Rick+Perry

Nathan Groover and Molly O'Connor:

"It's Time we get America Working Again"
FAST FACTS ABOUT RICK PERRY:
 * Rick Perry was born on March 4, 1950 in Paint Creek, TX.
 * **Education:** Texas A&M U., B.S. 1972
 * **Religion:** United Methodist
 * **Family:** Married to Anita; The couple has two children
 * Perry’s family owns a 10,000-acre ranch.
 * His father served 28 years as a Democratic county commissioner.
 * **Career:**1972 graduate of Texas A&M University where he was an animal science major.
 * 1972-1977 Perry served in the United States Air Force.
 * Perry flew C-130 tactical airlift aircraft in the US, Europe and Middle East.
 * Elected as a Democrat to the Texas House of Representatives in 1984.
 * Rick Perry served as a state co-chairman for the presidential campaign of Al Gore in 1988.
 * Perry switched parties in 1989 to run for state agriculture commissioner as a Republican.
 * He served two terms as Agriculture Commissioner.
 * Won election as Lieutenant Governor in 1998.
 * Succeeded George W. Bush as governor of Texas on December 21, 2000.
 * Elected to full four-year terms in 2002, 2006 and 2010.
 * Defeated former Houston mayor Bill White in 2010, 55%-42%.
 * In December 2008, he became the longest-serving governor in Texas history.
 * Perry is also the longest serving current governor in the United States.
 * His worst job ever?** Building fences with a jackhammer in the mid-1970s.
 * TV guilty pleasure?** He said he's "not much of a TV person."
 * Favorite junk food**? Vienna sausage and crackers.
 * Happiest moment ever, aside from his marriage and birth of his children?** "The happiest I will be is when ... my daughter finds her perfect mate."
 * Personal theme song?** "Something that Beethoven wrote."
 * Asked whether there should be a fifth president on Mount Rushmore**, Perry said there are "enough presidents on Mount Rushmore already."

media type="youtube" key="usTuyYaUmrA" width="425" height="350"Rick Perry Interview by Sean Hannity

Rick Perry's Political Platform:

Fiscal policies
In his presidential campaign, Perry has highlighted the economic success Texas achieved under his governorship, although the true success of his policies has been questioned. A proclaimed proponent of fiscal conservatism, Perry has often campaigned on job growth and tax issues, such as his opposition to creating a state income tax. Perry refused in 2002 to promise not to raise taxes as governor, and in the following years did propose or approve various tax and debt increases.] In 2009, Perry signed Grover Norquist's pledge to "oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes". Texas began borrowing money in 2003 to pay for roads and will owe $17.3 billion by the end of 2012, increasing total state debt, from $13.4 billion in 2001 to $37.8 billion in 2011.The state's public finance authority sold $2 billion in bonds for unemployment benefits, and it's authorized to sell $1.5 billion more if necessary. Texas federal borrowing topped $1.6 billion in October 2010, before the bond sales. Texans voted November 8, 2011 for a Water Works Bill with an additional $6 billion of debt and against new tax breaks for landowners.A Republican on the Natural Resources Committee laments “we couldn’t get the votes” which would break Perry's pledge not to raise taxes. In 2003, Perry signed legislation that created the Texas Enterprise Fund, which has since given $435 million in grants to businesses. The New York Times reported that many of the companies receiving grants, or their chief executives, have made contributions to Perry's campaigns or to the Republican Governors Association.

Health
As Governor, Perry has been an outspoken opponent of federal health-care reform proposals and of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, describing the latter as "socialism on American soil". Perry's focus in Texas has been on tort reform, signing a bill in 2003 which restricted non-economic damages in medical malpractice judgments.Perry has touted this approach in his Presidential campaign, although independent analysts have concluded that it has failed to increase the supply of physicians or limit health-care costs in Texas. During Perry's governorship, Texas rose from second to first among states with the highest proportion of uninsured residents at 26%, and has the lowest level of access to prenatal care.Perry and the Republican-led state legislature have cut Medicaid spending and made it more difficult to enroll in the program, which currently covers one-third of Texas children. The cost of caring for uninsured Texans has been borne by those with insurance, leading to substantial rises in insurance premiums and leading Texas to rank next-to-last among states in terms of affordability of health insurance. The //Los Angeles Times// wrote that under Perry, "working Texans increasingly have been priced out of private healthcare while the state's safety net has withered."Perry's office has argued that Texas represents a model private-sector approach to health-care. His spokeswoman stated that "Texas does provide an adequate safety net to those truly in need... and many individuals simply choose not to purchase healthcare coverage."Perry is pro-life and has signed multiple bills creating new rules or restrictions for abortion procedures and funding for such. These bills include a May 2010 law requiring that a sonogram be performed prior to every abortion, and that the practitioner discuss the sonogram images with the patient except in limited cases where the patient may waive the explanation.In February 2007, Perry issued an executive order mandating that Texas girls receive the HPV vaccine, which protects against some strains of the human papilloma virus, a contributing factor to some forms of cervical cancer Following the move, news outlets reported various apparent financial connections between Perry and the vaccine's manufacturer, Merck. Merck's political action committee has contributed $28,500 since 2001 to Perry's campaigns. The order was criticized by some parents and social conservatives, and a lawsuit was filed later that month.In May 2007, the Texas Legislature passed a bill undoing the order; Perry did not veto the bill, saying the veto would have been overruled, but blamed lawmakers who supported the bill for the deaths of future cancer victims.

Religion
Perry grew up in the Methodist church, until 2010 when he began attending Lake Hills Church in Austin. In 2006, Perry stated that he believes in the inerrancy of the Bible and that those who do not accept Jesus as their savior will go to hell. He later clarified, "I don't know that there's any human being that has the ability to interpret what God and his final decision-making is going to be." In his 2008 book //On My Honor//, Perry expressed his views on the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. "Let's be clear: I don't believe government, which taxes people regardless of their faith, should espouse a specific faith. I also don't think we should allow a small minority of atheists to sanitize our civil dialogue on religious references."In June 2011, Perry proclaimed August 6 as a Day of Prayer and Fasting, inviting other governors to join him in a prayer meeting hosted by the American Family Association in Houston.The event was criticized as going beyond prayer and fasting to include launching Perry's presidential campaign. Perry has called himself "a firm believer in intelligent design as a matter of faith and intellect", and has expressed support for its teaching alongside evolution in Texas schools, but has also said that "educators and local school officials, not the governor, should determine science curriculum."

Education
Perry has repeatedly attacked the Robin Hood plan to provide court-mandated equitable school financing for all school districts in the state. In 2005, following rejection of Perry's proposal to replace the Robin Hood plan, Perry vetoed all funding for public schools for the 2007–2008 biennium, saying he would not "approve an education budget that shortchanges teacher salary increases, textbooks, education technology, and education reforms. And I cannot let $2 billion sit in some bank account when it can go directly to the classroom." Following a second rejection of Perry's bill, Perry asked John Sharp to head a task force charged with preparing a bipartisan education plan, which was subsequently adopted. In 2001, Perry expressed his pride in the enactment of the statute extending in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants who meet Texas' residency requirements. It also required the undocumented students to pledge to apply for permanent residency or citizenship if this became a possibility for them.

Crime
Perry's campaigns for lieutenant governor and governor focused on a tough stance on crime. He has supported block grants for crime programs. Jeff L. Blackburn, chief counsel of the Innocence Project of Texas, said of Perry that "He has done more good than any other governor we've ever had". In 2007, Perry signed a law ending automatic arrest for marijuana possession. Perry supports the death penalty. In June 2002, he vetoed a ban on the execution of mentally retarded inmates. As of August 10, 2011, Texas has carried out 234 executions since Rick Perry became governor. Cases in which Perry has been criticized for his lack of intervention include those of Cameron Todd Willingham, Frances Newton, and Mexican nationals José Medellín and Humberto Leal Garcia. Perry commuted the death sentence of Kenneth Foster, who was convicted of murder despite evidence that he was only present at the scene of the crime. Perry also pardoned Tyrone Brown, who was sentenced to life in a Texas maximum security prison for smoking marijuana while on probation. Perry's actions in both these cases were following the recommendation of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.
 * Death penalty **

Infrastructure
In 2001, Perry proposed the Trans-Texas Corridor, a $145+ billion-dollar project that would build multi-lane highways, rail lines and data lines from Oklahoma to Mexico, and from east to west in southern Texas. Instead of paying for the project with taxes, Perry proposed that it be partially financed, partially built and wholly operated by private contractors, who would subsequently receive all toll proceeds. All of Perry's gubernatorial opponents opposed the corridor project, as did the 2006 state party platforms of both the Democratic and Republican parties.] After much contentious debate between supporters and opponents, an official decision of "no action" was issued by the Federal Highway Administration on July 20, 2010, formally ending the project.

Gun ownership
Perry has an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association. He possesses a Concealed Handgun License (CHL) and has signed a number of bills that increased CHL access.

