Perry Has Cut Firefighting Funds And Now Texas Burns

The Gov. took some time off from campaigning to address the fires that are burning across the state.   The Gov did not address the fact that he slashed state funding in this year’s budget for the volunteer fire departments that are trying to save Texas from burning to a crisp.  In the budget he proposed and got passed he cut the funding of volunteer fire departments from $30 million to $7 million.

As anyone living in Texas knows, if you don’t live in a city the volunteer firefighters are your only hope when fire comes calling.   There are 879 volunteer fire departments in Texas and only 114 paid fire departments. There are another 187 departments are a combination of volunteer and paid.

The Teabaggers in the State Congress and Senate stood beside The Gov. and pushed through their “Less Government Spending Agenda through again, gutting more money that would have benefited social services. Now that it appears God is showing his displeasure at this Teabagger agenda and sending forth his wrath on Texas and in the meantime, the under equipped volunteers are flat worn out and are unable to keep ahead of the fires, The Gov is backing off his call that FEMA is unconstitutional.

At Monday’s press conference The Gov said that he would have FEMA would be in Texas by Wednesday. The Gov told CBS news that now (during a campaign where his own state is needing aid) was not the time to worry about reforming the agency.  He went on to say “The issue is taking care of these people right now.  There are a lot of issues we can talk about, but the fact of the matter is now is not the time to be trying to work out the details of how to make these agencies more efficient. Let’s get people out of harm’s way.”

So in other words, Let’s get the FEMA/Federal money and get these fires out. The Gov and his Teabagger allies can then figure out how to shut down FEMA.  Also interesting how he is not repeating Cantor’s demand that cuts to other areas of the budget be made before funds can be allocated to fight the disaster.

Your Texas A Nuclear Waste Dump

It looks as if an Andrews County Landfill owned by Waste Control Specialists LLC, which is owned by Harold Simmons will be allowed to import 2.3 million tons of nuclear waste now that  Bobby Gregory’s, one of the eight-member Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission, term has expired.  Mr Gregory has opposed the importation of the Nuclear Waste into Texas.  The Gov. wants to turn the dump, just south of Austin, into a depository for the nation’s low level waste.  Coincidently, Mr. Simmon’s, the site’s owner who stands to make millions off the deal has donated over 1 million dollars to The Gov’s  gubernatorial campaigns.

Mr. Gregory opposed the program from the outset and after putting up a fight to stop it was mysteriously offered an appointment as a regent of a state university which he turned down so that he could stay on the Commission to fight the deal.

The Gov’s mouthpiece, Ms. Frasier, did not dispute offering Mr. Gregory the Regency.  She would not comment on the Mr. Simmon’s ties to The Gov. She would also not comment on The Gov’s intention to remove a waste specialist from the board in favor of overseeing a university. She broadly defended the process.

Reuters reports the Ms. Frasier saying “Governor Perry makes appointments based on the qualifications of an individual and his or her ability to serve in Texas’ best interests, nothing more.”

Chuck McDonald, spokesman for Waste Control Specialists dismissed any suggestion that his boss’ donations had gained him any favors from Perry or state regulators.  He stated that Mr. Simmons’ support of The Gov is not unique and extends to Republican conservative candidates nationwide and that if you are a conservative Republican seeking office, Mr. Simmons is going to support you.”

Perry Says Social Security Is Unconstitutional

Knowing the repercussions of the alienating the older bloc of voters, The Gov’s campaign staff has been working hard this past week to soften and even reverse The Gov’s position on Social security. The Gov’s Communications Director Ray Sullivan told the Wall Street Journal last week, that the contents of Perry’s book were not meant to reflect the governor’s current views on how to fix Social Security.

But yesterday during a campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa , The Gov.was asked “But should states-rights supporters be worried that, as governor you said that Social Security is not something that falls in the purview of the federal government, but in your campaign, have backed off that?”  Showing his true colors as a far right wing secessionist teabagger he replied “I haven’t backed off anything in my book. Read the book again, get it right. Next question.”

The Gov’s book, “Fed Up” which was released just last spells out clearly his position on Social Security. The Gov  writes that Social Security is by far the best example of a program violently tossing aside any respect for our founding principles and that we have Social Security at the expense of respect for the Constitution and limited government.

At the campaign stop The Gov. was asked that in light of his Communications Director’s statements, should states rights supporters be worried that his views on Social Security have shifted now that he’s running for president. The Gov flippantly dismissed his Communications Director’s comments, declaring “I haven’t backed off anything in my book. Read the book again, get it right.”

Voters need to really look at Perry’s views.  The Gov spews his disdain for the government of the United States, has called for Texas to secede for the United States, is in deep with the Dominionist Christians who want to turn the United States into a Theocracy like the hell holes such as Iran in the middle east.  We need to really look close and see if this is the type leader we want shaping the future of this great country.

