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Rick Perry Threatens to Run U.S. Like He Runs Texas

By: Hrafnkell HaraldssonOct. 2nd, 2011more from Hrafnkell Haraldsson

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Now that Rick Perry has threatened to run the United States like he runs Texas, it’s time for Americans to decide what to do in response. Perry issued his threat in a 13-minute speech given Friday to the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, saying,

“As Republican voters decide who is best suited to lead this country in a new direction by stopping the spending spree and scrapping Obamacare, I am confident they will choose a nominee who has governed on conservative principles, not one whose health care policies paved the way for Obamacare.”

We will look in a moment what precisely this means, but Perry wasn’t done with his threats:

“In Texas, we’ve cleaned the air while creating jobs and adding millions in population. Another state – Massachusetts – was among the first states to implement its own cap-and-trade program, which included limits on carbon emissions for power plants.”

The Romney campaign was quick to point out that their candidate did not install a cap-and-trade plan for Massachusetts. And pollution? According to the EPA it is true that Texas has decreased its carbon dioxide emissions, but it still produces more of this pollution than any other state. It has also reduced ozone concentrations but according to the EPA Houston and Dallas do not meet federal standards. Nitrogen oxide emissions are also down but so are those in California, Florida, New York, and other states.

David E. Adelman, professor of environmental law at the University of Texas Law School was quoted by the New York Times as saying,

“For the most part, Texas has lowered its toxic emissions, but so has essentially every other state in the country. The key point to recognize is that Texas started so much higher than everyone else.”

The EPA says these Texas improvements are a result of federal regulations, not anything Perry as governor has done.

Perry, of course, hates the EPA like every other Republican candidate. Even though it’s the EPA that has created the conditions for which he is now claiming credit.

From the New York Times:

“His constituents are benefiting from the Clean Air Act that the E.P.A. is enforcing,” said Janice E. Nolen, assistant vice president for national policy at the American Lung Association. “It’s happening in Texas, but not only in Texas, which tells us that it’s federal action that is responsible.”

Perry hates Obamacre and wants to get rid of it. But Perry doesn’t like any insurance and Americans should be very afraid that he wants to do to us what he has done to Texas. According to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, in 2005, while one in six Americans were uninsured, in Texas the ratio was one in four and that “Every major city has an uninsured rate higher than the national average.” The situation hasn’t gotten any better in the last five years, with Texas leading the way, according to a Gallup Poll, with  26.8 percent of its residents uninsured – while the hated Massachusetts is leading with the lowest percentage of uninsured with 4.9 percent.

And population growth – where is that coming from? Mexico. What is Perry’s stance on immigration? Perry complains that the border is not safe, that the federal government is responsible for border security and has failed miserably (that same federal government he wants to dismantle and says should stay out of states business) and that illegal immigration cost Texas taxpayers $928 million in one year alone – 2005. He wants that border closed but he’s more than willing to claim credit for the results of it not being closed – a massive increase in Texas state population by way of immigration across that porous border.

According to the office of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, “Texas is one of the fastest-growing states in the nation. Since 2000, the state population has increased by 12.7 percent, nearly twice that of the nation (6.4 percent).

According to the same source, “The Hispanic population in Texas has grown by 10.9 percent since 2000, when Hispanics accounted for 32 percent of the Texas population.” In 2004 Texas became a “majority-minority” state meaning that ethnic minorities now outnumber whites in the state. In 2006, they were 35.7 percent of the population. Since 2000, Hispanics have accounted for 65 percent of the state’s population growth – whites have contributed the least growth – 4.2 percent.

Looking at the future, the Texas State Data Center projections show that by 2020, “Hispanics will make up the majority of the Texas populations, while Anglos will fall to the second-most populous ethnicity.” By 2040 Hispanics will number more than 50 percent of the state population.

I won’t even get into Perry’s dismissal of Global Warming and the drought in his own state. Just consider this: He seems to think environmental controls will do nothing to alleviate the problem but so far all his prayers to his god have gone unanswered. So his response is to do away with the EPA and keep praying to a god who has ignored him and continues to ignore him.

As Americans, we need to be asking Rick Perry why he wants to do to us what he has done to Texas, and we need to respond appropriately.


Rick Perry Threatens to Run U.S. Like He Runs Texas was written by Hrafnkell Haraldsson for PoliticusUSA.
© PoliticusUSA, Oct. 2nd, 2011. All Rights Reserved

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