Daylife/AP Photo used by permission
$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.

Daylife/AP Photo used by permission
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.




  1. Dallas says:

    #68 Easy. Alaska.

    The Sarah Moosalini Palin run state of Alaska is the largest welfare in this hemisphere.

    Worse yet, she extorted money from the oil companies to pay her constituents every year with hard cash. Even Hugo Chavez would be proud.

  2. bobbo says:

    Paddy-oh,0h-ZERO==insightful as always with a double helping of “look how stupid I can be.”

    Ah Yea==they are all red states and include most of the South. Seems that being stupidly religious and anti-progressive has some ill effects==were it not for the liberal coasts bailing their asses out year after year and putting up with their BS.

    Almost makes one yearn for a Constitutional Convention as give EVERYONE in the south just 3/5ths of a vote. OR==just let them vote Repuglican as they have for the last 50 years. Pretty much the same effect now.

  3. Paddy-O says:

    When you calculate returns; factor in Federal land that has been taken from the state in question and Fed prohibition of exploiting natural resources…

  4. Ah_Yea says:

    I found it!

    And yes, bobbo, you were pretty much on target!

    http://tinyurl.com/45ws7

    Now this begs the question, are the red states greedy hypocrites or savvy consumers?

    Are the blue states generous donors or stupid suckers?

  5. MikeN says:

    >IMPOSITION of managed resources could easily save another 25-25% percent with minimal impact on waiting times.

    So you admit there is an impact.
    One big problem with these health care savings calculations is that costs are rising. All of these savings are a one time shot, so all you are doing is holding down costs for 10 years. The cost increases will continue.

  6. bobbo says:

    Mike–I see all the costs as repeating year after year. Must be a definitional thing?

  7. Ah_Yea says:

    #75

    Hey Alfred1. To go along with that, how about the Government saying that we need gun control in the US to help Mexico with their drug war?

    Does the government think we are so stupid that we would believe limiting guns in the US is going to keep guns out of the hands of Mexican drug lords?

    Well, I guess they do. It’s all part of the plan.

    Remember, part of creating a Nanny state is to increase our independence on the state for our daily welfare.

    Starting with our own safety and well-being.

  8. RSweeney says:

    To be fair, the Texas 1861 secession bill not only mentioned slavery as the reason to leave, but also listed prominently the Federal government’s failure to secure the Texas-Mexico border.

    Some things just never go out of style.

  9. Paddy-O says:

    # 77 RSweeney said, “but also listed prominently the Federal government’s failure to secure the Texas-Mexico border.”

    Right, and the failure of the Fed to reimburse TX for paying to secure it with their own troops. TX should leave. It would be a wake up call. The threat alone would topple the O’Mama gov’t if TX put it to a referendum…

  10. Mark T. says:

    The issue here is that the states send their tax dollars to Washington only to have it return with strings attached. So what if Texas gets $0.94 back for every $1 sent to Washington? It also comes back with millions, if not billions, of $$$ worth of additional unfunded mandates. That is a lose-lose proposition for Texas, just as it is for most every state.

    In this scenario, Washington skims off 6% of all tax money sent to the Treasury from Texas and then forces Texas to change its laws to please some liberal politicians that hate Texas to begin with.

    If Texas were to secede (BTW, which I would love to see happen) then Texas could finally enforce our borders for which the Federal Government has so miserably failed.

    And that will mean that all the New Englanders and Left Coasters trying to escape the high taxes and ridiculous laws of Obama and a runaway liberal Congress will have to either apply for a Texas visa or sneak across the border at three in the morning in the back of a U-Haul truck like the rest of the illegal aliens.

    Realistically??? I think this is Perry dipping his toe into the 2012 Presidential election wading pool. Alternately, he could be thinking about being the first President of the second coming of the Nation of Texas (but I doubt it).

  11. Mark T. says:

    Oops, I meant to say the second coming of the “Republic of Texas”, not “Nation of Texas”.

  12. Pig Squealer says:

    The guy standing behind him is thinking: “Well butter my buns and call me a biscuit but I do love looking at the back of Governor Ricky’s head.”

    Sarah is thinking: “Well gosh darnit, you could ride my snowmobile anytime sugar.”

    If he’s elected President I guarantee more than a few Hostess Ding Dongs will be munched in the oval office.

  13. Shubee says:

    $300 worth of haircuts in one photo.

    Are we to make anything out of the fact that Gov. Rick Perry wanted a haircut style just like Shemp from The Three Stooges?

  14. Dallas says:

    There is simply not enough haircuts, lipstick or secession rhetoric for another republican from Texas to make it to the Whitehouse. Get real.

    President Obama is already on a roll. Money is already being repaid by banks, economy is showing signs of recovery, relations with cuba and we are not a torturing people like the savages of the inquisition.

