Reporters Jason Cherkis and Zach Carter of Huffington Post have revealed an insurance scheme by Texas Gov. Rick Perry that, in a just world, would win him at least a finalist spot in the All-Time Slimiest Governor Sweepstakes. You can read all about it here, but here’s the short version:
In 2003, Perry proposed this charming idea as a money-maker for Texas’ state government — help Wall Street investors gamble on how long retired Texas teachers would live. And no, this isn’t satire, it’s straight-up news. Perry wanted retired Texas teachers to permit Swiss banking giant UBS to buy life insurance policies on them. When the retirees died, the policies would pay out benefits to Wall Street speculators who had bet on when the teachers would die, say Cherkis and Carter. Texas’s state government would get paid for arranging the bets. The families of the dead teachers would get nothing. If a teacher balked at the idea, Perry suggested offering them 50-100 bucks.
In short, “Perry was promising the state big money in exchange for helping Swiss banking giant UBS set up a business of teacher death speculation.” Words like “inappropriate” or “exploitative” or “government intrusion into citizens’ lives” seem weak in the face of such warped, callous sleaziness. Again, read the whole story for yourself and make up your own mind.
This article appears in Aug 23-29, 2011.
I don’t think much about Perry but the Jackasses seem to be running scared to come up with such garbage and no proof, just words. Just like the problem the USA is facing today “It’s all Bush’s fault.” Always passing the buck and never accepting any responsibility for anything negative they always seem to be the “good guys” and right pigs fly.
Did you bother reading the linked article? They have notes from the meetings at which Perry pushed the idea, so what more do you want, something on YouTube? Sounds like it’s Perry who’s avoiding taking responsibility in this case, denying involvement when meeting participants have nailed him.
Mr. Grooms,
You poor misguided liberal. This is a relatively new concept, affectionately called “death bonds.” There is nothing sleazy about it. The part that you and your Huffpo buddies forgot to mention is that the policyholder (in this case, retired teacher) decides to sell her policy and pocket the cash while she is alive. She can do with it what she wants, including, but not limited to, investing it at a higher rate of return and leaving for her family when she passes.
So the conservative response to tighter budgets is basically short-selling your own life? Are there pricing differences that take into account participation in organ auctions?
Liberals impose new taxes, and conservatives find a way to profit on your death. Yay USA!!!!
I understand this is CL and there is going to be a left wing slant, thats fine. But “slimiest”? Really? thats all you got? we dont need to go down that road blagojevich. anyway so lets analyze this from your context and point of view on the story. basically you are trying to say he wanted to implement policy to try and profit off of people dying. that awfully sounds like this thing called social security MR. Polio. or estate tax. yada yada yada…
I always knew he was not to be trusted, but this finished it! This guy shouldn’t even win the primary with this kind of stuff coming out! if he does win, it clearly shows that desperate people will vote for anyone!