Oh Rick:

=Rick Perry inappropriately used Texas state phones for White House campaigning= Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been accused of using his state phone to make campaign calls - a no-no under Texas law. Texas gov. Rick Perry allegedly used his state phone to frequently call potential donors - a major ethics violation, according to an investigation released Tuesday. In the months before announcing his presidential campaign, Perry reportedly sat in his Austin office and used the phone to seek the support of wealthy donors and state officials who owed him their jobs, according to the Associated Press. Those calls would violate Texas law that prohibits state phones from being used for campaign work - a charge Perry’s team strongly denies. The Associated Press did an exhaustive review of Perry’s schedule - which is a minute-by-minute record of his day, including phone calls - and chronicled his conversations before the August 13 official launch of his campaign. A slew of those calls were to backers who quickly donated money to Perry’s White House campaign, according to the AP. A few of his chats in April were with Brint Ryan, a Dallas businessman who later would support “Make Us Great Again,” Perry’s super political action commute. The content of those calls remain unknown - and Perry’s staff denied they were for the campaign. "Gov. Perry only conducts state business on his state office phone," said Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle, who suggested that members of the governor's staff could have also used that phone. Though his campaign has since sputtered after a series of debate gaffes, Perry was hotly recruited to enter the presidential derby by Republicans who saw the governor as a conservative alternative to front-runner Mitt Romney. Perry, the longest serving governor in Texas history, entered the race with lofty poll numbers - which collapsed within weeks as his campaign stumbled out of the gate. His support further shrunk after a series of infamous debate performances and he’s barely polling above single digits in Iowa, the first caucus state. Perry, who still holds a robust war chest, has vowed to stay in the race, however.

=Perry perfected influence peddling= Texas Gov. Rick Perry has always cultivated a populist image. He began his campaign attacking Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and calling Washington, D.C., a “seedy” place. These days he’s laying it on pretty thick. Last week he told the San Francisco Chronicle: > The American people are not confused about what is on their minds. And it’s not whether some political operative takes a video and puts it up on YouTube. > They care about who’s going to get this country back working, who is it that has a track record and a focus and the courage to walk into Washington, D.C., not tinker around the edges with a little tweezer but take a wrecking ball, a sledgehammer — whatever it takes to break up the good-old-boy corporate lobbyist mentality that is putting this country’s future in jeopardy. The problem with that line is that there is no candidate in the Republican presidential primary race who more personifies the “good-old-boy corporate lobbyist mentality” than Rick Perry. Take his private jet use, for example. The New York Times reported:

> On a July morning in 2008, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and several aides boarded a plane for Washington to lobby on ethanol use, an issue important to corn growers and livestock owners in his state. . . . > While executives from the livestock industry did not attend Mr. Perry’s private meeting at the E.P.A., the governor would not have made it there without them — literally. The Hawker 800XP plane that Mr. Perry and his team flew from Austin to Washington and back was provided by Lonnie Pilgrim, one of the world’s largest chicken producers and a leading critic of the ethanol mandate. . . . > The poultry magnate also flew the governor to Washington in June to take part in a news conference on the issue. > The two trips, each valued at $9,179, were among more than 200 flights worth a total of $1.3 million that Mr. Perry has accepted — free — from corporate executives and wealthy donors during 11 years as governor, according to an analysis of Texas Ethics Commission records by The New York Times. His flack’s excuse (“it was part of an effort to save tax dollars”) would be more credible had Perry not charged the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars for a mansion rental, run up his travel bill and then sealed the travel records. But that’s all a drop in the bucket compared to his cozy relationship with donors who got plum appointments, grants and sweetheart deals after ponying up big money for Perry’s campaigns. Mike Toomey, his former chief of staff, then lobbyist (helping to push through the HPV mandatory vaccination program for his client Merck and now his superPAC chief) certainly fits the mold. A GOP consultant taking no part in this year’s race told me Perry risks looking like a hypocrite. “Rick Perry’s governor’s office had a Texas-sized revolving door. His top staff all became lobbyists, and the lobbyists all became top staff. So I’m not sure cronyism is really an issue he should be bringing up.” He pointed me to a blatant example of Perry’s willingness to compromise conservative principles: The Trans Texas Corridor (TTC) project. Although some reports have taken a look at this, it’s frankly surprising it hasn’t gotten more attention, given the scope of the boondoggle and the amount of money involved. The TTC was Perry controversial road and rail plan that would have seized more than a half-million private acres and made a mint for a company from which a top aide was hired just months before. It also would have benefited a lot of wealthy Texans, the very sort that learned to play the insiders game in Austin. In 2002 the Houston Chronicle reported:

> The Trans Texas Corridor, a proposed 4,000-mile network of high-speed railways, toll roads and pipelines, is slated to begin with four high-priority routes — three of them serving Houston. > As announced in January by Gov. Rick Perry, the multi-use corridor idea may have been long on vision, but it was short on specifics. On Thursday, the Texas Transportation Commission approved a more fleshed-out version, including the four priority routes. > The staggering cost, estimated at up to $183 billion over 50 years, would come largely from private contributors who hope to benefit from the project — a system used widely in Europe and in a few U.S. states. Many Texans hated the idea, and six years later Perry’s administration was still trying to defend the Trans Texas Corridor in public meetings around the state. Conservatives were some of the loudest voices in opposition to the plan.. Along the way, Perry seemed indifferent to property owners. In 2008, for example, he vetoed an eminent domain reform that passed the state legislature overwhelmingly. That riled up conservatives who claimed that that new protections were needed to ensure fair compensation to landowners. The TTC was eventually killed in 2009, although the plan remains on the books. So why would Perry, a property rights defender and a fiscal tightwad, champion such a colossal boondoggle? Perry’s critics pointed to that revolving door. The Associated Press explained in 2006: “Republican Gov. Rick Perry’s former liaison to the Legislature is working once again for the Spanish company that won the rights to develop the state’s $7 billion Trans Texas Corridor toll road project. Lobbyist Dan Shelley worked for the firm as a consultant just before he went to the governor’s office, a connection first revealed in 2004.State officials denied any connection between that circumstance and the decision, three months later, to award Cintra-Zachry the huge highway contract. Now Shelley has left the governor’s office, and he and his daughter have large contracts to lobby for the road builder. ...” You get the picture. Perry seems blissfully unaware that his pattern of patronage and cronyism undermines his claim to be a Tea Party champion. The Post’s Karen Tumulty quizzed Perry in the Oct. 11 debate as to whether his tech and development funds weren’t an awful lot like Solyndra. He answered, “Well, I don’t think the federal government should be involved in that type of investment, period. If states want to choose to do that, I think that’s fine for states to do that.” Yikes. Perhaps, then, Perry would do well to cut out the holier-than-thou talk about the influence of big money in government. He’s never shown any inclination to get the influence peddlers out of state government, so there is little reason to think he’d do so at the federal level.

<span style="background-color: #00ffff; color: #008080; font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace; font-size: 250%;">Rick Perry's thoughts about gays: =Rick Perry: "Don't ask" policy worked well= Texas Gov. Rick Perry sought to draw clear lines between his foreign policy plans and the actions taken by President Obama Tuesday, pledging not to take any military options off the table when dealing with Iran. Perry also suggested the U.S. government should have been actively involved in trying to remove Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from power. Perry was among the Republican candidates being interviewed Tuesday as part of a joint venture between ABC News and Yahoo. He talked to "This Week" host Christiane Amanpour from his home in Austin, Texas. "I never would take a military option off the table when it comes to dealing with Iran," Perry said when asked about the recent developments that suggest Iran is closer to having a nuclear weapon. He criticized Mr. Obama for pursuing talks with Iran and Syria during the early part of his term. "I think the United States needed to be actively involved in taking that oppressive regime out of Iran," Perry added, suggesting both diplomatic and covert tactics would be appropriate. "We had an opportunity...we missed it," he said of the upheaval in Iran in 2009. Later in the interview, Perry called Mr. Obama's foreign policy "a disaster" and the president's ideas "bankrupt." He has been stepping up his criticism of the Obama's record abroad recently. In a radio interview with conservative talk show host Bill O'Reilly Monday, Perry credited well-trained Navy SEALS that Obama "inherited" from previous administrations for Osama bin Laden's death, even though Perry had previously lauded the president for the mission. Perry also said the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy affecting gay military service members, which was repealed last year, "worked very well," though he hedged on saying whether or not he would reinstate it as president. "A president of the United States changing a policy that was working well and to do it while we were at war in two different theaters, I think it was irresponsible and I truly think that he did it to respond to his political base," Perry said. When Amanpour asked if he would have been comfortable serving alongside a gay soldier when he was in the service, Perry said, "If an individual in their private life makes a decision about their sexuality ... that's their business." That is why, he said, the policy was effective. He disagreed with the assessment that it closed off military service to some gay civilians. Perry did speak highly of one high-ranking member of the Obama administration. "I could sit down and talk to (Vice President) Joe Biden," he said. "I think Joe Biden gets it. I think he's probably a loyal vice president, but I think he understands that you cannot take this country forward by raising taxes." Perry also suggested that Biden might secretly oppose the health care law and the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill. On the topic of the sex scandal engulfing rival Herman Cain's campaign, Perry declined to comment, saying, "I don't have an interest in getting off my message." The interview also touched on Perry's education record in Texas. He said that the state had increased its education spending by "substantial amounts," even though that budget was recently cut by $4 billion. The governor pointed to increases in math statistics among African-American and Hispanic children and said more young people were being given the opportunity to go to college. He did not mention the 2001 law he supported giving in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants, which has been controversial with conservatives in the GOP. "Texas is making as good of progress as any state," he said.

