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Daylife/AP Photo used by permission
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| $300 worth of haircuts in one photo |
With the fiery rhetoric of a prairie populist, Gov. Rick Perry calls on “Texas patriots” to protest against “bailouts, all this stimulus, all this runaway spending” in the nation’s capital.
For weeks, the Republican governor has ratcheted up his railing against the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress. Perry’s call for “states’ rights” and a suggestion that Texas could leave the union if it wanted to made national news this week.
Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh gave Perry an “Amen, bro,” and host Glenn Beck said he was “thrilled” by Perry’s stand on states’ rights.
The last time Texas did this was when they joined the Confederacy in secession from the Union – opposed to the freeing of slaves.
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Daylife/AP Photo used by permission
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| Republican ticket in 2012? |
But the truth is, Perry’s administration already is expecting to take federal stimulus dollars, and the House today is set to debate a budget that uses $11 billion in stimulus funding to help cover state government operations for the next two years.
The governor has signed off on Texas accepting about $16.5 billion from the federal stimulus package, including $101 million that his office would administer in grants to local law enforcement and crime victims.
Perry is against only the $555 million for unemployment insurance that the state can receive only by changing Texas unemployment law.
But the Senate, rebuffing Perry’s opposition, tentatively agreed to change the law and take the unemployment money.
I think Perry knew what the Senate vote was going to be when he made his populist plea. He was just adding secession to the usual list of mom, apple pie and the Dallas Cowboys as sacred topics. He knows his market.
Hopefully, Texas will secede from the Union.
Paddy-O, the other choice was so bad we ended up with Perry. Don’t worry, he’ll not be here for long.
He deserves the Ultimate King Kahuna Moron Award and the BubbaRayDipDork Award at once.
#2 I didn’t mean it as a slam. I do think it would be a good idea.
So, #1, after you secede, do you take the vote away from non-Anglo voters?
#4 – I guess so, if you were in charge…
Afraid to answer a basic question, eh?
You’re the only person endorsing secession. Just wondered what your following step would be.
Yes, here in Texas we have been hearing a lot of campaigning style noise from Perry recently.
Seems the economic crisis and stimulus package that team Obama is working on makes for the ideal rallying cry to divide the country for political gain.
Anyway, aside from the blue dots Dallas, Austin and Houston, this is Republican sheep land. Perry didn’t need a haircut to herd the sheep.
#8 Bingo.
If only Texas had left the Union 50 years ago, the US would have stayed out of a few wars and been a healthier country today.
I would like to encourage them to leave now, we really don’t need any more mentally deficient Texans in the presidency.
# 10 qsabe said, “If only Texas had left the Union 50 years ago, the US would have stayed out of a few wars”
Add:
MA = Vietnam War & Gulf War I
MO = Korean War
Loose one little election and the right wingnuts go crazy. Now they know how the rest of us felt when Bush was “in charge”.
# 12 Dallas – Umm, one thing you forgot… CA went into huge debt while revenues going into the state coffers were at record levels…
Fail.
On the haircuts: they look pretty bad. Is that a Texas thing?
>The last time Texas did this was when they joined the Confederacy in secession from the Union – opposed to the freeing of slaves.
Oppose the Left’s policies, and it means you support slavery!
By the way, explain to me again why the Confederacy needed to secede to maintain slavery? What new threat appeared that was different from the previous 150 years?
# 16 MikeN said, “By the way, explain to me again why the Confederacy needed to secede to maintain slavery? What new threat appeared that was different from the previous 150 years?”
A President that didn’t believe he had to follow the Constitution?
#12 Paddy. Actually I didn’t forget because my response pertains to Texas, not California.
I can’t comment on Ca because I’m not entirely sure why that Republican run state is in a financial meltdown. My guess is the housing market value declines are not helping the tax base. You might want to look into that.
Paddy-O (#14),
Dallas didn’t fail. He is absolutely correct about Texas. One of the reasons our taxes are so low is because of the natural resources that are a huge source of tax revenue. 5% of all tax revenues is from natural resources, which isn’t counting our business (franchise) tax of 1% on gross revenue over $300k, on all of the companies making money off those natural resources – http://tinyurl.com/texrev . Texas exported $25.3 billion of petroleum and coal – http://governor.state.tx.us/files/ecodev/profilepetroleumandcoal.pdf
I love living in Texas, but the reality is that this state has abundant natural resources which generates significant revenue for the citizens and the state.
# 18 Dallas said, “I can’t comment on Ca because I’m not entirely sure why that Republican run state is in a financial meltdown.”
