Latest News
Point Austin: Governor Oops! Again
Michael King, Feb. 1, 2013
Perry's vision of Texas rests on willful blindness
Point Austin: Can This Really Be the End?
Michael King, Dec. 28, 2012
A look forward, a look back
Point Austin: We Want Your Urine
Michael King, Nov. 23, 2012
Rick Perry's latest bright idea is pissing on Texas
Budget
Point Austin: Behind the Numbers
Michael King, March 4, 2011
Even before the swinging cuts hit, non-profits accurately predicted disaster for the state budget
Poverty Knocks
Richard Whittaker, May 29, 2010
After asking state agencies to cut 5% out of their 2010 general revenue budgets, Perry calls that the new baseline and demands another 10% cut for the next two years
A Billion Down
Richard Whittaker, May 18, 2010
So much for the Texas economic miracle: Due to lack of funds, Perry forced state agencies to cut $1.2 billion out of their approved budgets
Culture Wars
Perry's Day of Fasting for Ballots
Richard Whittaker, June 7, 2011
The Response, Perry's bizarre day of prayer and fasting, depended on campaign pros specializing in getting out the evangelical vote
Bill of the Week: Proclamation for Days of Prayer for Rain in Texas
Richard Whittaker, April 29, 2011
Perry's declaration of a statewide day of prayer for rain was so successful that Texas went into the hottest, driest summer on record.
Perry the Censor
Richard Whittaker, April 26, 2010
How Perry's office was connected to a hate mail campaign against a play performed by students at a state university
Death Penalty
Forensic Science Commission Draws Heat
Jordan Smith, Aug. 20, 2010
Perry stands by the state Forensic Science Committee even when their flawed science puts people on death row
Perry on Willingham
Jordan Smith, Oct. 23, 2009
Even while science cast doubt on his conviction, Perry dubbed the executed Cameron Todd Willingham a "monster" and a "bad man"
Justice Can Wait
Jordan Smith, Oct. 9, 2009
Just as the Forensic Science Committee was about to review the Cameron Todd Willingham case, Perry effectively dissolves it
Economy
Perry's Fund Imbalance
Richard Whittaker, Oct. 6, 2010
How did $16 million in state subsidies go from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund to Perry donors?
If the Horseshoe Fits
Richard Whittaker, Aug. 3, 2010
The strange tale of two parcels of land, two business partners, and a $2.5 million grant to an airplane company
Enterprise Fund Carrying Too Many Ones?
Richard Whittaker, Jan. 27, 2010
Perry diverted $161.5 million from the state unemployment fund to bolster the Texas Enterprise Fund, but did it really create new jobs?
Education
Perry Versus School Boards
Richard Whittaker, March 9, 2011
It was his state budget that cut school funds, but Perry blamed all the firings on local school boards
Perry vs. Texas Teachers
Richard Whittaker, Aug. 13, 2010
How Perry sabotaged Texas' application for federal school funds so he could score electoral points
Community Colleges Bestow Dunce Cap on Perry
Lee Nichols, July 27, 2007
Community colleges react to Perry's slashing $154 million in school funding
Environment
EPA: Political Punching Bag or the New 'It' Agency?
Katherine Gregor, June 11, 2010
Before Perry declared war on the whole Federal government, he started with the Environmental Protection Agency, threatening to take their clean air rules to court
It's the Carbon, Stupid!
Daniel Mottola, Dec. 1, 2006
As 30 states pass climate change legislation, Perry fast-tracks coal plant permits
Rick 'N' Rita
Amy Smith, Sept. 30, 2005
A bright spot in his career: Perry opens Texas up to Hurricane Katrina evacuees
Farmer Perry
Image Over Substance
Nate Blakeslee, Oct. 30, 1998
How Perry became a friend to the pesticide industry, and how they helped him become agriculture commissioner
Off the Desk
Jan. 26, 1996
Cotton farmers in the Rio Grande valley vote to end one of Perry's pet projects - the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation - after its indiscriminate pesticide sprays almost wipes out their farms
Perry Wears Egg
Nov. 3, 1995
Texas cotton farmers blame $200 million in losses on Perry's dedication to wiping out boll weevils killed off all many natural predators and beneficial insects
Gov. Rick Perry may be new on the national stage, but he's old news in Austin. Over the nearly three decades of his political career, The Austin Chronicle has charted his rise to power. We've examined his links to big business and big donors, his indiscriminate use of the death penalty, his flirtation with every conservative movement from the Religious Right to the Tea Party, and loads more.
You'll find the best of our past coverage below, along with regular updates, as we continue report his movements and catalogue his many guises.
The Perry Trap Gallery
Foreign Policy
Perry, Pakistan, and the Bush Revival
Richard Whittaker, July 19, 2011
A lunch date with a former dictator: Why his meeting with Pervez Musharraf raised the specter of a Neo-Con revival
Will Border Crackdown Cause Ranger Drain?
