Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Ganging Up On Governor Rick Perry

You know you are the front runner in the Republican contest for the Presidential nomination when all the other candidates gang up on you.   That is exactly what is happening to Governor Rick Perry of Texas in recent Republican candidate debates.   Governor Romney, in particular, is fighting for his political life because he was presumed to be the Republican nominee and Perry is now the front runner.   Governor Perry has said and done some controversial things related to Social Security, Illegal Immigrants and inoculation of 12 year old girls to prevent cervical cancer.  Other Republican candidates are also questioning whether Perry can take credit for creating jobs in Texas during his ten years as Governor.   

But are Perry's positions really that controversial.   Perry has said that Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme, which most assuredly is true.  Baby Boomers have contributed to Social Security their entire working lives to fund their pensions and the money is not there do so.  The money in fact has been stolen by politicians of both parties since 1965 to fund annual government operating expenses.  So, Perry is absolutely right.   Social Security is biggest Ponzi Scheme in human history. 

And, Perry clearly knows that those over 55 years old are going to get Social Security as we know it.   However, Perry is right to say that those under 55 years old should be given options.   One common sense approach would be to have the company portion of the monthly Social Security contribution go into the government program.   Employees could then choose to have their portion of the monthly contribution go into the government program, or into 401K type programs that individuals can control.   Even Socialists should be able to live with this plan, which would be highly popular among the American people to make everyone happy.   But, it is also very clear that the age for full Social Security benefits for those under 55 years old should be changed to 68 years old, since people are living so much longer.   Governor Rick Perry is just stating the obvious.   In order to save Social Security, there must be common sense reforms.   For Governor Romney to advocate saving Social Security, as we know it, is ridiculous.   Social Security, as we know it, will be bankrupt in 10 - 15 years. 

Next, Governor Perry supports providing in-state college tuition to illegal aliens.   The real issue here is not in-state tuition; but rather should illegal aliens be in our universities at all and/or be eligible for grants and scholarships, since they are not American citizens and they, or their parents entered our country illegally.   Most Conservative Republicans, including this Blogger, would say NO.   However, Perry governs a state with a high Hispanic population, like all border states and therefore illegal aliens are in our public schools, by Supreme Court dictate, whether we like it or not.  Perry is just reflecting the real world that he faces.  Ironically, this particular position will play well in November, 2012 in the general election because it will take Latino votes to win the Presidency.   The bigger issue is securing our border to stop drugs, Terrorists and illegal aliens from entering our country because it is bankrupting our border states.  The in-state tuition issue is a side show. 

As another attack, Governor Rick Perry used an executive order to require 12 year old girls to be inoculated with a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer.   This requirement did have a parental opt out.   This issue hinges on doing this by executive order, rather than by legislation and whether parents should be able to opt in, or opt out.  Again, this is a side show issue.   The fact is that there is a vaccine that prevents cervical cancer.   Yes, parents should be able do decide if their children should be vaccinated or not; but is this really any different than schools requiring a tuberculous test before a child can be registered for school.   As long as parents were able to opt out, Perry just acted in the best interest of young girls.   Should he have done this through legislation rather than executive order, Perry now says if he had it to do over, he would have done it that way.   There really isn't much there to this story. 

Finally, the issue of whether a Chief Executive, in this case the Governor, can take credit for job creation in a state is really funny.   All the Republican candidates are holding Obama, as the Chief Executive of the US, responsible for destroying jobs in the US, which really is the case.   So why now are they asserting that Perry can't take credit for creating jobs.    Romney claims that Perry was dealt four aces; a Republican legislature, a Republican Supreme Court, Oil and No state personal income tax and that those were the reasons Texas has boomed.  The fact is, what Perry did not do was just as responsible for the Texas miracle as what he may have done.  Perry did not raise taxes or impose burdensome regulations on business that are job killers during his ten years in office.   Perry attempted to make Texas government as "inconsequential" in people's lives as possible, which is his goal for the US government. 

Actually, this dust up with Perry during debates is very good because it will prepare him for the debates and campaign against Socialist President Obama.   You can bet that the Socialist propaganda machine will use all these same arguments against Perry; though it would be pretty hard for Obama to claim he is against providing benefits and services to illegal aliens since Obama supports the "Dream Act" that would do the very same thing on a national scale.  Obama will hit Perry on Social Security and the jobs issue in Texas.   Socialists are already claiming that Perry created low level jobs in Texas, not really good paying jobs.   The fact is that people with little education need low level jobs.   What else are they going to do, brain surgery?  There are now 58 of the Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Texas, which makes this argument silly and mute.   Those companies moved to Texas from high tax, high regulation blue states.   Score one for Perry that is undisputable by any standard. 

Governor Rick Perry is tough.   He will deal with his Republican opponents, one by one and in particular with Mitt Romney, who is RINO, born again Conservative.   These initial debates are just round one.   The game is not over by any means.   Expect Perry to come roaring back in the weeks and months ahead.    Most important, even the New York Times is now saying that Obama may be a one term President.   The fact that a Republican just won Anthony Wiener's Socialist House seat in New York City, in a special election, is a very ominous sign for Obama.   That special election was a referendum on Obama and the President lost big time.   Clearly, if Governor Rick Perry can hold his own, he is likely to be the next President of the United States. 

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