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Texas, which always ranks among our most corrupt states…

… has certainly boosted its rank with its sordid abuse of the new, incredibly generous, state cancer institute, CPRIT. The good people of Texas agreed to give a lot of tax money to this agency, which promised to improve cancer research and treatment for them.

But as soon as its board got hold of its three billion dollars, they allegedly began gifting themselves huge salaries, tossing huge grants to their friends, and ignoring huge swathes of rules and regulations. As one of UD‘s oldest friends – a grants specialist at a local university – writes to her:

Bottom line: a state agency with a gigantic budget and a mission of curing cancer in our lifetime has run amuck – spending huge sums of money in a manner that appears to be governed by favoritism, fails to hold grantees accountable, and fails to manage actual or perceived conflicts of interest. To me, the most damning aspect is the resignations of high ranking officials – they must know even more than what has been revealed to date, and they appear to be abandoning the sinking ship.

A local journalist writes:

[W]e suspect that Governor Perry has been sluicing cancer research money to his buddies.

***************************

How gross is this?

As gross as it gets.

And most of the state’s major universities have been along for the ride.

Margaret Soltan, February 6, 2013 11:16AM
Posted in: conflict of interest

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5 Responses to “Texas, which always ranks among our most corrupt states…”

  1. JND Says:

    Hey, wait!

    CPRIT made a grant for research right here in Abilene, so it MUST be doing the right thing.

  2. Margaret Soltan Says:

    JND: Hold fast to that grant; there are people looking to take it away.

  3. dave.s. Says:

    How far down from Number One can you go and still be “ranking”? You are sliding right past Jersey, and Illinois, and Rhode Island, and Louisiana. Delaware?

  4. Margaret Soltan Says:

    dave.s. Texas generally ranks around 13th.

  5. University Diaries » More on CPRIT. Says:

    […] here for […]

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