=Rick Perry Decries Gay 'Lifestyle' After Obama, Hillary Clinton Call For Discrimination To End Worldwide= Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry lashed out at the Obama administration Tuesday after both Obama and Hillary Clinton called for an end to gay discrimination worldwide. After both President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made impassioned speeches Tuesday urging gay rights abroad, Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry issued a response decrying the "deeply objectionable" gay lifestyle. "This is just the most recent example of an administration at war with people of faith in this country," Perry said in a statement. "Investing tax dollars promoting a lifestyle many Americas of faith find so deeply objectionable is wrong. President Obama has again mistaken America's tolerance for different lifestyles with an endorsement of those lifestyles." "This administration's war on traditional American values must stop," Perry said. Obama announced a wide-ranging effort to use U.S. foreign aid to promote rights for gays and lesbians abroad on Tuesday. The president said the effort would include challenging attempts by foreign governments to criminalize homosexuality. Tuesday's announcement marked the first U.S. government strategy to combat human rights abuses against gays and lesbians abroad, according to the White House. Obama called discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons a "global challenge." Clinton also spoke out against discrimination of gays on Tuesday, comparing gay rights to both women's rights and civil rights. "It is violation of human rights when people are beaten or killed because of their sexual orientation, or because they do not conform to cultural norms about how men and women should look or behave," Clinton said. "It is a violation of human rights when governments declare it illegal to be gay, or allow those who harm gay people to go unpunished." This is not the first time Perry has spoken out against gay rights. In November, he signed a controversial marriage pledge started by the conservative Iowa group Family Leader, and in October he publicly urged New Hampshire to repeal the state's same-sex marriage law.

Rick Perry Messes Up...Again: media type="youtube" key="h9s3rqw8MiY" width="425" height="350"SNL cast makes fun of Rick Perry media type="youtube" key="tFT_SXGqY-c" width="425" height="350"Rick Perry forgets his point media type="youtube" key="21z30aNO3cA" width="425" height="350"Rick Perry's "drunk" speech =Rick Perry tries to move forward past blunders= Two Republican presidential candidates who are receiving more attention for blunders than policies sought to turn the page in Iowa on Tuesday, with Texas Gov. Rick Perry unveiling a dramatic plan to overhaul Washington and businessman Herman Cain arguing that too much attention is being paid to a video of him struggling to answer a question about Libya. Quoting the biblical admonishments of Ecclesiastes in arguing the merits of his plan, Perry proposed cutting congressional salaries in half and making the posts part-time, ending lifetime appointments of federal judges, and privatizing the Transportation Security Administration, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "I think it's time to tear down monuments of bureaucratic failure and put in place a smaller, more effective federal government that puts the American people first," said Perry, speaking to several dozen voters at the Schebler manufacturing plant in Bettendorf. One of his proposals, ending lifetime appointments for federal judges and instituting 18-year terms for Supreme Court justices, would require a constitutional amendment. Perry on Tuesday also called for constitutional amendments requiring a balanced budget and outlawing abortion. He reiterated his call to eliminate the federal Energy, Education and Commerce departments, the proposal that got him in trouble in a debate last week when he could name only two of the three agencies, struggling for nearly one minute as his rivals attempted to help. Perry finally gave up with an embarrassed "oops." The moment caused some to write off his candidacy, and from the moment the debate ended, Perry has sought to defuse the uproar by using self-deprecation and humor. But on Tuesday, he did not mention it and instead sought to focus attention on his policy prescriptions. "Americans know there is a season for everything under the sun. This is a season for tearing down and rebuilding again," he said. "Building a new government that is smaller, more humble, so America can be stronger and freer again — that is my vision." Appearing with Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, who served in the Senate and the House for 16 years, Perry argued that Washington insiders were too enmeshed in the system to fix it. "I'm unique" in the GOP field, Perry said. "I've never been an establishment figure, I never served in Congress, I've never been part of an administration, I've never been a paid lobbyist. My career has been that of a Washington outsider."

**Rick Perry Makes Mistake, Refers To New Hampshire Primaries As 'Caucuses'** Already effectively an afterthought in New Hampshire primary polling, Texas Governor Rick Perry took to Fox News Wednesday and referred to the Granite State's first-in-the-nation contest as "caucuses," instead of primaries. "Americans haven't decided yet at all who they want to lead the Republican nomination," Perry said in response to a question about the emerging narrative that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich are breaking away from the rest of the pack. "And we're going to be talking about that and we're going to be talking about it in harsh and strong terms over the course of the next four to five weeks as we get ready for those New Hampshire caucuses." Later asked if he'd realized the mistake, Perry responded, "I did. I'll do that from time to time."



<span style="background-color: #800000; color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 200%;">What Will Rick Perry do? <span style="color: #2b78ae; font-family: Helvetica,san-serif; font-size: 27px;">"We are focusing on areas that are most essential to an improved quality of life, pursuing advancements in safety, education, economic development, infrastructure & resource management, and personal well-being." - Gov. Rick Perry "The issue that is most important and most on people's minds is jobs," Perry said. "The candidate that Americans can get excited about, that truly understands that and can deliver that, I think, is a candidate that is really going to excite the imagination and get the juices flowing of the electorate out there," he said. Pointing to an increase in employment in his state, the governor said he's cracked the code for figuring out how to create jobs. Perry said the stimulus and job creation efforts of President Barack Obama haven't worked. "I think we poured about $4 trillion down that rat hole and government has not created a job," he said. Supporters of the stimulus plan point out that jobs were saved because of the effort congressional Republicans opposed. And while Perry fought Washington over accepting a portion of Obama's economic stimulus package because of strings attached to the money, the state ended up using billions of the federal aid to balance the state budget, avoiding a possible financial disaster. Perry, 61, said social issues should be decided state by state and even remarked that New York's passage of gay marriage law was that state's business. Still, he said he would support a constitutional amendment that takes away the power of the states to decide who can get married. "Yes, sir, I would. I am for the federal marriage amendment," he said. "And that's about as sharp a point as I could put on it." Perry has used more than words to support tempering evolution taught in schools with creationism. This month, he appointed a biology teacher who disputes evolution as chairwoman of the Texas State Board of Education. In 2009, that 15-member board put the national spotlight on Texas in a debate that led to adopting standards encouraging schools to look at "all sides" of scientific theory. It now is considering educational materials that promote intelligent design even though a federal court ruled against teaching the theory that life on Earth is so complex that it must have come from an intelligent higher power. "There are clear indications from our people who have amazing intellectual capability that this didn't happen by accident and a creator put this in place," Perry said. "Now, what was his time frame and how did he create the earth that we know? I'm not going to tell you that I've got the answers to that," Perry said. "I believe that we were created by this all-powerful supreme being and how we got to today versus what we look like thousands of years ago, I think there's enough holes in the theory of evolution to, you know, say there are some holes in that theory." If there's a creator for Perry's candidate-in-waiting campaign, it's his wife, Anita. Hours before his 2010 election to a third full term, Perry told the AP that his out-of-mainstream views were proof that he could never run for president. Anita Perry changed his outlook. Perry said his wife's political instincts have always been spot-on. She was concerned about last year's passage of federal health care laws hurting innovation and care as well as a soaring national debt that would burden their children. While her husband had a good job already, she told him "you need to do your duty," Perry recalled. "That was a very sobering conversation. It was one that made me sit down and reconsider my blanket rejection, if you will, of my interest in running for the presidency. I've gone from 'no way, no how' to 'I'm going to think about this' to getting comfortable in my heart and calm in my soul that this is an appropriate thing to do," Perry said. "I still don't wake up every morning and go, 'Man, being a president of the United States is something I dream about every day,' no more than, I suppose, a soldier on June the 5th or June the 6th of 1944 looked forward to running up the beach at Normandy," he said. No decision has been made. Perry said that could wait as long as until Labor Day. Nonetheless, he's on a well-worn candidate-in-waiting trajectory: raising his profile, planning stump speeches in early voting states; putting feelers out for staff, and working key donors to fuel a campaign that would spend hundreds of millions to clinch the primaries, nomination and general election. On the day he appointed the school board member, Perry headed to the hospital for back surgery. Doctors had discovered a problem when he was 16. "It never caused me an ounce of problems until I got to be about 50 and then it got to be a nagging thing," he said. His doctor persuaded him to try surgery for the pain. The avid jogger — he was a triathlete between 2002 and 2008 — said he's about 80 percent recovered. "When I'm fully recovered is when I get to start running again. I'm kind of hooked on running," he said. For now, he's swimming and hitting the treadmill for 1½ miles a day, listening to a playlist that includes country singer Clay Walker and a North Dallas alternative rock band, Forever the Sickest Kids. None of that is keeping him from the campaign circuit, he said. That includes his first political stop in South Carolina, planned for Aug. 13, to talk at a gathering in Charleston sponsored by the conservative website RedStates. The next day, Iowa voters will hold a straw poll designed to show early strength ahead of the state caucuses. Perry's not on the candidate list there and won't make a bid announcement while here. The one-time Air Force cargo pilot said that won't create a problem getting his campaign airborne if he decides to run. "I think we'll be able to break ground," he said, "even with a combat load on board."

=<span style="background-color: #000000; color: #00ffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 2.5em;">"Rick Perry makes aggressive play in Iowa as he looks to woo evangelical conservatives" = With a massive new television ad campaign targeting social conservatives, the Republican presidential hopeful signaled Wednesday he intends to try to resuscitate his faltering candidacy in Iowa, which holds kickoff caucuses in less than four weeks. It’s a tall order for Perry, who entered the race to great fanfare in August only to see his popularity plummet throughout the fall. “We’re sitting in a good place at this particular point in time,” Perry told CNN. “Obviously, we’re going to be in South Carolina a good bit over the course of the next two weeks. But Iowa is the real focus.” Illustrating that, Perry’s campaign has launched a $1.2 million ad buy in the caucus state leading up to the January 3 contest. The campaign plans to spend more than $650,000 this week alone on a commercial showcasing the Texas governor’s Christian faith and attacking President Barack Obama for waging a “war on religion.” Perry’s aim is twofold. He’s reminding evangelical Christian voters, who typically make up a sizable share of the state’s GOP caucus-goers, that he is one of them. He’s also drawing a contrast with rival Mitt Romney, whose Mormon faith gives many evangelical voters pause, and with Newt Gingrich, who recently converted to Catholicism but has been divorced twice and has acknowledged infidelity in his first two marriages. “The evangelical Christians are waiting to, you know, find that individual that they’re really comfortable with, that they think can win, that has their values,” Perry told CNN, adding: “I fit their mold quite well.” “My faith is part of me,” Perry continued. “The values that I learned in my Christian upbringing will affect my governing.” Perry is getting help from Make Us Great Again, a super PAC supporting his candidacy. The group is running ads depicting Perry as an outsider who will rescue the country from Washington “elites.” All told, it’s a massive show of force for Perry in a contest that so far hasn’t seen much of an ad war. Romney, the best-funded of the GOP field, has only recently gone up with ads in Iowa after running a modest TV campaign in New Hampshire, which hosts the leadoff primary January 10. Gingrich began running ads in Iowa just this week. The $2 million that Perry’s campaign has already spent on ads in Iowa hasn’t done much to move him out of the bottom tier of candidates. A new TIME/CNN/ORC poll released Wednesday found Perry in fourth place with just 9 percent support among likely caucus-goers, trailing Gingrich, Romney and Texas Rep. Ron Paul. Until now, Perry had stressed his state’s record in job creation. His pivot to social issues — including a sharp critique on gay rights — shows he is looking to his party’s most conservative base to find a second wind just as voters are tuning in. “There’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school,” Perry says in his new TV ad.

