More Fake Republican Book Sales

I have posted before about how some Republicans try to make their book sales look better through fake sales. Sarah Palin not only had some conservative organizations buy her book and give it away to people, she also bought thousands of dollars worth of her own book through her political PAC. Mitt Romney made it a requirement for organizations to make bulk purchases of his book before he would give a speech for "free".

Now it looks like Rick Perry has decided this is a good idea (and probably the only way he'll sell many copies of his ridiculous book called Fed Up). Last December, about 700 copies of the governor's book was given out for free to lobbyists, legislators and activists at a conservative summit in Washington. The books were given out by the Republican Governor's Association (of which Perry just happens to be the head).

But the RGA didn't pay for the book. That was done by AT&T. The money was just funneled through the RGA so it wouldn't look like AT&T was trying to buy some favoritism from the governor and his cronies (which of course is exactly what they were trying to do). AT&T paid $26 dollars apiece for the 700 books, which only sell for $22. I'm assuming the RGA kept the extra $2800 as a "donation".

Why can't Republicans just be honest about their book sales and their corporate donations? Do they really think they're fooling anyone?