    Heck, he even took on pirates and kicked their ass. I don’t even think Obama has collected a third paycheck yet! This guy is a friggin superhero. Even Nutt Gengrich had to eat his words (see CNN report). Perry has no chance.

  15. Mark T. says:

    Dallas,

    The banks are trying to pay back money fast because they don’t like the Feds trying to run their businesses. Only thing is, from what I read, the Feds aren’t accepting the money. They want the power.

    Superhero?!? Puhleeze. If Bush had ordered three teenage black men to be shot by Navy snipers then there would have been a outcry across all the mainstream media of righteous indignation. Nice double standard.

    How does it feel to be rooting for a President that orders the military to shoot brown kids in a far away country? Sound familiar? Only now the President is a superhero instead of Hitler reincarnate. Kinda hypocritical, in my opinion.

  16. Mark T. says:

    Alfred1,

    Yeah, I was going to mention the looming hyperinflation but I thought that was a bit premature. I agree with your assessment, though. When all those newly printed trillions of $$$ hit the streets, inflation will undoubtedly skyrocket to Jimmy Carter levels, if not much higher. Then we shall see how the so-called “economic recovery” plays out.

  17. Mark T. says:

    Maybe if Texas were to secede from the union then Obama could annex Cuba as the new fiftieth state. That way they wouldn’t have to buy all new American flags and the U.S. would be one step closer to being both a communist utopia AND a third world country.

    Long live Texas!

  18. MikeN says:

    Bobbo, health care costs are rising much faster than inflation, and they do not stem from the things on which you are saving, except possibly the managed care detail.

    So any hypothetical savings will reduce costs one time, and then costs will increase from that point.

  19. Dallas says:

    Perry is playing the conservative sheeple for all it’s worth. Secession from the union is about the most rediculous thing I’ve ever heard a governor say. While he gets the local sheep excited, this very thing will just bite him in the ass on a national level.

    Yeah, please vote for me. The repug governor from Texas who was thinking of illegally wanting to create my own country. Yessiree, my own darn country I tell ya. Oh, and I promise to be a uniter!

    One way to measure Obama’s performance is to see how rediculous the Repugs get with their rhetoric. I see Obama batting 1000 so far .

  20. Stars & Bars says:

    Re: “The last time Texas did this was when they joined the Confederacy in secession from the Union – opposed to the freeing of slaves.”

    The Civil War was not about slavery, it was about States rights.

    The primary goal of the Civil War was enactment of the 14th Amendment which made all “persons” slaves. Today, most are victims of the Public Fool System and don’t realize the form of their bondage.

    Modern confusion over rights is a result of the Uniform Commercial Code not the Constitution. UCC 1-308

  21. Uncle Patso says:

    If Guv Perry dislikes all those Federal dollars so much, maybe we should relocate Fort Hood, Fort Sam Houston, Fort Bliss; Sheppard, Dyess, Goodfellow, Laughlin, Lackland and Randolph Air Force Bases; Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth (the former Carswell Air Force Base facility) as well as NAS Corpus Christi and NAS Kingsville. We’d be happy to take one or two of those around here…

  22. Uncle Patso says:

    Oh, I almost forgot:

    Promoting secession — isn’t that treason? Or at the very least sedition?

  23. Dallas says:

    Dvorak there is something really jacked up with the posting editor. The format looks good but it ain’t baked yet.. ,

  24. Paddy-O says:

    Yes, it has the cursor start on the right side and jumps around

  25. MikeN says:

    Bobbo, Mickey Kaus has a good rundown on healh care issues as well as card check.

  26. Perro Loco says:

    Texas should be kicked out of the United States! Screw Perry & screw Texas.

  27. Mark T. says:

    Uncle Patso,

    Treason is normally defined as either being at war with the government, trying to overthrow the government, or aiding and abetting those that are trying to do the same.  I don’t think wanting to leave the Union peaceably can be defined as treason.  Especially if there is no intent to cause the destruction of the country.

  28. Greg Allen says:

    If Texas leaves, the ratio of guns to IQs in America will significantly widen.

  29. LibertyLover says:

    http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/story?id=7183746&page=1

    Note: The top five cities in America that are weathering the economic storm are located in Texas.

  30. Uncle Patso says:

    # 103 Uncle Patso said, in part:

    “Promoting secession — isn’t that treason? ”

    To which # 110 Mark T. replied:

    “Uncle Patso,”

    “Treason is normally defined as either being at war with the government, trying to overthrow the government, or aiding and abetting those that are trying to do the same. I don’t think wanting to leave the Union peaceably can be defined as treason. Especially if there is no intent to cause the destruction of the country.” [Emphasis added.]

    No intent to cause the destruction of the country? What the hell else would you call it when it is reduced to its component parts? Whether you destroy something by explosion or by dismantling it piece by piece, it’s still the same result: pieces instead of a whole.


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