The Statesman reported that Rick Perry, in the middle of the special legislative session he called, flew off to Vail, Colorado, on a donor's private airplane to a summit hosted by the Koch Brothers. Rick Perry is no stranger to meeting with conservative billionaires to plan how to enact corporate-friendly policies at the expense of Texan families, and it's for this reason that he could be the preferred presidential candidate for the Koch Brothers.

It's rather striking given the catastrophic budget cuts that public schools, teachers, and families are facing in the special session, that Perry would choose to meet with the notorious Koch brothers. They are known for backing the astroturf Tea Party operations through the Americans for Prosperity, and supporting conservative think tanks such as the Cato Institute, and the Heritage Foundation.

Rick Perry hits all the marks of the Republican dream candidate for the Koch brothers. He hates "Obamacare," he cynically exploits the Tea Party base to the benefit of his wealthy donors, and doesn't care about how Texans are affected by draconian budget cuts to their schools, and bad environmental policies.

They share the same philosophy on these issues. The Koch brothers have long mounted a campaign against environmental issues that would affect their petroleum and mining interests they have in Texas such as these ones:



1. Flint Hills Resources, LP which operates the Texas Pipeline system, which runs from Corpus Christi to San Antonio, Austin, Bastrop, Waco, and Dallas/Ft. Worth markets.

2. Risk management firm called Kock Supply and Trading, which has offices all over the world, including in Houston, that provides risk management in crude oil, refined petroleum, natural gas, and other commodities.

3. Georgia-Pacific, which has nine facilities in Texas.

The Koch brothers have long ties to the right-wing movement here in Texas. They've given $174,500 to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and $40,000 to the Texas Justice Foundation. Also, the Koch brothers, their companies, and employees have donated over to $740,570 to state politicians between 2003 and 2010.

Governor Perry received $76,000 in contributions from the Koch network in the last gubernational election.

In short, he's the perfect puppet for the Koch brothers. It's why we started the Texans Against Perry Facebook page to expose Rick Perry for what he is--a friendly patsy for wealthy GOP donors and big special interests. In just three weeks, we've gone from 3,000 Texans to 14,000 Texans against Rick Perry.