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To: af_vet_rr; hocndoc

From Hocndoc’s posted link above:

{the truth}

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2772684/posts

“Much has been criticized of Governor Perry’s initial support for the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC). As President of the Conservative Coalition of the Texas Legislature, I was deeply involved in that entire process. My rural district was directly in the path of the TTC and the project was largely viewed by my constituents as an abuse of the governmental power of eminent domain.

Truth is, the TTC started as a expansion on the I-35 corridor. The plan was added to legislation by the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) as a new “branch” of highway that ran from south Texas to the north right through my district. TXDOT presented facts that upon the completion of the Panama Canal expansion many of the trading freighters, which currently only serve the West Coast, would be able to bring their cargo to Texas ports.

It was anticipated that this would place a tremendous burden on the current highway system as it heads north. However, the flawed TXDOT presentation of the plan and threats to private land ownership were not handled well. Citizens throughout Texas were insulted by the methods of potential property seizure, foreign control of Texas properties and other abuses.

It was wrong, and when presented with the will of Texas citizens, Governor Perry put a stop to it.

While driving my daughter back to begin a new semester at Baylor University, I received a call from the Governor’s office requesting that I invite a group of my fellow Texas Conservative Coalition legislators to his office to meet with him and TXDOT leadership. The following week several of us met with Governor Perry and the TXDOT Commissioner and Executive Director to share the frustration and opposition of our constituents across the state to the TTC.

After a lengthy meeting, Governor Perry did something that has made me respect him as I have no other leader which I have observed or served alongside. He sat back in his chair, gave our arguments thought and said, “Tell your constituents you talked to the Governor, and the Trans-Texas Corridor is no more.”

To this day, the handful of legislators in attendance at that meeting have respected Rick Perry–a man who was confident, honest, and exhibited absolute integrity to his citizens. He often does not receive the proper recognition and credit he deserves for his decisive response to the will of Texas citizens against the TTC. When presented with their objections and opposition, he brought a halt to the ill-conceived TTC.

This is in stark contrast to our current President who sees the destructive results of his policies and has no intention of admitting fault or changing course, but instead blames everyone else for his errors in judgment.

From his action to end the TTC to his signature on legislation to protect the rights of coastal property owners struggling to recover and rebuild in the aftermath of a hurricane, Rick Perry has responded to Texan landowners’ concerns about private property rights. I was one of those 125 landowners who faced a loss of property to be determined by a governmental agency’s assessment of where grass grew before and after a hurricane.

I applauded Governor Perry as he stood with the Texas House and Senate (and eventually the Texas Supreme Court) against some very vocal opposition to sign into law Rep. Hamilton’s bill preventing a potential land grab by the state. In this past session, Governor Perry declared eminent domain reform legislation an emergency item and saw it all the way through the legislative process until he signed it into law, strengthening the rights and protections of private property owners across Texas.

If ever there was a day we needed a leader in this country who does not place his pride and ego ahead of what is proven to be the will of the people and in their best interest…this is the day. A real leader who puts what is best for his citizens ahead of personal pride and opinions is what America needs.”


50 posted on 10/30/2011 5:29:00 PM PDT by TexMom7
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To: TexMom7
It was anticipated that this would place a tremendous burden on the current highway system as it heads north. However, the flawed TXDOT presentation of the plan and threats to private land ownership were not handled well. Citizens throughout Texas were insulted by the methods of potential property seizure, foreign control of Texas properties and other abuses.

It was wrong, and when presented with the will of Texas citizens, Governor Perry put a stop to it.


A true Conservative would never have proposed a system in the way it was proposed and with the parties involved, and not just because it was a European company or that Rudy Giuliani's lawfirm was hip-deep in it. You go back and you read Perry laying the groundwork for this in 2001 and 2002 and it's disturbing. He wanted it bad, and too many Perry friends were deeply involved with it, from Rudy Giuliani to Dan Shelley (and later his daughter). Dan Shelley working for Cintra, then working for the Govenror's Office, then working for Cintra again should have set off a lot more warning flags than it did. That's the tip of the iceberg. There were so many things wrong with the whole TTC and most of us were too ignorant of what Perry was talking about in 2001 and 2002 to realize his plans or the legislature being put in place in 2001 to help him with the TTC. It should never have reached the point where Giuliani's lawfirm was trying to help get the TTC built while Perry was campaigning hard for Giuliani for President. If Obama had tried to push something like the TTC through, and had plenty of friends involved, we'd be out in the streets. Instead, people blow it off as no harm, no foul. How crooked of a process is it when Governor Perry was campaigning for Rudy Giuliani while Giuliani's lawfirm was doing what it could to help get the TTC built. Crony capitalism to the extreme.
51 posted on 10/30/2011 7:10:42 PM PDT by af_vet_rr
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