Perry is wishing he hadn’t written his “Fed Up” Manefesto.

Just goes to show you how brilliant The Gov is. Nine months ago he was strutting around, proud as a peacock, signing autographs, having the time of his life while promoting his manifesto “Fed Up” across the land to admiring Teabaggers. Just last Friday The Gov. was campaigning, railing against the very US government he wants to run while citing his manifesto “Fed Up” saying “I don’t think the federal government has a role in your children’s education.” This weekend in Iowa some adoring tenther lobbed him this softball, “How would you fix the country’s rickety entitlement programs.” The Gov quickly replied “Have you read my book “Fed Up!”? Get a copy and read it.”

Ahhhh, but then the Sunday talking heads start spewing their nonsense and lo and behold most are aghast, aghast i say, to the positions The Gov takes on dismantling the United States. So as any good Republican when nailed on their true position does, The Gov trots out his mouthpiece who says, well he was just reflecting on the past and not the future. WTF??? The Gov. has long argued and spells out in detail in his manifesto that he thinks the federal government shouldn’t be able to tell him a 12 year old can’t work for $1.50 an hour for 50 hours a week. He has railed for years that Social Security and Medicare violate the Constitution. But now he starts a Texas Two Step Shuffle and has his mouthpiece come out and say “The governor wants to see the benefits for existing retirees and those close to Social Security be strongly protected. Beyond that, “he believes a full review and discussion of entitlement reforms need to be had, aimed at seeing that programs like Social Security and Medicare are fiscally responsible and sound.” Can’t anger the Old Folks now can we?

The best insight of his manifesto in my book though is his twisted position that the War of Northern Aggression/Civil War was the result of slaveholder activism in the 1850s. This he says was an example of big government federal overreach. He claims that Fugitive Slave Act completely ignored the human rights of the enslaved African-Americans of the south, but worse it violated the sovereignty of the Northern States. So in other words, slavery may be bad but violating another states sovereignty is worse? He writes “we can never know what would have happened in the absence of federal involvement.” Ah Ha, Peace and no war with just a slight cost, continued slavery.

Make one wonder what his next Texas Two Step waffle on his past positions will be.

Federal Government Funds behind Texas job Growth?

Fiscal policy expert Jared Bernstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, former chief economist to Vice President Joe Biden. has compiled some Pretty damning numbers from the United States Bureau of Labor, The numbers show that Perry is continuing his penchant for hiding the real state of the economy of Texas. As The Gov did with the State’s Budget, he continues to spew misinformation to the Teabaggers and gullible media on the campaign trail. His claim that his drive to smaller government has created jobs just doesn’t cut it.

Texas has led the nation in government jobs created over the past 4 years. From the period 2007 -2010, Texas was second only to Wyoming in percentage of government jobs created. However since Texas’ population is much larger than Wyoming the pure number is huge.

percentage of texas government jobs
percentage of texas government jobs

Secondly of all the growth of government jobs during that period almost half were in Texas,

percentage of texas government jobs
percentage of texas government jobs

We also see that during this period of the recession, Texas lost 178,000 private sector jobs. But during the same period, Texas added 125,000 public sector(government funded) jobs With this explosive growth of government created jobs the State had only a 53,000 lose of jobs.

Texas job losses
Texas job losses

I wonder when the so called main stream media will start reporting the truths of Texas’ miracle economy and job market.

Texas job growth not all Perry leads us to believe.

On the Presidential campaign trail, The Gov. is wowing the Teabagger crowds in Iowas with his purported record as the job creator in chief. The record of jobs in Texas is not quite as great as he would have you believe however. The media never tries to explain the true underlying effects of job growth in Texas.

For many years, Texas has seen it’s population grow much faster than other states. One huge factor is migration of from other states by folks who are attracted to Texas by its warm weather and low cost of living and low housing costs. Another factor is a high birth rate and uh-ohhh, sssshhhhh, immigration from Mexico.

These factors along with basically no business regulations and cities giving the farm away to get businesses to move to their locale has caused employers to be able to offer jobs a very low wages. In fact Texas leads the nation in minimum wage jobs. This has a ripple effect enticing other employers to move to where they can pay this minimal wages.

A recent report notes that only 43.5 percent of Texans have a job, compared to 44.7 percent of the total U.S. population and when Bush left office Texas was art 47%. In my book that’s quite a drop.

Perry says Troops don’t respect President

Yesterday, while schmoozing for votes in Iowa, The Gov. told a crowd why he’s running for president saying “One of the reasons that I’m running for president is I want to make sure that every young man and woman who puts on the uniform of the United States respects highly the president of the United States. One Veterans group said “American troops are perfectly capable of disagreeing with the policies of a President and still holding respect for the office of Commander-in-Chief, for Rick Perry to suggest otherwise is nothing more than a below the belt smear against their professionalism.

