Well, if he does ever get around to calling a special session, our Governor will certainly be tanned, rested and ready for it.
Fresh from a jaunt to the Bahamas to discuss school finance, Gov. Rick Perry and his wife, Anita, left for Italy on Friday on a trade mission.
Texas exported $592 million in goods to Italy in 2002, ranking Perry’s economic development destination 23rd among foreign trade partners, according to the Business and Industry Data Center at the governor’s office.
Democrats quickly poked fun at the governor’s taste for foreign travel and said they hope he’ll find the solution to school finance reform aboard an Italian gondola.
The weeklong trip to drum up economic opportunities for Texas was prompted by a formal invitation from billionaire and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said Kathy Walt, Perry’s spokeswoman.
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“We’ve got a lot of issues here at home that he could be taking care of. We’ve got a poll recently that shows Texans want us to focus on education,” said Texas Democratic Party spokesman Mike Lavigne.
“One of his meetings is with the minister of productive activity,” Lavigne said. “That sounds like a Monty Python sketch. Unfortunately Perry hasn’t had any productive activity here in Texas during his entire term.”
Hey, it’s fine by me that he’s going. I just wish he’d stay gone. There’s 22 other foreign trade partners that are bigger customers than Italy, Governor. Why not visit them all? You can print tour T-shirts and sell them to raise money for school finance reform. The possibilities are endless.
I remember when the infidelity rumors were going around, one of the rumors was that he was going to say he was going to go to Italy, but was actually getting marriage counciling.
And I got an unsolicited call today from an acquaintance whose mom lives in Anita’s home town; according to mom, Anita was back there last week and confirmed the rumors in multiple conversations.
Of course, this remains gossip.