Umm, the spending leg & the entire leg is Dem…
The only thing you need to know is that the State financial trouble is from spending, not rev. The same way that Texas’ financial success is due to spending control, not rev…
#17 PaddyO, there was no evidence of that until after they seceded. They caused the ignoring of the Constitution.
Looking at the wikipedia results, it appears Democrats still had control of the Senate(contrary to what they write in their history of Congress). So they were in a position to block changes.
I suspect the real reason was money interests pushing for secession. The Morrill Tariff passed, and the Republicans were all about tariffs back then. There can be no reciprocal tariffs on Southern agriculture if they are a separate country.
#19 Ok. Got it – it’s spending and not revenue that yields imbalance.
Isn’t it hypocrisy for Democrats to suddenly not complain about deficits?
If Texas leaves Texans like Bush would no longer be eligible to run for President. Damn wish they had seceded before the turn of the century.
ok lets do the math
They have 2 Republican Senators and 20 of their 32 House members are Republican. Balance of power changed for the better!
Hey Texas Don’t let the doorknob get stuck in your butthole as the door hits you on the way out. Oh and can we keep Lyle Lovett, We will trade you the whole Cyrus family and Chuck Norris for him?. My Guess is you will just give us Willie Nelson but if you want something for him how about Palin?
Ok now lets help New Mexico build a border fence.
#22 So you agree, MikeN that Democrats are usually deficit hawks? I agree.
The difference now is that to get out of the economic abyss and ginormous deficits you gave us, new spending is the bitter medicine you are forcing everyone to swallow.
Yes, ironically it is new spending that is needed to get the country back to work and thus begin to contribute back to the tax base and stabilize the economy.
Kinda goes like this:
No buyer = no worker
No worker = unemployment
unemployment = even more deficit spending.
We need a buyer!
Good news!!
Our bridges are toppling and we ship $700B/yr in energy spending to the Middle east.
If only the government can just buy new bridges and buy our future with clean energy, we have well, a BUYER!!
We have a buyer !!
Good news! We have a president that gets it and knows where the buyer is! Infrastructure spending!! Better yet, this president even speaks using complete sentences and everyone likes him!!
# 23 gonna miss that BBQ said, “They have 2 Republican Senators and 20 of their 32 House members are Republican. Balance of power changed for the better!”
Exactly! The destruction of the business climate in the US would hasten and those businesses would flock to TX. As the welfare state expanded in the US and was eliminated in TX, all those non-productive people would leave TX & suck from the US Gov teat.
LOL
#25
Texas can have Paddy too and we will take “Dallas said” but he has to change his name to some less inflammatory like Austin
I’m a Republican and a Conservative. Believe me, most of US in Texas don’t like this reject insurance salesman at all.
Remember, Perry was the Democratic Lt. Governor to George Bush. He changed his party in order to capitalize on the popularity of Bush in this state. He’ll say or do anything to continue his political career.
He’s just a RINO and has NEVER been a conservative, no matter what he says.
#27 Alfred1. I wish Perry would continue to embarrass himself by pursing the ludicrous notion of secession.
He’s walking a fine line of stirring the loony base on the one end (intention) but also having the mainstream see him as having lost it.
The last thing the GOP needs is yet another prom queen laughed out of the rehearsal. I think Rush is still the prettiest thing you got and that ain’t pretty.
RE the little discussion about Tx & Ca earlier. It’s a shame that Ca CHOSE to shut down, instead of expand industry and not drill off-shore. It they had been drilling their own oil, maybe now adays they’d be the ones upset with the rest of the country instead of bankrupt.
No more “Golden State”
http://reason.org/news/show/122365.html
The last time Texas did this was when they joined the Confederacy in secession from the Union – opposed to the freeing of slaves.
Texas left the union because the Confederacy sold them a bill a goods.
Texas needed money to outfit the Rangers to fight the Comanches on the NW border and the Union wasn’t supplying it because they were fighting a war. The Confederacy gave them the money to outfit a couple of companies and then had them shipped East to fight for them (which pissed off Texas AGAIN!).
http://gen.1starnet.com/civilwar/txordnan.htm
Look at the first line. “in giving protection either to the persons of our people upon an exposed frontier”
Also, the word “Slaveholding” was inserted into “sister States” in order to keep the Confederacy happy. I don’t have a link to back that up but I did read it in some memoirs of Texas statesmen back then. They didn’t agree with all of the Confederacy’s aims but they did want the Federal Government to stand up to their end of the bargain.