<span style="background-color: #008000; color: #ffff00; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 250%;">How's Rick Perry Doing? Rick Perry’s rapid rise in the national polls and almost as rapid fall has been one of the major story lines of the Republican nomination battle. But even more striking than the Texas governor’s plunge in national polls is his absolute collapse in most of the first states to choose presidential convention delegates. Perry never soared in New Hampshire — like he did in early states Iowa, Florida and South Carolina. But his collapse is evident in our look at presidential polling in all four of those states. Perry currently sits in the bottom half of the GOP nominees, pulling 2, 3, and 4 percent in Florida, New Hampshire, and South Carolina polls, respectively. The Texas Governor sits at 7 percent in the latest Iowa Caucus poll by Inside Advantage.

Take a look:

Sue Westrell and Stuart McLaughlin



**//Rick Perry-2012//** Economics: Presidential Candidates Slip on Econ 101 Every 2012 contender attended college. They all graduated. They went to schools like the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Texas A&M, Morehouse, Penn State and Emory.

But decades have passed since these Presidential candidates first stepped onto campus as freshmen. Is it time for an Econ 101 refresher course?

America's Econ 101 professors say yes. In their view, the candidates continue to offer ideas and policies that wouldn't pass muster in their classes -- populated by 18 year-old college students.

"There are so many economic 'misstatements' being made," said Jonathan Lanning, a professor at Bryn Mawr who is teaching two introductory economics classes this semester. "And it isn't confined to any one candidate."

Michele Bachmann promised to [|bring back $2 gas]. Tim Pawlenty suggested [|sustained 5% GDP growth] was a realistic target. Rick Perry would balance the budget with lower tax revenues.

No dice, say the professors.

Stephen Golub, who is teaching Econ 101 at Swarthmore College this semester, said some of the ideas floated by Presidential candidates would earn a failing grade in his class.

"I think it's grossly irresponsible what they are saying," Golub said. "It's not about economics. It's about getting elected. They are promising things that are impossible to deliver or make little sense."

The rhetoric sounds good on the campaign trail. Not in the classroom.

The simple laws of supply and demand render Bachmann's $2 gas promise void, said Erik Nelson, an Econ 101 professor at Bowdoin College.

Rick Perry labeling Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as treasonous? "Really over the top," said Golub. Another professor who teaches at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Michael Salemi, was able to identify statements from six candidates that "would earn failing grades in my Econ 101 class."

Salemi called Ron Paul's rationale for returning to the gold standard "one of the most dangerous ideas put forward by a politician in recent years."

And the idea of waging a trade war with China that was bandied about by Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney at a recent debate?

"If we learned anything from the Great Depression it was that starting a trade war by passing new tariffs leads to reprisals," Salemi said. "In the end there are no winners, only losers."

Nelson said the tax plans floated by Cain and Perry are prime examples of policy proposals that are designed to appeal to primary voters.

"If either of these men are the Republican nominee for president, I suspect their flat tax proposals will go the way of all other short-lived flat tax proposals," Nelson said.

Bernard Salanie, an economics professor at Columbia University, said Perry's simplified tax form just won't cut it. "It is a bit depressing to again hear the argument that we will be well on the road to recovery once our tax returns fit on a postcard," Salanie said.

And it's not just Republicans -- the Democratic candidate is slipping too.

Neither "side" has a "truly comprehensive understanding of even basic economics," Lanning said.

Nelson pointed to President Obama's green jobs initiative, which he said is an attempt to wed job creation and energy production in a way that is unlikely to produce real results.

"They should either concentrate on a policy that aids job creation or a policy that creates more green energy; attempts to do both with one policy means they do well on neither goal," Nelson said.

Lanning couldn't be sure any of the candidates would fail his Econ 101 class, but he did say they wouldn't survive moving up to 200-level classes next semester.

"I can say that none of the rationales for various policies that I have heard display a basic 200-level understanding of key economic concepts," he said.

[|Source]

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-size: 32px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">Rick Perry's tax and spend conundrum NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Rick Perry has an economic plan. He wants the federal government to spend less money, and he wants huge tax cuts. Oh, and a balanced budget by 2020. Here's the rub: Perry's plan would drastically reduce the amount of money the government collects in taxes. And with a balanced budget amendment, that would mean taking an axe to spending levels. "Cuts of the magnitude required would effectively cripple most federal government programs," said Craig Jennings, a budget expert at the progressive OMB Watch think tank. Perry wants to institute an <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|optional flat tax rate of 20%], eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits, throw out taxes on qualified dividends and capital gains, while sacking the estate tax. Corporate taxes would decrease as well. An independent analysis conducted by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center found that Perry's tax plan would "reduce federal tax revenues dramatically." For example, in 2015, the government would collect almost $1 trillion less in taxes under Perry's plan, a reduction of 27%. "It's a huge revenue hole," said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. "There will have to be larger spending cuts than otherwise needed -- just to compensate." ==<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Time for Congress to do right] == So if Perry wants to balance the budget, massive spending cuts will be required. "It would be pretty much unprecedented," said Jennings. "When you make those deep cuts, you have consequences like fewer food inspectors and fewer programs for the poor. It's going to have a massive impact." What programs would Perry target? Tough to say. The candidate has pointed to a few specific cuts, including a 50% reduction in Department of Education funding for elementary and secondary programs, and cuts to the loan portfolios of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Asked about the difficulty of balancing the federal budget while slashing revenue, Perry said he is not worried. "There is nothing wrong with lower revenue," Perry told FOX News on Sunday. "I think Americans are ready for Washington, D.C. to quit spending money." In a twist, Perry's camp is now touting an alternative analysis of his economic plan -- one that predicts the plan will actually increase revenue, and eliminate the need for steep cuts. But that analysis relies on a different method -- called dynamic scoring -- that attempts to predict the effect of a policy change on economic growth. It's a technique eschewed by many tax and budget experts. "Nobody really has a model to do [dynamic scoring] well," said Howard Gleckman, a tax expert at the Urban Institute. "You can't do it credibly." The analysis distributed by Perry's campaign predicts the tax cuts will have a huge simulative effect on the economy -- boosting gross domestic product to sky-high levels. ==<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[|32 plans to cut the debt. Really.] == In 2020, for example, Perry's analysis assumes his tax cuts push growth up to $26.4 trillion -- 15% higher than what the Congressional Budget Office predicts. All that growth means sharply elevated levels of federal revenue. It's not clear what Perry would do with the extra revenue, since sharply reducing the size and scope of government is one of his main campaign themes. Perry's campaign stands by the analysis. "There are numerous people that do different analyses," said Perry spokesman Mark Miner. "We're confident this scoring is accurate and unbiased." Of course, the general election is still a year away, and any economic plan floated at this point will have to be revised as conditions change -- or as a future president negotiates the congressional mine field that surely awaits. [|Source]

<span style="background-color: #000000; color: #000000; display: block; font-size: 31px; text-align: center;">Perry Tries to Laugh Off Debate Mistake NEW YORK – Texas Gov. Rick Perry, after offering up late-night fodder with his forgetful moment at this week's Republican presidential debate, opted to get in on the joke with an appearance on David Letterman's show Thursday night. Capping a day of interviews in which he tried to laugh off the embarrassing moment, Perry gave the TV audience his own list of "Top 10 Rick Perry Excuses" for being unable to remember which three federal agencies he would eliminate. In a separate interview on __ [|Fox News] __ Thursday night, Perry explained that the campaign decided to have a "little bit of fun with it." His campaign website invited people to comment on which agency they'd like to forget -- Perry said the site got over 2,000 hits Thursday. On Letterman, Perry chalked his brain freeze up to everything from Mitt Romney's good looks to a deficiency of energy drinks. "Hey, listen. You try concentrating with Mitt Romney smiling at you. That is one handsome dude," Perry chuckled during his segment with the __ [|comedian] __. At the debate, Perry could only come up with the names of two of the three agencies he had promised to get rid of if elected president, ending with a grinning, "Oops." Perry later said he would eliminate the Commerce, Education and Energy departments. He also acknowledged that he had "stepped in it" during the debate. The Texas governor is trying to turn the stumble into an opportunity. He is asking supporters to pitch in a few dollars for every agency they would abolish. Perry's Top 10 excuses on Letterman: 10. "Actually there were three reasons I messed up last night. One was the nerves, two was the headache and three was, and three, uh, uh. Oops." 9. "I don't know what you're talking about. I think things went well." 8. "Hey, I was up late last night watching `Dancing With the Stars."' 7. "I thought the debate was tonight." 6. "Hey, listen. You try concentrating with Mitt Romney smiling at you. That is one handsome dude." 5. "Uh, el nino?" 4. "I had a five-hour energy drink six hours before the debate." 3. "I really hoped to get on my favorite talk show, but instead I ended up here." 2. "Hey, I wanted to help take the heat off my buddy Herman Cain." 1. "I just learned __ [|Justin Bieber] __ is my father." [|Source]

