[Rick Perry] is the prophet from God that instructed him to tank the Texas economy through tax breaks for the rick and tax gimmicks for the homeowner, resulting in massive deficits. He was instructed by God to then cut services for the elderly, the sick, and the poor, and to demonize those that are not angel white. Rick Perry believes he has been sent here by God to bring his word to all of America just like he did to Texas. To many, Rick Perry is Jesus Christ.
I should have long ago grown tired of running down Texas, but it seems the hits just keep on coming- and they’re tough to pass up. What other state can offer up a Governor/GOP Presidential candidate who can spin running his state’s economy into the ground as a sign of his brilliant leadership skills? Brilliant? Hey, it’s not just anyone who can find it within himself to dig a hole $27 billion deep. This from a man who went to Washington to lecture the feds on his “prudent fiscal decisions”…and came home to discover that the budget deficit Texas was facing was fully twice what he was expecting.
Even better, Rick Perry has managed to spin his epic incompetence and mismanagement as evidence that Texas is “going through those difficult economic times for a purpose- to bring us back to those Biblical principles of you know, you don’t spend all the money.” This, evidently, is why Perry has proclaimed himself to be a “Prophet.” In his feverish, overheated imagination, Governor Goodhair envisions a “new hope” that will lift his brand of Conservatism to new heights (or depths, depending on your perspective, I suppose).
What other state’s chief executive can claim the equivalent of the “Texas Miracle”, now thorougly debunked, that proclaimed a precipitous decline in high school dropout rates throughout the ’90s? That the “Texas Miracle” was the product of manipulation, dishonesty, and creative accounting has diminished its propaganda value for Perry.
Despite decrying President Obama’s stimulus as the height of fiscal irresponsibility, Governor Goodhair somehow managing to see his way clear to accepting $830 million in stimulus funds. He also used Recovery Act funds to help fill in the hole in his budget created by his epic mismanagement. Remember, when a Republican does it, it’s sound fiscal management. When a Democrat does it, it’s the worst sort of irresponsible profligacy imaginable. In PerryWorld, the truth is whatever the Governor deems it to be.
Here’s a riddle for you: when does destroying 600,000 jobs equal job creation? How about when you’re Rick Perry, and you think that because you say something, it ipso facto becomes immutable truth? How anyone with a functional intellect can talk “job creation” when he’s prepared to lay off one out of every three teachers in Texas simply defies rational understanding.
Child poverty just hit 25% in Texas, but Rick Perry wants to cut services for children. Of course, children don’t vote Republican, nor do they donate large sums of money to the GOP…so, really, what good are they?
You could forgive Governor Goodhair for being a cheerleader for Texas. He’s right to claim that Texas is a national leader. Unfortunately, the things Texas (unofficial state motto: “Thank God for Mississippi!”) leads the nation in are things that any leader possessed of anything resembling a conscience would be ashamed of. F’rinstance, Texas has the highest rate of people without health insurance in the country. Yes, just over 25% of Texans have no health insurance. Texas also leads the country in both the number and percentage of minimum wage jobs. I could go on, but I think you probably get the point. Thank God for Mississippi, indeed.
There’s a wonderful phrase that Texans use to describe someone who talks the talk but can’t walk the walk: “All hat and no cattle.”. If truth in advertising laws applied to politicians, that would by law be Rick Perry’s campaign slogan. It will certainly be his legacy. And don’t even get me started on his uber-Jesus-y, anti-gay, “family friendly” prayer meeting in Houston on August 6th. Prayer can be, and too often is, the last refuge of a scoundrel.
Go ahead; ask me how much I miss Texas….
