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Update: This is turning into a DIY thread:

73

Rick Perry
Cap and Trade/AGW

In 2009 he trashed the Crap and Tax Bill

Note that there are multiple cases of him trashing that bill in 2009.

Not just rhetoric either

He is suing the EPA over “bad science”. I think he and TX are the only State that has done this.

Strong positive here
Gun Control

LOL, what can you say? He carries a weapon and shoots coyotes while jogging and he is from TX. If he came out pro-gun control they would run him out of State.

Human Events article on this subject on Perry's site.

He wears a Gun Dealer shirt on Fox

He gets praises from the NRA (A+ rating)

Nuff, said, strong positive here

Small government in general (spending and regulation)
Taxes

On The Issues has him speaking out against taxes in general

He is also list as a member of the Tea Party movement

When the TX Comptroller causes Amazon to leave the State over the “so-called” internet loophole (which isn’t) he went ballistic. He called for legislation that restored the ruling that distribution centers with no storefront would be forced to collect sales taxes. Unfortunately the quest for taxes in the State legislature overrode him.

Some of the liberal “fact check” organizations like to ding him for signing into law small tax hike bills on stuff like fireworks to fund different projects but I don’t see that as an issue.

I will give him a positive on the tax issue.
Spending

I can’t find a whole lot on his policies for spending. It looks like that he is against big spending in general but it is hard to track down any specifics. I understand that TX has a huge deficit right now so there had to be some “spending” going on. I will have to give him a neutral here mostly for lack of information.
Government Regulation

I will have to say that his record here is poor to mixed. As evidenced above, he is strongly against burdensome Washington regulations and control over the States. But there are instances that really hit him hard in TX.

First the infamous Trans-Texas Corridor project which he pushed to further the connections through TX from Mexico to Canada. He would use imminent domain to take a massive amount of TX land and fund the project through tolls on the roads. After massive opposition by Texans the legislature passed a bill to defeat it. He vetoed the bill (after returning to the State from overseas) just before the legislature adjourned. It appears he fought hard for this massive project including proposing legislation which would “reform” imminent domain making it EASIER to take land. I have seen posts here by his supporters that say he finally backed off on the deal. I can’t find anything to support that contention. It appears that the massive project was killed first in Washington and then in Texas by the State Legislature. If any of the Morons have any info with links to show anything different from that please let me know and I’ll update this. But to me, this is a MAJOR negative hit.

Another hit is the infamous Gardicil Vaccine via executive order (something we have been killing Obama over). This order created a huge controversy in TX for several reasons. (1) It was done via executive fiat (2) It was expensive costing $360 except for “poor” (3) Social cons didn’t like it over the sexual implications (4) A lot of people worried about the safety of the drug even though it had FDA approval (keep in mind that at the time ALL vaccines were under attack because of the bogus Lancet study.) (5) In addition, there was a huge conflict of interest with the makers of the drug and Perry with implications of cronyism and possible corruption.

His supporters maintain that there was an opt out provision. The problem with that was that it required the parents to request and complete paperwork. IOW, work through a social bureaucracy to maintain your own personal choices. Although we will never know how that would have ultimately worked, we know how it has generally worked in the past (poorly). The legislature passed a bill that killed this requirement and he “allowed” it to go into effect.

My position is kind of mixed on this. I am generally in favor of immunizations, however, in one of this nature it would have been much better to work through the legislature and debate a bill rather than do it via executive fiat. If he had done that these problems would have been avoided. Now we don’t know if killing this was a good deal or not. I have to give him a big negative on this one as well.

I can’t find much else about Texas regulations in general. I did find that he had established some kind of record on the number of vetoes but no details on what he had vetoed.

So in the end on regulations, I have to give him a strong negative. That, in my opinion, pushes him into the negative category for small government. That seems hard to accept for someone who is supposed to be a member of the Tea Party, but that is the way the cookie crumbles.
Socialized Healthcare

He strongly opposes Obamacare and wants it repealed. The Texas AG has joined with the other States in the civil action against the law.

However, much like regulations, he is in favor of the State implementing socialized medicine. He helped establish the children’ social healthcare program in Texas.

His best action thus far on health care was the fight to reform Texas medical liability laws.

I’ll give him a positive here, but it is not a strong one.
Border control/Amnesty

His support for the TTC is the first hit here.