<span style="color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 32px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">On Second Day in N.H., Rick Perry Pushes Right to Work Bill CONCORD, N.H. – Rick Perry transitioned from pushing his immigration message to slamming the link between Wall Street and Washington, D.C. Wednesday along with urging the New Hampshire legislature to override a veto on right-to-work legislation. “If you pass into law a right- to-work law, you may join my home state and take over the title of the state that’s creating more jobs in American than any place in this country,” Perry said to a standing ovation by Republicans at the New Hampshire State House. “Unions have their proper role in America but you shouldn’t be forced to join one to feed your family. It should be your choice.” As pro-union members assembled outside booed the Texas governor from the balcony of the assembly, Perry’s appearance came over an hour before the legislature voted to override Governor John Lynch’s veto of a right to work bill. The veto override measure failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed by 12 votes. At a town hall yesterday, Perry predicted the passage of right-to-work legislation would make New Hampshire the “crown jewel” of the Northeast. The Texas governor delivered one of his most energetic speeches in recent weeks before the legislative body, showing the Texas governor in his element speaking to legislators as he cited historical New Hampshire yarns and derided the recklessness of politicians in the nation’s capital. “Washington politicians have acted like Black Friday consumers, engaging in a spending spree that puts our children’s future on layaway. Their motto is we buy now, they pay later,” said Perry at the state house. Throughout the morning, Perry adopted a populist tone, lambasting the ties between Washington, D.C. and Wall Street titans. “Americans were snookered into deals with zero down and balloon payments and the regulators fell asleep at the switch,” Perry said at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast in Nashua. “These wall street high rollers, they hatched these get rich quick concepts and ideas and they profited and they were betting against America…that is what is so offensive to me .. those who didn’t see it coming, well they got bailed out.” Perry attempted to distinguish himself as the lone outsider in the race, a characteristic he has increasingly promoted as politicians like former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who served in Congress for twenty years, and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who sought the Republican nomination in 2008, lead the Republican pack. “You don’t have to sit back and take it anymore. You don’t have to resign yourself to choosing between Washington insiders. You don’t have to settle for modest reforms that amounts to basically reshuffling the status quo. You can reach beyond the confines of the beltway and choose bold change from a true Washington outsider.” During the question and answer session at the Chamber of Commerce breakfast, the topic of immigration was never raised as it was at each event Tuesday. Instead, the discussion focused on the economy, social security and foreign policy. One voter asked Perry to explain in detail his proposal to shut down the Iranian Central Bank, but the Texas governor offered no specific answer, saying only that the U.S. is faced with “bad options.” “The idea of shutting down their central bank which basically shuts down their ability to do business, but we’re down to really bad options here. I don’t know what a medical analogy would be, but I don’t want the doctor standing by my bed and giving me those two options,” Perry said. “Allowing them to get a nuclear weapon is unacceptable.” “I know there are people who say the price of oil is going to go through the roof, but listen we don’t have good options here.” Perry’s two events Wednesday marked the end of his two day swing through the Granite State in what will likely be his last trip to New Hampshire until after the Iowa caucuses. The Perry campaign is expected to enhance its presence in Iowa within the coming weeks. Perry travels to California Wednesday for two days of fundraisers as his campaign attempts to raise money to carry him deep into the primary. As Perry left his morning event in Nashua, he was asked about his latest gaffe, calling the New Hampshire primary, the “New Hampshire caucus,” but the Texas governor shook it off, admitting he’s prone to mistakes. “I did. Yep. I’ll do that from time to time,” said Perry. [|Source]

Rick Perry will brave Mike Huckabee's Fox forum after all When news of the forum [|was reported last week], five candidates—Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Santorum—had already committed to attending. At the time, Perry was still unconfirmed, and, given his long and uneasy history with Huckabee, it was unclear whether he would make the trip. Huckabee has been savaging Perry since long before that [|became an easy thing to do], disparaging Perry's chances since before Perry had even officially declared. "For all his newfound commitment to hyper-conservatism, he’ll get to explain why he supported pro-abortion, pro-same-sex-marriage Rudy Guiliani last time," Huckabee [|wrote in an email to supporters] in July. Huckabee was, of course, the anti-abortion, anti-same-sex-marriage candidate in that race; Perry said at the time that Huckabee was incapable of winning the presidency. As Perry's campaign has faltered, Huckabee hasn't missed many opportunities to point out his shortcomings. In September, he said Perry was " [|not prepared for the pressure of the presidential stage] ," and later poked [|fun at his debate gaffes]. Huckabee has enlisted three attorneys general—Pam Bondi of Florida, Scott Pruitt of Virginia, and Ken Cuccinelli of Virginia—as co-hosts, who will individually pose questions to the candidates. It sounds slightly more forgiving than some of the debate formats, on balance, and theoretically offers Perry a chance to re-establish himself as a capable performer on the national stage a few weeks before before the Iowa caucuses. Herman Cain and Jon Huntsman are not scheduled to attend the forum. [|Source]
 * Texas governor Rick Perry will be in New York City this weekend to participate in a Fox News forum hosted by Mike Huckabee, a spokesperson for Fox confirmed this morning.**

Rick Perry makes aggressive play in Iowa as he looks to woo evangelical conservatives

