Will Texas Gov. Rick Perry Have A Bad Reelection Hair Day In November 2010?
Will Perry Finally ‘Take the Ferry’ From the Capitol?
Look, I know I written a lot about the governor and how during the past 7 years of his reign he mercilessly and maliciously has “flim-flammed” the good people of Texas.
“Mr. Good-Hair” has been a long-time topic of mine.
I know you folks out there must be saying, “Wow, this guy really has a vendetta against the governor.”
You know what? You’re correct! But it’s just business and personal.
That’s what happens to me when someone in power with political muscle and clout abuses and takes advantage of his position and of hardworking Texans. And that’s exactly what Perry has done since the first day he took over George Walker Bush’s place in the Governor’s Mansion when the latter evacuated Texas for Washington D.C.
During the past 7 years Gov. Rick “Special Interest” Perry did NOT lift a finger to help hardworking Texans. In fact, he did a lot to hurt them — where it REALLY hurts — in their wallets!
So, you may say, “What did Perry do that was so bad?”
Well, here you go!
· Perry promised to help homeowners get relief from high taxes; however, during the past 7 years property taxes have sky-rocketed more than 800 percent for homeowners in some districts
· Perry promised to help Texas homeowners with high insurance costs; however, 4 years ago home insurance premiums doubled overnight due to lax legislation and officials looking the other way and currently Texans pay the highest premiums in the nation
· When home insurance premiums doubled, the governor and [at that time] Texas Insurance Commissioner Jose Montemayor and later current TDI Commission Mike Geeslin promised to force the insurance industry to reimburse homeowners at least 10 percent of the recent 100 percent jump in costs — has anyone gotten a check back from an insurance company — except for the industry’s campaign contributions to our special interest officials?
· Approximately 4 years ago, the governor put on his 10-gallon white Stetson and “galloped” around Texas pushing legislation to eliminate “frivolous” medical malpractice lawsuits with the promise that doing so would lower medical and health care costs; however, after voters took him for his word and voted for the legislation costs are still high and are continuing to rise
· Four years ago Perry cut important social services, including children’s healthcare, to balance the state budget; one year later, he replaced some of the funding for these programs while boasting that he increased health care tax dollars for more Texas children — Perry’s claim was bogus!
· During the first few years of his gubernatorial career Perry resolutely proclaimed that public education was NOT in crisis — two years later, under severe public pressure, he admitted there was a financing problem and called for two special sessions on public education that went nowhere; part of the reason that nothing was accomplished was Perry’s poor leadership
· Perry illogically wanted to finance public education with taxes on “Gentlemen’s Clubs” and neither Republicans nor Democrats voted to do so
· Year after year Perry and “his band of merry legislators” have diverted more of the state’s responsibility to finance education onto local county governments, who in turn placed the burden onto already struggling homeowners
· Why did Perry promise Texans that deregulating the electric industry would translate into less costly monthly electric bills from a more competitive industry? In reality, currently monthly electric costs for Texans are the highest ever in the state’s history
· Perry promised that ALL businesses will pay a FAIR business tax that would replace the antiquated, unfair and loop-holed Business Franchise Tax; however; in truth many small businesses are being targeted unfairly and are overburdened by the new business tax and still these taxes do NOT provide a fair share of revenue to finance public education
· Perry, legislators and appointed officials promoted a Teacher Incentive Plan to focus on getting students to pass the state exam(s) as the measure of success; our children are NOT commodities on an assembly line and such a ludicrous piece-work pay incentive is an insult to teachers and their honorable profession — furthermore, if the state provided teachers with a more professional and reasonable salary with adequate benefits there would be no economic reason to provide extra perks via an incentive program that won’t work for educating our children
· Four years ago, after forcing teachers to accept pay cuts and the loss many of their health and retirement benefits, Perry and officials returned a small share of that money and claimed they increased teacher pay an average of $2,000 per teacher — another bogus claim by Perry!
· Perry lobbied for deregulating higher education with the promise that it would lower tuition costs; after the legislation was passed by voters, the University of Texas has increased tuition at least 4 times and is considering another increase — other colleges and universities followed suit and currently tuition continues to increase
· Perry continues to promise Texans “NO NEW TAXES,” but continues to push his toll road agenda — what are toll roads if not new taxes? In addition, Perry maintained the freeze on gasoline taxes and gave TxDOT his approval to spend tax dollars however it needed to push toll roads. TxDOT became a runaway state agency and was provided omnipotent powers by Perry’s legislative cohorts. In addition, gas tax revenues still are being diverted to other interests, including higher education institutions and the Department of Public Safety. Gasoline tax revenue must be used to build and maintain our roadways!
Overall, Gov. Rick Perry has been “a VERY bad man” for most Texans and their families. The Governor’s wealthy campaign contributors and big business constituents have made higher profits and more money by abusing the pockets of most Texans.
Currently Perry is supporting and approving all sorts of “positive” things, e.g., more affordable low income housing, freeing up some tax dollars so low income folks can get homes, secession from the U.S., creating some jobs here and there, etc.
“So,” you may say, “what’s wrong with that?”
Well, I’ll tell you ——
The former comedienne and actress Mae West once defined a ‘Fox’ as… “a Wolf bringing gifts.” This definition may be applied to our governor’s self-proclaimed efforts on behalf of the people of Texas.
Remember, 2010 is a reelection year for Gov. Rick Perry. With only 17 months left of his term as governor, he is already feeling the pressure by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison’s efforts to win in the GOP Primary. Perry has nothing to lose and has everything to gain by driving home this “Good Governor” impression in the people’s minds just before the election.
The circus magnate P.T. Barnum stated that, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” And that exactly is what our governor is hoping… that the majority of Texans are suckers.
In November 2010 voters need to make a strong statement to the governor. We know what he has and has not accomplished during his lackluster 7-year reign.
We know all the promises he made to us and how few he has honored.
We know how his poor leadership of the Texas Legislature has hurt hardworking Texans and their families.
But most of all, we are NOT suckers!
We must NOT permit Perry to scam another 4-year term that will cause further harm to future generations of Texans.
It’s time to “Make Perry take the Ferry!” Sounds like a great bumper-sticker!
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