Perry was asked if he would like to clarify or back down from his comments, he replied “If you polled the military, the active duty and veterans, and said “would you rather have a president of the United States that never served a day in the military or someone who is a veteran? They’ve going to say, I would venture, that they would like to have a veteran.”

When I was in the U.S. Army, it never concerned me and I would have to say I didn’t care whether or not the President was a veteran or not. I swore an oath to that I “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

But then again, The Gov, does not respect the United States of American and has said he thinks Texas should secede. I think his goal is to win the Presidency and dissolve the very Union he will swear to protect. Then knowing him he will not take the oath of office.

Perry says Medicare and Social Security are Unconstitutional

The Daily Beast published a good article today that really exposes the madness of The Gov.  In the article Governor Perry is asked “I see how that might make sense for, say, education. But what would it mean for something like Social Security—a big, national safety net? In the book, you call Social Security a “failure” that “we have been forced to accept for more than 70 years now.” Is it time for it to end?”  Perry responds ” I think the first step in finding the solutions is admitting we have a problem—and admitting that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme”.   When asked “What was your reaction when activists were out there saying “keep your government hands off my Medicare”? Isn’t that a contradiction”, The Gov. laughed and said “I think you can find any sign on any issue at any rally. I’m not going to respond to one person’s sign.”

He is later asked “Progressives would say that “general welfare” includes things like Social Security or Medicare—that it gives the government the flexibility to tackle more than just the basic responsibilities laid out explicitly in our founding document. What does “general welfare” mean to you?”  The Gov’s response “I don’t think our founding fathers when they were putting the term “general welfare” in there were thinking about a federally operated program of pensions nor a federally operated program of health care.”

The Gov’s interpretation of the Constitution makes one wonder if he really knows how to read.  As we know The Gov didn’t do all that swell at A&M.  The Huffington Post published The Gov’s College Transcipt ;ast week and it sure had a lot of C’s and D’s and an F.

The Constitution reads that Congress has the power to “to lay and collect taxes” and to “provide for the…general welfare of the United States.” Nearly every Constitutional Scholars interprets the words “general welfare” to mean exactly that the government can enact programs that ensure that all Americans  live their lives secure in the understanding that retirement will not force them into poverty and untreated sickness.

The Gov. was then asked “So in your view those things fall outside of general welfare. But what falls inside of it? What did the Founders mean by general welfare?” to which he responded “I don’t know if I’m going to sit here and parse down to what the Founding Fathers thought general welfare meant.”

When asked “But you just said what you thought they didn’t mean by general welfare. So isn’t it fair to ask what they did mean? It’s in the Constitution.” Perry sat there in Silence. which prompted the interviewer to say “OK. Moving on”

Not even Ryan, Cantor and their crowd want to do away with Social Security and Medicare, they see it as a fountain of cash to be infused into their Stock Market Donors.  Perry is so far right, he makes these guys look almost moderate.

Perry To Announce Presidential Run This Weekend

Politico is reporting that The Gov.  will reportedly announce a presidential run in South Carolina on Saturday.  Perry is to speak at a RedState convention and will make clear his intentions.   After the speech and smoozing with the money people in South Carolina he flies to New Hampshire for a house party with TeaBagger State Representative Pamela Tucker.

Perry is reportedly trying to secure support and donations prior to his announcement.  Big money support would help establish his credibility in the race.  The Iowas Straw Poll which is considered in right winger world  crucial for Republican candidates is held on the same day. However with The Gov. not in the poll it remains to see how the results are viewed.  The results may be seen as meaningless depending on the amount of press coverage of  The Gov’s announcement generates.

Higher Job Growth in the Public than Private Sector in Texas?

The Gov. likes to brag about how many private sector jobs he has created during his tenure. He boasts that the government doesn’t create any jobs. He even has said that the government can actually run jobs away.

The Wall Street Journal, owned by Richard Murdoch of Fox News and which is not known in right wing circles as a liberal attack dog, reported that public sector jobs have grown at a much higher rate under Perry’s watch than private sector jobs. The Journal reports that the Lone Star State gained more than a million jobs since the end of 2000, while the U.S. has lost almost 1.5 million, according data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

About 300,000 of the new Texas jobs were in government. More than half of them were a result of population growth.were at public schools. Employment in the state’s public sector has jumped 19% since 2000, compared with a 9% rise in the private sector.

The Austin American-Statesman has reported that “While the national unemployment rate is 9.1 percent and the Texas unemployment rate is 8 percent, and 23 states, including New York, have lower unemployment rates.” Between 2008 and 2010, jobs actually grew at a faster pace in Massachusetts than in Texas. Texas has also done worse than the rest of the country since the peak of national unemployment in October 2009.”

One not so notable statistic though is that Texas leads the nation in the highest percentage of minimum wage jobs.