What to Read on Rick Perry
In Texas, Perry Rides an Energy Boom -- Clifford Krauss
[The] state’s economic health came at a steep price: a long-term hollowing out of its prospects because of deep cuts to education spending, low rates of investment in research and development, and a disparity in the job market that confines many blacks and Hispanics to minimum-wage jobs without health insurance.When Mr. Perry succeeded Mr. Bush, a barrel of oil was $25. [During] his first term, global market forces began driving oil prices up. They peaked at $147 a barrel in 2008 and have largely remained above $80 over the last two years.The oil and gas industry now delivers roughly $325 billion a year to the state, directly and indirectly. It brings in $13 billion in state tax receipts, or roughly 40 percent of the total, financing up to 20 percent of the state budget.The federal government has also helped support Texas. Federal spending in the state, home of NASA and large Army bases, more than doubled over the last decade to over $200 billion a year.[Before Perry entered office,] the Legislature enacted tight restrictions on mortgage lending, which helped Texas avoid the kind of real estate bubble that devastated states like Florida and Arizona.
The Ten Weirdest Ideas in Rick Perry's "Fed Up" -- Matthew Yglesias
10. Social Security is evil.9. Private enterprise blossomed under conscription and wartime price controls.8. Medicare is too expensive but must never be cut.7. All bank regulation is unconstitutional.6. Consumer financial protection is unconstitutional.5. Almost everything is unconstitutional.4. Federal education policy is unconstitutional.3. Al Gore is part of a conspiracy to deny the existence of global cooling.2. Not only is everything unconstitutional; activist judges are a problem.1. The Civil War was caused by slaveowners trampling on Northern states' rights.
Rick Perry's Neocon Friends -- Robert Dreyfuss
...Perry declares that "exceptional" America has to be prepared for war with China and India.Perry is consorting with left-over neocons from the Bush administration,...such as Douglas Feith, the uber-hawk who oversaw the war in Iraq, and Bill Luti, Feith's compatriot in the Bush White House, who joined with Vice President Cheney to persuade Bush that an unprovoked attack on Iraq was the right thing to do, and Dan Blumenthal, another Bush veteran...
Rick Perry's Budget Sleight-of-Hand -- Suzy Khimm
The Texas governor...used accounting sleights-of-hand that deferred payments and papered over enormous expenditures that will soon come due...though not until the 2012 election is over.Perry's budget assumes that the student population will remain constant, when more than 160,000 new students are projected to enroll in Texas public schools over the next two years.Perry’s budget only covers Medicaid funding through the spring of 2013, coming up $4.8 billion short.Finally, Perry's budget ignores a $4.5 billion structural deficit that happens every year due to a 2006 tax reform that’s never generated as much revenue as expected.
Rick Perry's Environmental Record -- Dylan Matthews
[Unlike] Mitt Romney, [Perry] does not believe in the science behind climate change...He filed a lawsuitagainst the EPA’s greenhouse gas emissions regulations on behalf of the state, a suit widely expected to fail. Perry has said that he prays daily for the EPA rules to be reversed. He has consistently defended oil and coal interests in Texas, notably dubbing the BP oil well blowout an "act of God" and opposing the Obama administration's efforts to regulate offshore drilling in the wake of the disaster. He also fast-tracked environmental permits for a number of coal plants in 2005, cutting in half the normal review period. His transportation agenda similarly does not reflect any concern about emissions, as he did not compete for federal high speed rail funding and has kept state funds focused on roads rather than mass transit.
Rick Perry's Medicaid Record -- Sarah Kliff
Perry [said] that he'd "like to see the states be given the opportunity to opt out of the Medicaid program that we are looking at today."In 2008,...Texas applied for a waiver allowing it to limit the number of beneficiaries and create a comparatively sparse benefits plan, among other changes.The Bush administration rejected Texas's...waiver request. There was "no precedent," an administration official said in explaining the decision, in approving an "annual benefit limit as low as" the Perry administration proposed.
Perry Threatens Bernanke -- ThinkProgress
...Perry said, "If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I dunno what y'all would do to him in Iowa but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treasonous in my opinion." Treason is a capital offense.