By Associated Press, Published: December 7
NEW YORK — Rick Perry isn’t going down without a fight. With a massive new television ad campaign targeting social conservatives, the Republican presidential hopeful signaled Wednesday he intends to try to resuscitate his faltering candidacy in Iowa, which holds kickoff caucuses in less than four weeks. It’s a tall order for Perry, who entered the race to great fanfare in August only to see his popularity plummet throughout the fall. “We’re sitting in a good place at this particular point in time,” Perry told CNN. “Obviously, we’re going to be in South Carolina a good bit over the course of the next two weeks. But Iowa is the real focus.” Illustrating that, Perry’s campaign has launched a $1.2 million ad buy in the caucus state leading up to the January 3 contest. The campaign plans to spend more than $650,000 this week alone on a commercial showcasing the Texas governor’s Christian faith and attacking President Barack Obama for waging a “war on religion.” Perry’s aim is twofold. He’s reminding evangelical Christian voters, who typically make up a sizable share of the state’s GOP caucus-goers, that he is one of them. He’s also drawing a contrast with rival Mitt Romney, whose Mormon faith gives many evangelical voters pause, and with Newt Gingrich, who recently converted to Catholicism but has been divorced twice and has acknowledged infidelity in his first two marriages. “The evangelical Christians are waiting to, you know, find that individual that they’re really comfortable with, that they think can win, that has their values,” Perry told CNN, adding: “I fit their mold quite well.” “My faith is part of me,” Perry continued. “The values that I learned in my Christian upbringing will affect my governing.” Perry is getting help from Make Us Great Again, a super PAC supporting his candidacy. The group is running ads depicting Perry as an outsider who will rescue the country from Washington “elites.” All told, it’s a massive show of force for Perry in a contest that so far hasn’t seen much of an ad war. Romney, the best-funded of the GOP field, has only recently gone up with ads in Iowa after running a modest TV campaign in New Hampshire, which hosts the leadoff primary January 10. Gingrich began running ads in Iowa just this week. The $2 million that Perry’s campaign has already spent on ads in Iowa hasn’t done much to move him out of the bottom tier of candidates. A new TIME/CNN/ORC poll released Wednesday found Perry in fourth place with just 9 percent support among likely caucus-goers, trailing Gingrich, Romney and Texas Rep. Ron Paul. Until now, Perry had stressed his state’s record in job creation. His pivot to social issues — including a sharp critique on gay rights — shows he is looking to his party’s most conservative base to find a second wind just as voters are tuning in. “There’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school,” Perry says in his new TV ad. Perry also released a statement criticizing the Obama administration for announcing a plan to tie foreign aid decisions in part to a country’s treatment of its gay and lesbians. “Investing tax dollars promoting a lifestyle many Americas of faith find so deeply objectionable is wrong,” Perry says. Perry has several campaign events scheduled Sunday in Iowa after a nationally televised debate Saturday evening in Des Moines. Perry’s weak performance in several debates has been a major factor in his loss of support. With his full-throated appeal to social conservatives, Perry is hoping to follow the path of Mike Huckabee, who in 2008 trounced Romney for an upset win in thanks largely to the former Arkansas governor’s popularity among religious conservatives. It’s not a perfect model: Huckabee left Iowa that year with his campaign nearly broke and was never able to convert his victory into a sustainable effort across multiple states. Advisers to Perry insist he won’t face that fate and have devised a strategy in which he will largely bypass New Hampshire to focus on South Carolina, which hosts its primary January 21. “He’s a competitor. The guy’s not used to losing. To be frank, he does better when he’s in third or fourth place than when he’s ahead,” said Katon Dawson, who is running Perry’s South Carolina campaign operation. Perry is scheduled to make several campaign stops in the state Thursday, including an event with veterans and a private meeting with 450 pastors. Dawson, a former South Carolina Republican Party chairman, said the heavy ad blitz and sharper focus on Christian conservatives shouldn’t be construed as a sign of panic by the Perry team. “What you’re seeing is the real Rick Perry,” Dawson said. “The goal is to show voters they have a distinct choice.”
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WHY IS RICK PERRY DODGING QUESTIONS ABOUT HEALTHCARE IN TEXAS? I did exactly what the doctor told me to do. Unfortunately, I'm not feeling a bit better. Maybe even a little worse. Last week, Dr. Michael C. Burgess, tweeted this directive: "Mark your calendars: Rick Perry will join Health Caucus' Thought Leaders Series next Wednesday, December 7 @ 5 p.m." Eager to hear what thought leadership the Texas governor and presidential candidate would be imparting, I marked my calendar as Dr. Burgess prescribed. Imagine my dismay when I learned yesterday morning that Perry would be sharing his thoughts behind closed doors. The media and public, it turns out, had been disinvited. Burgess, a Texas Republican, chairs the Congressional Health Care Caucus, which, according to its website, "is committed to advancing reforms that reduce costs, increase patient control, expand choice, and promote cures." Committed as it may be, the caucus is composed of Republicans only, and most of the thought leaders who have appeared before it in recent months have been Republicans running for president. Last month, both Herman Cain and Ron Paul spoke to the caucus. Newt Gingrich was the guest of honor last spring. But unlike yesterday's meeting of the caucus, all of those were open to the public and media and streamed live on the Internet. Burgess said it was the Perry campaign's request to close the meeting, not his. "They have asked that it be closed to the press, and we are respecting their wishes," Burgess was quoted in the //Washington Post// as telling reporters in the Capitol Tuesday night. Why would Perry insist on sharing his thoughts with just a handful of GOP lawmakers? We'll probably never know for sure, but I suspect that if the truth were to be known, it would be because Perry didn't cotton to having to answer questions about two reports published this week, both of which show that, by many measures, health care has gone from bad to worse since Perry became governor 11 years ago this month. Perry has not said much to any audience about what he would do to address the many problems with the U.S. health care system other than to repeal "Obamacare." One of the few things he has pointed to as a major accomplishment during his time in office is tort reform. With his strong backing, Texas in 2003 instituted liability caps that limit the amount of money plaintiffs can collect if they prevail in medical malpractice suits against doctors. Patients in Texas can receive no more than $250,000 in non-economic damages as a result of the caps. Perry has bragged that doctors have flocked to Texas since 2003 because of the medical malpractice damage caps and that those caps have help control health care costs in the state. On Tuesday, however, the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen released a study that debunks those claims. "While litigation over malpractice in Texas has plummeted dramatically since the caps were imposed, residents of Texas-except for people with financial connections to liability insurance companies and, to a lesser extent, doctors -- have realized few, if any, benefits," Public Citizen said in a statement accompanying the study. "Instead, the health care picture in Texas has worsened significantly by almost any measure." Oops. Public Citizen's study found that Medicare spending has increase faster in the Lone Star state than the nation as a whole and that outpatient service costs covered by Medicare have also exceeded national averages. "More Texans lack health insurance, the per capita number of doctors has not increased noticeably, and premiums for private health insurance have increase at a rate higher than the national average," according to the study. The study was based in part on U.S. Census data, which shows that Texas continues to be -- as the Texas Medical Association put it a few years ago -- "the uninsured capital of the United States." More than 26 percent of Texans are uninsured, the highest rate in the country. That means that about 6.3 million Texas -- men, women and children -- have no health insurance. That's almost exactly the population of my home state of Tennessee. An analysis by the Texas Medical Association a few years ago showed that children were especially disadvantaged in Texas: a full 30 percent of Texas kids were uninsured in 2006-2007. The other study that came out this week that Perry undoubtedly hopes no one will notice came from the Association of American Medical Colleges. The AAMC reported that Texas ranks 48th in the number of active patient primary care physicians per 100,000 population. There are just 62 primary care doctors per 100,000 people in Texas compared to the national median of 80. Citing the AAMC report, Alex Winslow, executive director of the citizen advocacy organization Texas Watch, said that, "Despite rhetoric to the contrary, the data proves that Texas continues to fall far behind in access to health care. Texas patients need meaningful reforms that improve the cost, quality and access to health care -- not empty rhetoric and hollow promises." That is not something that just Texas patients need. So do the rest of us. What do you say to that, Gov. Perry?

Rick Perry Courts The Cain Train Voters Texas Gov. Rick Perry Texas Governor Rick Perry is trying very hard to be the frontrunner again. Perry has become famous for his gaffes and his tendency to not understand so much as the first thing with regards to how the government or the Constitution works. This means that he is more than happy to claim that the US has to get back to its constitutional roots by allowing him to be a defacto dictator. Perry is reaching out to Herman Cain’s supporters trying to get them to come to him all the while claiming that he is some kind of messiah for the Republican Party rather than an embarrassment. Even as many Republicans are busy trying to not look embarrassed with regards to their stances on same-sex marriage, and the treatment of homosexuals in this nation, Perry just has to try and push that one through. In the open letter he has posted trying to get the Cain supporters to come to him, he wrote “I believe America’s best days are ahead of us if we return to our constitutional roots. I believe this nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values. But you don’t have to go to church every Sunday to know something is wrong in America where gays can openly serve in the military but our children can’t pray in school.” Of course, what he does not understand is that children can pray in school, but they cannot be lead in prayer. Perry should take this into account, though. Cain’s supporters are the same people, more or less, who supported him before they supported Cain, and they supported Bachmann before they supported him. Right now, the Republicans are looking for someone to sweep in and save the Party, but they have already looked at him and said he was not the one. You know, sort of like Goldilocks…Perry was too crazy.

> Dear Friends, > Today a friend who sacrificed much in the effort to lead our great country suspended his campaign. I want to wish Herman Cain, his wife Gloria, and the entire Cain Family the very best and God’s blessings as they move forward. > Herman Cain’s appeal was that of a Washington Outsider – someone not beholden to the entrenched Beltway interests, and who hasn’t spent his life cutting deals at the expense of conservative principles. > As the race goes forward, with the Iowa Caucuses 32 days away, I am truly the only Washington Outsider left in the race. I haven’t served a day in Washington – either in Congress or as part of an Administration – and I am not the hand-picked choice of the Washington Establishment. I am simply a conservative governor who has led based on my strong faith and conservative values, and will chart a conservative course for our country. > I came from humble beginnings. My parents were tenant farmers. For several years we lacked indoor plumbing while growing dryland cotton. Those humble roots taught me about hard work, the importance of family, and the vital role of faith in America. And the fact the son of tenant farmers could run for president tells me the American Dream is alive and well in this country today. > My plan to fix Washington is not to tinker around the margins, but to uproot and overhaul our three broken branches of government. I will work to create a part-time Congress where their pay is cut in half and their time in Washington is cut in half. I will advocate for ending lifetime appointments of federal judges so they cannot legislate from the bench the rest of their lives. And I will eliminate needless federal agencies while stopping the burdensome regulations killing jobs in America. > I believe America’s best days are ahead of us if we return to our constitutional roots. I believe this nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values. But you don’t have to go to church every Sunday to know something is wrong in America where gays can openly serve in the military but our children can’t pray in school. If we are truly going to change Washington, it will take a real outsider. I will be a president who is not afraid to step on some toes to give the American people the true change they desire after three years of damage done by the Obama Administration. > I ask for your support, and I ask for your help in making Washington less consequential in our lives. > Sincerely, > Rick Perry

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<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">[|Perry position on Gun Control] Perry is an advocate of an individual’s right to bear arms.
 * The Second Amendment: Individual or Collective Right?**

//“… proud to welcome all the men and women who have led the fight to protect the Second Amendment for every American… As a gun owner and avid hunter, I appreciate the work the NRA does day in and day out to protect our right to bear arms… Today as we celebrate the victories of the past 25 years, I can’t help but note how the public dialogue has changed when it comes to gun control. You don’t <span class="IL_AD">hear as many politicians making ridiculous claims about guns causing crimes these days and the reason for that is simple. Responsible gun owners like those in this room are not a threat to society, but a deterrent to crime. You have <span class="IL_AD">invested a vast amount of time and energy into educating the American people and the American people in <span class="IL_AD">turn have sent a loud and clear <span class="IL_AD">message to their elected leaders: the Second Amendment is not a loophole, so stop trying to close it!//

April 12, 2005, Perry speaking at the National Rifle Association’s Annual Meeting, Houston

Perry is against any form of gun control, and believes the emphasis should instead be placed on <span class="IL_AD">education of the public on the reality of gun use and legislations.
 * Legislation**

//… That’s why as governor, I have been proud to sign many pieces of legislation supported by the state <span class="IL_AD">affiliate of the NRA. We have protected Texas shooting ranges from junk <span class="IL_AD">lawsuits that tried to shut them down for making too much noise. We passed a law that allowed Texans to possess a handgun in a recreational <span class="IL_AD">vehicle. And because the NRA has done such a tremendous <span class="IL_AD">job promoting safety with the Eddie Eagle Gun Safe <span class="IL_AD">program, I signed a law that requires visiting resource officers in public elementary <span class="IL_AD">schools to offer to teach the program at least once a year. We have also worked hard to strengthen our right to carry law because it is a good law that has made our people safer… In Texas, we believe that people should have the right to protect themselves whether they have called Texas home for years or are just visiting for a few days. In the past year alone, Texas has more than doubled the number of reciprocity agreements with other states that allow citizens from other states to legally carry a concealed weapon here in Texas as well as allowing Texans to carry away from home. I’m committed to ensuring we have as many concealed handgun reciprocity agreements as possible with other states. So far we have 18…”//

