. . . crony capitalism. Good on him.
AUSTIN -- Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday proposed . . .
. . . abolishing Texas' controversial Emerging Technology Fund and using half of its leftover money to help colleges and universities recruit world-class researchers.
The moved marked Abbott's first major step toward overhauling the funding pool established at the urging of former Gov. Rick Perry to attract cutting-edge technology and research as part of his plan to grow the state's economy.
(Patrick Svitek and Mike Wark," Abbott seeks abolish tech fund," houstonchronicle.com, January 30, 2015)
The fund was a bad idea from the start. It gave political insiders a checkbook on the taxpayers' account and commissioned them to pick economic winners and losers. That's what Barack Hussein Obama does to "grow the economy." (And what a horrible phrase that is.)
Texans don't grow the economy through a command-and-control system based in Austin, Texas. What Texas does, traditionally, is set reasonable rules and reasonable taxes, then invite folks to start whatever legal businesses they're big enough to start and run. Do the right things, get out of the way, and the economy will grow itself. No need to lay out a slop trough for the governors' friends.
When this fund got in trouble last year, our state's deepest thinkers -- including Wendy Davis and the Houston Chronicle editorial board -- huffed, puffed, and called for it to be reformed.
They like the fund. They just want to be in charge. They want their friends to run the fund, and they want their supporters to get the money.
The right answer from Day One was to knock the sorry thing in the head. Governor Abbott has proposed to do that. Let's see who votes with him.
And while we're at it, if you need a reason to say no to the presidential aspirations of Mr. Perry -- and there are plenty of reasons -- this one is sufficient unto itself: He thinks this fund was just swell.
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