I was just reading on Taegan Goddard's Political Wire that Rick Perry, Governor Goodhair, as Sergio Sanchez from KURV calls him, is ahead in the polls. The article quotes a Rasmussen Report that polled the four-way Texas race for governor.
I know that there are many Democrat readers of this blog who are wondering why I would support Rick Perry. Well, for one, I'm conservative. Mostly, I support Perry because he has been working to get things done for Texas. The main issues to me are Education Reform and Fiscal Responsibility. There is only so much that a Governor can do with respect to these issues. For those of you who remember learning about Texas Government, the Texas Governor is weak. Most of the work goes on in the legislature and by the Lieutenant Governor.
You say that the Governor has failed to properly fund education? Baloney. All he can do is sign a bill. The Texas legislature has failed to properly fund education. Remember the special sessions the Governor called so that our Reps and Senators could come up with something? Remember that they could not agree on anything so that the courts had to step on and take some action? The courts basically kicked it back to the Legislature.
Now, keep in mind that your kid is still going to school despite the "lack of funding". The education budget keeps growing year after year. If you have some time to kill, find a year in which the Texas education budget decreased. I don't mean a decrease in the projected growth. I mean a decrease in the actual budget from one year to the next.
With respect to Fiscal Responsibility, Rick Perry has been doing his best to promote less spending and lower taxes. Of course, he can only push for it. Ultimately, it's the legislature's job to put it to paper and send it to him to sign. I would rather have a government starving for money than not knowing what to do with it. I have a tight budget already, I don't need Austin raising taxes and taking my meager earnings.
Now here is the ultimate reason why I support Rick Perry. It is common knowledge that despite the overwhelming Democrat majority in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas is trending towards Republican. This means that Chris Bell, the Democrat challenger, will have to fight a Republican Legislature for every single piece of legislature sent. If Jumping Carol Strayhorn were to win, would the Republicans let her back into the fold after defeating their front-runner? No. Of the three challengers, I'd give Kinky Friedman a better chace of getting anything done than the other two. Why not just stick with Rick Perry?
Anyway, that's what I think.
I know that there are many Democrat readers of this blog who are wondering why I would support Rick Perry. Well, for one, I'm conservative. Mostly, I support Perry because he has been working to get things done for Texas. The main issues to me are Education Reform and Fiscal Responsibility. There is only so much that a Governor can do with respect to these issues. For those of you who remember learning about Texas Government, the Texas Governor is weak. Most of the work goes on in the legislature and by the Lieutenant Governor.
You say that the Governor has failed to properly fund education? Baloney. All he can do is sign a bill. The Texas legislature has failed to properly fund education. Remember the special sessions the Governor called so that our Reps and Senators could come up with something? Remember that they could not agree on anything so that the courts had to step on and take some action? The courts basically kicked it back to the Legislature.
Now, keep in mind that your kid is still going to school despite the "lack of funding". The education budget keeps growing year after year. If you have some time to kill, find a year in which the Texas education budget decreased. I don't mean a decrease in the projected growth. I mean a decrease in the actual budget from one year to the next.
With respect to Fiscal Responsibility, Rick Perry has been doing his best to promote less spending and lower taxes. Of course, he can only push for it. Ultimately, it's the legislature's job to put it to paper and send it to him to sign. I would rather have a government starving for money than not knowing what to do with it. I have a tight budget already, I don't need Austin raising taxes and taking my meager earnings.
Now here is the ultimate reason why I support Rick Perry. It is common knowledge that despite the overwhelming Democrat majority in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas is trending towards Republican. This means that Chris Bell, the Democrat challenger, will have to fight a Republican Legislature for every single piece of legislature sent. If Jumping Carol Strayhorn were to win, would the Republicans let her back into the fold after defeating their front-runner? No. Of the three challengers, I'd give Kinky Friedman a better chace of getting anything done than the other two. Why not just stick with Rick Perry?
Anyway, that's what I think.
Comments
I seriously think there ought to be an income limit of about $50k or less for legislators to qualify for office. This way they will run out of money and go back to their districts ASAP. Furthermore, they will dread special sessions and try to get all business passed in a regular session. There are some legislators who are not attorneys or well bankrolled who were hurting financially with the special sessions. If they all feel the hurt, maybe they'll git'r done.