His rhetoric is that the Feds need to put boots on the ground to halt illegal immigration and enforce existing law.

He opposed a Texas version of the AZ law saying it is not right for TX.

He has stated he opposes the notion of sanctuary cities and led the fight pushing for the Texas Sanctuary cities bill which ultimately passed.

I could not find any position that he had taken on the 2006 McCain amnesty bill.

It appears he is trying to walk a thin line here to prevent angering TX Hispanics. I give him a neutral here.
Abortion

He is a strong right to life candidate.
He also pushed through a bill requiring TX women to get a sonogram before an abortion. (Good for anti-abortion, bad for regulatory stance).

I would rate him as positive here.

Summary

4 positive, 1 negative, 1 neutral

Overall he appears good, but I have some serious concerns on his “small government” bonifides. His stance on border control/amnesty is somewhat weak as well. I can support him as a candidate and he would go on my short list if/when he announces. He is worthy of support, but I would caution the Morons on trying to make him the “Party Savior” for 2012 because the rest of the field is not satisfying their needs.

I do hope the club for growth does a wrap-up on him and is able to get some more info because that is the area that he is getting killed in here.

Posted by: Vic at June 22, 2011 10:30 AM (M9Ie6)

4 So this thread is meant as a summation of everything the Fed and Obama understand about the mechanics of stimulus and QE?

Like one of those thick, blank paged books titled "Everything Men Know About Women".

Posted by: f2000 at June 25, 2011 10:52 AM

20 This Empty Thread brought to you by Countdown with Keith Olbermann

Posted by: The Algore Network at June 25, 2011 10:57 AM

32 Ok, I know the toilet hobo thread is all pooped out, but I'm still reeling from the revelation that for only $620 I could have had 7 days and nights of hot stinky bunny luv with the man who puts the dirty back in sex:

"One Chrisco page advertises his services as a male escort. Using the handle “BunnyMan,” he offers female clients “pricing plans” that are “quick and easy.” The page, which appears to have been created several years ago, notes that an initial hour costs $40, with a two-hour minimum on all “dates.” For $620, a woman could get “Seven Days of Sin” with "BunnyMan," who, for some reason, included a scan of his passport on the site."

Posted by: Donna V. at June 25, 2011 11:05 AM

45 Now I'm in my element!

Posted by: Barack Obama at June 25, 2011 11:15 AM

72 When is Monty coming back ?

Posted by: germain at June 25, 2011 11:30 AM

79 Poor Fox News.

I switched over, figuring I could put up with half an hour of business news before the regular news starts. But, no, it's Doocey the younger going on about something or other. Bring up the guide and see "Casey Anthony Trial Coverage" all day long.

Then the anchor, ol' Wossname, comes on and says the court stunned everyone by unexpectedly adjourning for the day.

So there goes there whole planned day of alleged news.

They're filling now by talking about old Casey Anthony trial news.

Guess it's a content-free day on Fox News, too.

And why the heck is BBC showing X-Files? Don't they have any, you know, *British* shows they could show?

Posted by: Anachronda at June 25, 2011 11:38 AM

97 Memo to Janeane Garafalo;

Twisting your armpit hair into dreads does not give you street cred with black people

Posted by: kbdabear at June 25, 2011 11:50 AM

129 From the Libs' Tea Party article on the sidebar:

Still, it will likely be hard to get liberals and supporters of more progressive economic policy to rally in the same way. Tea-party activists tend to be wealthy and well-educated; Jones is hoping to reach unemployed veterans, struggling homeowners, and other groups who likely have less time to organize and grow more politically active,

I'm confused: I thought we Tea Party types were poor and ignorant crackers ... I really wish they'd get their putdowns of us straightened out.

Continuing from the article:

A year from now, will the “American Dream Movement” be on everyone’s lips the way the tea party is? It seems unlikely. But it’s a sign that liberals are making a more concerted effort to organize outside groups in ways that don’t rely on the power or personality of President Obama.

I'm willing to bet that a year from now the lips of members of the "American Dream Movement" will be the same place every other libtards' groups' lips are: freely and delightedly servicing Barky O'Bumbles, Preznint de Luxe.

Posted by: No Whining at June 25, 2011 12:47 PM

137 What's the difference?

Posted by: Andrew Breitbart at June 25, 2011 05:23 PM

posted by rdbrewer at 10:50 AM

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