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[|"Ooops" Perry Did it Again]
[|Rick Perry] has "stepped in it" again. While striking out against what he calls "activist judges" in an interview with the editorial board of the Des Moines Register, the Texas governor and presidential candidate forgot how many justices sit on the [|Supreme Court] and then forgot the name of one of its most recent appointees -[|Sonia Sotomayor]. "When you see his appointment of two, from my perspective, inarguably activist judges whether it was, uh...um..not Montemayor," Perry said. Perry paused for a few seconds and then one member of the board chimed in "[|Sonia Sotomayor]?' Perry took her prompt and continued on, "Sotomayor, Sotomayor and Kagan are both activist judges. I mean, I would suggest to you that is an example of my concern about, I believe the [|Supreme Court] should not be making legislative decisions and telling Americans how to live whether it's about prayer in school, whether it's you can celebrate Christmas. Those are decisions that should be left to the states or to the individuals." Moments later in an argument about prayer in school, Perry flubbed how many other members sit on the highest court with Justice Sotomayor. "The issue is that for Washington to tell a local school district that you cannot have a prayer and a time of prayer in that school I think is offensive to most Americans. I trust the people of the states to make those decisions, I trust those independent school district to make those decisions better than eight unelected, and frankly unaccountable judges." There are nine members of the [|Supreme Court]. They are nominated by the president and then confirmed by the Senate. Perhaps Perry can argue he wants to scale back the size of the Supreme Court too. [|Source]

=<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,helvetica,clean,sans-serif; font-size: 26px;">GOP: Gingrich, Perry will not be on Va. Ballot = <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14px;">WASHINGTON (AP) — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry have failed to qualify for Virginia 's March 6 Republican primary, a setback in their bids for the Republican presidential nomination. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14px;">The Republican Party of Virginia announced the developments Friday and early Saturday, saying that the two have failed to submit the required 10,000 signatures to get on the ballot. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14px;">That Gingrich and Perry failed to get on the ballot in this state that votes on Super Tuesday underscored the difficulty that first-time national candidates — many with smaller campaign operations and less money — have in preparing for the long haul of the campaign. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14px;">It also illustrates the advantage held by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. He's essentially been running for president for five years, and his team, smaller than in 2008 but larger than most of his 2012 opponents, has paid close attention to filing requirements in each state. He will appear on the Virginia ballot, along with Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who also has run a national campaign before. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14px;">"After verification, RPV has determined that Newt Gingrich did not submit required 10k signatures and has not qualified for the VA primary," the Republican Party of Virginia announced early Saturday on its Twitter website. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14px;">State GOP spokesman Garren Shipley said volunteers spent Friday validating petitions that the four candidates submitted by the Thursday 5 p.m. deadline to the State Board of Elections. Shipley was not available early Saturday to discuss the announcement posted on the website. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14px;">Failing to get on the ballot will be a major setback for Gingrich, who has tried to use his recent upsurge in popularity to make up for a late organizing start. Ironically, Gingrich had a slight lead over Romney, with others farther back, in a Quinnipiac poll of Virginia Republicans released earlier in the week. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14px;">The load of catching up on organizing work and a lack of advertising money to counter an onslaught of negative ads from his rivals have been major disadvantages. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14px;">Gingrich had to leave New Hampshire on Wednesday and race to Virginia, where he needed 10,000 valid voters' signatures to secure a spot on the ballot. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14px;">He said Wednesday he had enough ballot signatures, but he wanted to come to Virginia to deliver them personally. Taking no chances, his volunteers asked everyone to sign petitions before entering Gingrich's rally Wednesday night in Arlington, just across the Potomac River from Washington. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14px;">Gingrich's early-December rise in several polls gave him renewed hopes of carrying his campaign deep into the primary season. Failure to compete in Virginia, which is among the "Super Tuesday" primaries, would deal a huge blow to any contender who had not locked up the nomination by then. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14px;">The state party's Shipley said the party was validating petitions the candidates submitted by the Thursday 5 p.m. deadline to the state elections board. It began validating signatures Friday morning. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14px;">The 10,000 registered voters must also include 400 signatures from each of Virginia's 11 congressional districts. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14px;">Meanwhile, Virginia's Democrats said President Barack Obama's re-election campaign gathered enough signatures to get him on the state's primary ballot though he was the only candidate who qualified. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14px;">[|Source]

=<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,helvetica,clean,sans-serif; font-size: 26px;">Iowa’s razor-thin result indicates a fierce battle for conservatives is ahead =

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14px;">[...]

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14px;">And the field may be one person smaller when the candidates convene Saturday for the ABC News/Yahoo News debate in New Hampshire.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 14px;">"I've decided to return to Texas assess the results of tonight's caucus determine if there is a path forward for myself in this race," Rick Perry told his supporters.

[|Source]

=Why did Rick Perry stay in? Pretty obvious=

Nate Silver, whose work on his old 538.com blog and now on the New York Times website I admire greatly, has a blogpost on the question—puzzling to him and to many of us—on why Rick Perry decided the morning after his disastrous fifth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses to stay in the race, in South Carolina if not in New Hampshire, rather than bow out, as his cancellation of his travel plans to South Carolina and his return to Texas instead indicated to all of us with any history of observing these things suggested that he would.

Silver advances two scenarios for Perry’s decision. One is personal: pride demands that he keep on fighting. The other is political: his advisers, major donors, conservative leaders all demanded that he keep on.

Neither seems persuasive to me. Let me suggest a third, which I have not seen or heard anyone else advance (although I have may have missed it in the plethora of commentary). Let me call it the Tim Pawlenty scenario, after the former Minnesota governor who dropped out of the race after he lost to Michele Bachmann (and Ron Paul) in the Ames, Iowa, Republican straw poll last August 13.

Where would Pawlenty be today if he hadn’t dropped out? That’s a question Rick Perry may have thought about. As with all historical counterfactuals, we don’t know the answer, but one plausible possibility is that he may have emerged, some time between August 13 and now, as the main challenger to Mitt Romney, and he may have proved to have more staying power in that role, indeed to have overtaken Romney by many if not all metrics and not just for a month but for a much longer period of time, if he had stayed in the race. He might—might, we can’t be sure of this, but for those of us who have observed him over the years the possibility doesn’t seem nontrivial—be right now on the most plausible flight path to the Republican nomination.

What I am guessing that Rick and Anita Perry figured out on Wednesday morning, with maybe some advice from their political consultants (like my friend Mari Will) but almost certainly without any extensive conversations with Republican panjandrums across the nation, is this. If Rick Perry gets out of the race, he has zero chance of winning the Republican nomination and being elected president. If he stays in the race, his chances are not very high in percentage terms, but they are not zero. They are not zero because if Rick Santorum—the latest anti-Romney candidate to zoom upward in polls and maybe not the last one to zoom downward too—crashes and burns, then Rick Perry will be there, armed with his remaining $3 million or maybe more, to sweep up the pieces and amass a majority that can beat Mitt Romney, possibly in South Carolina, then in other Southern and maybe non-Southern states, then maybe win the nomination if Romney implodes.

Not a high probably scenario, but not a zero probability scenario either. And if you have $3 million sitting there, which you probably don’t have any other possible legal or politically defensible use for, why not use it to stay in? This is one area in which you’re better positioned than Pawlenty, who had zero cash and a lot of debt when Bachmann clocked him in the Iowa straw poll.

I am inspired to think this by a thought experiment I did after the 1992 election. As you will recall, Democrats were thought to have no chance to win in the first half of 1991 and many prominent Democrats—including Al Gore, John Kerry, Lloyd Bentsen, Bill Bradley, Dick Gephardt—decided not to run. Bill Clinton, then facing political extinction in Arkansas (both a Democratic primary opponent and a Republican general election opponent had gotten about 40% against him in 1990; it looked like his long string of Arkansas victories was about to end, with neither of the state’s two popular Democratic U.S. senators doing him the favor of retiring without winning another term) decided to run and declared in October 1991. Against weak primary opposition who were unable to beat him despite the Gennifer Flowers revelations, the draft dodging scandals and many other problems; aided by a Ross Perot whose critique of George H. W. Bush undermined him; and against a president, Bush, who at age 68 and after the 50th anniversary of his entry into public service might, absent the example of Ronald Reagan being elected president at ages 69 and 73, have chosen to retire, Clinton won.

Clinton is a brilliant politician, and he made it look easy. Nonetheless, I think after the 1992 election these other Democrats I have mentioned—Gore, Kerry, Bentsen, Bradley, Gephardt and probably others—went through the following thought exercise. They said, let me make a list of the reasons I was not elected president in 1992.

Reason one: I did not run for president in 1992.

Reason two: There is no reason two.

I think—I am guessing—that Rick Perry went through a similar thought exercise on Wednesday morning. He didn’t need prompting from Republican panjandrums; perhaps he and his wife went through the thought process together. After a few minutes, he or they got to Reason two. And, with $3 million they can’t spend (probably) in any other way, he or they said: Let’s stay in. Our chances of winning may be as low as 2%. But if we get out, they are, like Tim Pawlenty’s, zero. What have we got to lose?

There are 310 million people living in the United States. Only about 10 to 15 of the--maybe fewer--ever have been, are or will be president of the United States. If your chances of reaching that office were higher than zero--no matter how much infinitessimally higher than zero--would you want to reduce them to zero, just like that? Evidently Rick Perry didn't. [|Source]

Polls Perry's campaign started with high numbers, as evidenced by a September poll where he was second only to Romney. Slowly but surely, his numbers have fallen.

