That's a lot of money considering the financial difficulties of the state. If the roads around Texas are anything as bad as they are in Houston (where I am at the moment) then there are a lot of better places for spending that hard earned taxpayer money. Houston Chronicle:
At a time when state budget reductions were used to help offset a multibillion-dollar revenue shortfall, taxpayers were billed in excess of $294,000 in security detail expenses for out-of-state trips by Gov. Rick Perry or his wife, according to records released by the Department of Public Safety.Is he really promoting the state of Texas, or just Rick Perry's ego?
Destinations included the Bahamas in January for a family vacation and trips to Amsterdam, Madrid and New York by Anita Perry alone – visits that Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle said were for economic development.
Perry traveled to locales including New York, Washington, California and Las Vegas for events such as promotion of his anti-Washington book, Fed Up!, speeches, duties related to his then-chairmanship of the Republican Governors Association and meetings with business leaders or potential supporters for his presidential bid.
