Title: Tell me what you know about Rick Perry Source:
[None] URL Source:[None] Published:Jun 19, 2011 Author:A K A Stone Post Date:2011-06-19 00:29:10 by A K A Stone Keywords:None Views:42416 Comments:78
I haven't followed the guy to closely. What are the pros and cons on this guy?
He had a great speech yesterday at the Republican Leadership Conference.
The knock on Perry for the first few years he was governor is that he was more of a politician than someone interested in governing. But over the last couple of years, that has changed pretty dramatically.
Texas balanced it's budget by cutting spending. They don't have a state income tax. They have effectively handcuffed the trial lawyers with loser pays legislation. They have created about 40% of the new jobs in American over the last couple of years. Texas became the country's #1 exporter under Perry. Companies are flocking to Texas -- they are home to more Fortune 1000 companies than any other state.
There is a record of success in Texas that's hard to argue with.
If you look at the polls, Pawelnty, Cain, and Bachman together have more support than Romney. I don't think that anyone of them is capable of consolidating the conservative vote against Romney.
If Perry gets into the race, he could win the Iowa caucus, win in South Carolina, and become the conservative alternative to Romney.
If conservatives don't coalesce around one candidate, RINO Romney will be the nominee.
Texas balanced it's budget by cutting spending. They don't have a state income tax. They have effectively handcuffed the trial lawyers with loser pays legislation. They have created about 40% of the new jobs in American over the last couple of years. Texas became the country's #1 exporter under Perry. Companies are flocking to Texas -- they are home to more Fortune 1000 companies than any other state.
That's like saying Saudi Arabia is the biggest exporter in the world. But Texas has one of the highest property tax rates in the nation.
Texas lawmakers in 2009 were short $6.6 billion in revenue for 2010-11 and relied heavily on stimulus funds for a solution.
We did our own budget research, finding that lawmakers agreed to spend $80.6 billion in state general revenue on basic expenses over the two-year period, according to a report by the Legislative Budget Board, which advises lawmakers on budgetary matters.
However, the stimulus aid let legislators put an additional $6.4 billion toward programs, primarily Medicaid and education, historically financed with general revenue, according to a July 2009 House Research Organization report. Another $5.7 billion in stimulus money went to programs such as highway and bridge construction, child care development programs and weatherization assistance.
Counting all funding sources, including the $12.1 billion in stimulus aid, the 2010-11 state budget totaled $182 billion.
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Back to the stimulus: On Feb. 18, 2009, the same day Perry accepted the federal funds, the governor slammed the legislation as being "full of pork and special interest handouts." On his campaign website, Perry wrote: "The Democrats think this bill will change our country's financial fortunes, but you and I know better. … This administration is saddling future generations with an increasingly unbearable debt." He then urged readers to sign an online petition telling "Washington" that they are "fed up with bailouts."