=__**Rick Perry's approval ratings drop after dropout**__=

Following his failed presidential bid, Governor Rick Perry’s approval ratings have fallen below President Obama’s among Texans, according to a new phone survey. The Austin American-Statesman, the San Antonio Express-News, the Houston Chronicle and several other publications commissioned a randomized survey of 806 Texans, conducted Jan. 21 to Jan 24. by Blum & Weprin Associates Inc. Forty percent of Texans approved of Perry’s job performance while 43 percent of Texans approved of President Obama’s job performance. The survey also found 37 percent of Texans think Perry’s presidential bid has made their own view of Perry less favorable, and 53 percent of Texans believe Perry should not run for re-election in 2014. Forty-five percent of Texans believe Perry’s presidential bid has damaged America’s image of Texas either a little (20 percent) or a lot (25 percent). The margin of error was listed at 3.5 percent. “You can’t go on the road for five months and perform poorly for four of those months and it not have an effect on your image,” said Ben Philpott, senior reporter for KUT-FM Radio, who has been following Perry since his first campaign for governor. “He didn’t do well, people knew he didn’t do well and it’s in the back of peoples’ heads when they are asking about approval in a poll like this.” Perry’s second lowest approval rating came in 2010, when 44 percent of registered voters approved of Perry’s job performance and 38 percent disapproved. The first survey in the 10-year series, conducted in 2002, put Perry’s highest approval ratings at 65 percent of registered voters. His influence in the next legislative session is yet to be seen, Philpott said, and his poor performance on the national stage may alter his role within the Texas government. “His relationship with the legislature could certainly change,” Philpott said. “He could attempt to come back and reclaim whatever role he had in the last session, or the legislature could decide that he’s not going to lead the charge. We haven’t begun to hear from lawmakers about what they are going to accept in terms of guidance.” Perry can still repair his image in Texas in the coming weeks, despite the lack of interest in the GOP race, Philpott said. “He’s going to start giving speeches next week, and rolling out platform,” Philpott said. “He’ll start being the governor again and not just a candidate. He has time to do things that will get people back on his side, but I think we still have to see if lawmakers are interested in him reasserting his role. But there’s plenty of time.” However, Perry election spokesman Ray Sullivan said he thinks lowered poll numbers will not change Perry’s role in government. “Governor Perry leads based on his conservative philosophy and what is best for Texas jobs and quality of life, not poll numbers,” Sullivan said. “In 2009, some polls shows him far behind but he went on to defeat strong Republican and Democratic challengers by wide margins.” Sullivan said the presidential bid has helped Texas’s image around the country, despite the low approval rating. “The presidential campaign let even more Americans know about Texas’ pro-job climate, great quality of life and culture of fiscal responsibility,” Sullivan said. College Republicans president and government senior Cassie Wright said she thinks the poor ratings did not affect Perry’s record within the state of Texas. “The past few months have not changed his outstanding economic record in the state of Texas,” Wright said. “We elected Governor Perry based on his successes and his ability to lead; neither his track record nor competence has changed.”

=__Rick Perry shot himself in the foot during his presidential run__=

When Rick Perry announced his candidacy for President of the United States in August 2011, he seemed to be a very promising candidate. However, there were a few monumental mistakes that Perry made that led to his waning popularity and his choice to ultimately decide he would no longer run for president. One of the biggest mistakes Perry made was not being better prepared for debates. In a Republican presidential debate, Perry made the comment that he would cut three agencies once he became president, "education, commerce, and…uhhh, what's the third?" The debate host asked Perry if he really was unable to name a third agency and after stumbling about for a minute or two he reluctantly chuckled and admitted he could not. His lack of preparedness and attention to various national issues caused him to look foolish in the media. "I think Perry is an embarrassment to Texas, just like Bush was an embarrassment to Texas," SHSU student and political science major Ashley Gay said. Another issue is that Perry has very controversial views, some of which are quite unfounded. At the GOP debate Perry argued against the fact that human activity contributes to global warming saying, "The science is not settled on this." However, then he goes on to say that Texas "has lowered our nitrous oxide levels by 57% through the Clean Air Initiative." Perry also speaks very negatively about the freedom of religion, saying that we should have "freedom of religion, not freedom from religion." He goes further to state, "I will end Obama's war on religion." A war that he has yet to give proof that Obama has waged. Resigning as a presidential candidate may be one of the best decisions Perry has made since starting this journey.

=Rick Perry’s back in Texas, and some wonder if he’s lost political power there=

By [|Melinda Henneberger], Published: January 27
Yes, to the non-Texan eye, it looks like Republican Gov. Rick Perry has slunk home from his last rodeo, having humiliated himself and his home state with a presidential run that will go down in history as one big “Oops.” But even though Texas Monthly welcomed him home with a “bum steer” award, and a statewide poll shows him with a lower approval rating than even President Obama, neither Republicans nor Democrats in the state are sure his political career is over.

First, that’s because he continues to control so many state appointments — and, as critics see it, the unlimited contributions of the donors he doles them out to. A fourth term as governor isn’t out of the question in a state the size of France, where races are mainly run and won with expensive TV ads. And his team has signaled that it believes he did so well that he might run for president again in 2016, or at least seek a fourth term as governor in 2014. “You’ve got a situation where the 800-pound gorilla just did a season on ‘Biggest Loser,’ ” said Democratic strategist Joe Householder of Houston-based Purple Strategies. “But now he’s a 300-pound gorilla,” and that’s still not a house pet. Over time, Texas Republicans who’ve long been overshadowed by Perry, such as Attorney General Greg Abbott, are expected to be watching carefully to see if he’s vulnerable enough to run against in a primary in 2014, if he does decide to run. But that’s far off, and it would serve no purpose to start making noises about that now. Though many Texans told pollsters they thought the governor had reinforced the worst mistaken impressions of their state, that doesn’t mean those who’ve supported him in the past won’t see fit to do so again. He’s kept a low profile since returning to the state last week, after [|suspending his campaign] and endorsing Newt Gingrich. But you might be surprised how eager Texans seem even now to give him the benefit of the doubt — even praising such an imperceptible achievement as knowing to get out of the race when he did, before suffering yet another defeat in South Carolina, where he was polling at the back of the pack. A Dallas Morning News editorial headlined “Rick Perry’s next act,” said that he had done an admirable job of making the state look darn good: “One sidelight of Perry’s brief presidential campaign was free advertising for Texas exceptionalism — our economy, business climate and mushrooming population.” Alas, “He wasn’t able to use that to sell himself nationally, but one thing is a cinch: Texas’ growth and growing pains are not going away, and a governor’s visionary leadership is indispensable in dealing with them.” Which is not exactly, “Thanks for nothing, Gov.” It wasn’t that he was missed day-to-day during the months he was away campaigning, his critics said. “There were huge wildfires while he was gone, and nobody said he needs to come home and deal with this,” said Marc Campos, a Democratic communications consultant. But lobbyists who have to work with Perry aren’t about to say a negative word, and Democrats aren’t laughing too hard over the recent poll numbers, Campos said, “because what does it say about us if we’ve been getting our [rear ends] kicked by Perry for 10 years, and it turns out he’s this weak?”

There are two phrases one hears over and over again from Texans talking about their governor’s less-than-glorious return. One is the cliche: “He has some fences to mend.” But fence-mending is an everyday chore, not one requiring any special strength or skill. The other is: “Daddy’s back.” And even if you didn’t cry your eyes out while he was gone, there’s the sense that it would be smarter to wait and see what the situation is before saying anything publicly that he could take out on you later.

Polling done by a group of Texas newspapers showed 37 percent of those polled have a less favorable view of him now, and 45 percent think his run hurt the state’s reputation. But maybe more remarkable is that the percentage of those who disapprove of Perry is 40 — same as the percentage who approve. And though 45 percent think he damaged the standing of their proud state, 51 percent think it either stayed the same or was improved by his performance. More than half, 53 percent, said they hope he doesn’t run again in 2014. But that’s two lifetimes away in political terms and time enough for him to recover and maybe even blow it again. Letters to the editor published in the Dallas Morning News, for example, were more sympathetic than outraged: Jacqualea Cooley, of Irving, Tex., wrote that his great honesty had done him in: “In Texas, we like our politicians open and honest like Rick Perry, but that way of campaigning just didn’t compete with the slick willies.” Vickie McKillip of Carrollton, Tex., wrote that, sadly, Americans just weren’t ready “for yet another president from our great state,” and even if Perry had prevailed, “all the other states would have been jealous and picked on us even more than they already do.” In all the postmortems going on across the state, there is general recognition that Perry wasn’t as well-prepared as George W. Bush, who spent years gathering experts of all kinds to help bring him up to speed. Because Perry and Bush have never been close, Perry’s team didn’t have the benefit of the Bush team’s experience. Perry, by all accounts, seemed to think any special preparation unnecessary, because he’d never had a tough race in the state and had done little debating or even meeting with newspaper editorial boards. Instead, his strength was in hiring a tough team that demanded and got absolute loyalty in return for appointments. During his last gubernatorial run against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R), I asked him in an interview about reports that he had let an appointee go after the official announced support for Hutchison. He made no attempt to deny the link. “I do want people to be loyal from a political standpoint,” he told me. “I would be disappointed” if someone “I appointed decided to endorse a political opponent” and would “consider them a distraction to the other loyal members. I look at a little bigger picture.” (He also told me then that he had ruled out running for president this year: “Walking away would be like Van Gogh walking away when he’s two-thirds finished with a masterpiece.”) One of the things that shocked Texans most about Perry’s race was watching him do things that weren’t like him, toughening his stand on immigration and adopting policies that were so outside anything he was interested in that he literally couldn’t remember them under pressure. Back home now for just a week, it’s hardly surprising that Texas Republicans say they have no appetite to kick Perry publicly but will wait and see how it plays out. As Democrat strategist Householder sees it, “He’s built his career not around being loved but feared, and fear goes away once you’ve shown you’re vulnerable,” so it’s in the months ahead that potential GOP rivals will be testing what kind of strength Perry still has inside the state.