Richard Whittaker, Sept. 25, 2009
Perry sent the Texas Rangers to the border, but all it meant was less resources for rural cops
Perry and the Fine Art of Hardship
Richard Whittaker, Sept. 22, 2008
Perry compares life in a rented mansion to the plight of hurricane evacuees
Health & Reproductive Rights
Perry Gets His Ultrasound: Next Stop Courthouse
Jordan Smith, May 20, 2011
By making an intrusive, medically unnecessary pre-abortion ultrasound mandatory, Perry ensured the state would end up in court
Point Austin: Fed Up Yet?
Michael King, Nov. 12, 2010
Perry rails against Federal healthcare, even though Texas depends on DC for 61% of Medicaid funding
Point Austin: Left Unstated
Michael King, Jan. 30, 2009
A few omissions in the Gov's 2009 State of the State – like leading the nation in uninsured children
Legislation
Perry's Pride: Not So Special Tally
Richard Whittaker, July 8, 2011
Perry called the legislature back for an emergency special session, but failed to crack the whip
Show Them the Need
Richard Whittaker, June 10, 2011
With this year's state budget collapsing and unemployment rising, Perry wasted precious time on far right policies that crippled the legislature
Special Bills for a Special Session
Richard Whittaker, May 31, 2011
When lawmakers leave unfinished business, Perry calls them back to hand him new pandering policies
Lite Guv
On The Lege
April 29, 1999
Perry's decade-long quest to introduce school vouchers
Million Dollar Man
Robert Bryce, Jan. 28, 1999
How the Texas GOP's sugar daddy James Leininger became a prime Perry donor
Bittersweet Ending
Nov. 6, 1998
Riding a statewide Republican wave, Perry scrapes over the line with a 2% win to become George W. Bush's lieutenant governor
Run, Ricky, Run!
Perry: Onward and Fed Upward
Richard Whittaker, Nov. 5, 2010
How Perry started parlaying his success in the last gubernatorial election into a presidential run
Get in the Ring
Richard Whittaker, Oct. 29, 2010
Republicans talk about Perry's election success: But is he really any good as a campaigner?
The Man Who Wasn't There (If Only)
Richard Whittaker, Sept. 10, 2010
There's an easy way to avoid losing a debate: Just don't show up. That's what Perry did for the single televised debate in the 2010 gubernatorial race.
Scandal
A Retrospective Decade
Richard Whittaker, Jan. 7, 2011
A decade under the influence: Ten years of scandals, oddities and bad policy decisions
Perry's Fund Imbalance
Richard Whittaker, Oct. 6, 2010
How did $16 million in state subsidies go from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund to Perry donors?
If the Horseshoe Fits
Richard Whittaker, Aug. 3, 2010
The strange tale of two parcels of land, two business partners, and a $2.5 million grant to an airplane company
Teabaggin'
Special Bills for a Special Session
Richard Whittaker, May 31, 2011
When lawmakers leave unfinished business, Perry calls them back to hand him new pandering policies
Texas Teabagging Not So Sweet
Richard Whittaker, April 16, 2009
Crowd at Perry's famous secession speech show cracks in conservative unity
16 Billion Reasons Not to Read Perry's Book
Richard Whittaker, May 26, 2010
You might have thought that Perry may say "Thanks!" for $16 billion in federal stimulus cash. Instead, he writes a book about how they're crippling states' rights
FOLLOWUS
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Praise the Lloyd Lloyd Maines and the Dixie Chicks hold court for KLRU
Thinking About Stephen Bruton There’s just no getting over some people
Playback: Demolition at 1701 Red River Another Red River venue going away? There goes the neighborhood.
Bonds: 'Death By a Thousand Cuts' Even with Propositions 1 and 3 passing, AISD's election campaign appeared doomed from the start
The Changing Face of Mueller A burst of development marks the latest phase of the central city neighborhood
Review: The Great Gatsby A great American novel does not always a great movie make, but Baz Lurhmann, a director of delirious excess, certainly seems an apt fit for the Roaring Twenties.
Thinking About Stephen Bruton There’s just no getting over some people
Praise the Lloyd Lloyd Maines and the Dixie Chicks hold court for KLRU
Bill of the Week: No 'Easy Death' Bill ends animal shelter gas chambers
Taste Test Farmers market food sampling bill passes Texas House
East Austin Arts Puts It Into a FRAME This Weekend Big Medium, Co-Lab, Tiny Park, MASS Gallery: Four in Legion
Summer Fun: Season’s Screenings Austin filmmakers pick their favorite summer movies
CHRONCAST
Eastside Memorial High School Poem Dedication
Students from the East Austin campus send a message to the Austin ISD board of trustees
MORE CHRONCAST »
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