.  No matter that one of their other companies claiming to find a cancer cure went belly-up.  And no matter that they got turned down for grants at every door they knocked.

Texas Emerging Technology Fund

So they put in an application for a $4.5 million grant from Texas’ Emerging Technology Fund (which is also know as PPP – Perry’s Political Payback) and, by gawd, they got it.

The Austin American Statesman newspaper smelled a skunk and went to work trying to get open records about these guys being in cahoots with the Governor, and found out more than even they reckoned.

Among the findings:  Two of the 3 people on the Board of Directors never attended even one meeting.  Their application said they were going to raise $3 in private investment and $24 million from an unnamed partner which apparently didn’t pan out.  If the drug is successful, it will cost the consumer $60,000 to $100,000 a year, even though it was developed with public money.

Then comes the hanky-panky.  The wheeler-dealer here is a guy named David Nance.

Nance also has long ties to Perry, who has called him a close friend. Nance has contributed $100,000 to Perry campaigns since 2000.

Perry also steered $2 million in federal money to a foundation Nance ran after he left Introgen.

Perry’s management of the technology fund became an issue in last year’s gubernatorial campaign because of news reports that some grants have gone to companies tied to Perry’s campaign donors.

Even the Republican controlled State Lege put some reins on Perry’s ability to hand out state money to his contributors.  They know Rick Perry – he’ll steal a hot stove and come back for the smoke.

So you Republican go on ahead and beg Rick Perry to run for Governor.  He’s got more baggage than the trains station and a closet full of bones to fall out one at a time.