{"id":292,"date":"2011-11-25T18:58:48","date_gmt":"2011-11-25T23:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/?p=292"},"modified":"2011-11-25T18:58:48","modified_gmt":"2011-11-25T23:58:48","slug":"an-honest-look-at-rick-perry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2011\/11\/an-honest-look-at-rick-perry.html","title":{"rendered":"An Honest Look at Rick Perry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Governor Rick Perry, so goes the conventional wisdom, is a real <\/em>conservative.\u00a0 How could he not be?\u00a0 After all, his three terms as governor of Texas has marked a period of spectacular job creation.\u00a0 It has been said that nearly 40% of all jobs in the United States at present are to be found in the lone star state.\u00a0\u00a0 In addition to this consideration, there are several others to substantiate the pervasive belief that, from the conservative Republican\u2019s perspective, Perry is the genuine article.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If we are to accept Republican Party rhetoric of \u201cconstitutionalism,\u201d \u201climited government,\u201d \u201cindividualism,\u201d etc., then what we must determine is whether Perry is the partisan of liberty that, presumably, Republicans should want as their party\u2019s presidential nominee and, ultimately, their president.\u00a0 It is to the end of making this determination that we shall now look at some highlights from Perry\u2019s political career.<\/p>\n

Domestic Policy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Taxes <\/em><\/p>\n

The Club for Growth\u2014an organization dedicated to the lowering of taxes and tax rates, the reduction of spending, and, in short, greater economic liberty and prosperity\u2014generally regards Perry\u2019s record as Texas governor favorably.\u00a0 Yet it also is quick to point out that it is not without its fair share of blemishes.<\/p>\n

For instance, in 1987, while still a Democratic <\/em>Congressman <\/em>(itself a telling tidbit), Perry voted in favor of the largest tax increase, <\/em>not just in the history of Texas, <\/em>but in that of the United States, <\/em>up until that juncture.<\/p>\n

To the objection that this was when Perry was a Democrat and, thus, it doesn\u2019t count, a reply is ready at hand.\u00a0 As recently as 2003, well after Perry became a Republican and after he was elected governor, he issued his first budget.\u00a0 While he did <\/em>cut spending and did not <\/em>raise taxes, he elicited billions<\/em> of dollars in revenue by way of a complex of \u201c\u2018revenue adjustments, surcharges, and fees\u2019\u201d on an assortment of services.\u00a0 As the Club for Growth notes, these fees are not equivalent to increases in taxes, \u201cbut they are anti-growth <\/em>and serve the same purpose of funding government.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

But there are other spots on Perry\u2019s record.<\/p>\n

In 2006, Perry advanced an ambitious property tax-cut proposal.\u00a0 To insure that his proposal would become law, he is also lent his support to a \u201cgross receipts tax\u201d\u2014a tax on the gross revenues of Texas corporations.\u00a0 The corporate income tax may have been eliminated, but this new tax \u201c\u2018nearly tripled the amount that Tex as collected from businesses.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 According to the Cato Institute, although Perry\u2019s bill supplied property owners with relief, it \u201creally socked it to businesses.\u201d\u00a0 Moreover, it \u201ccentralizes fiscal power at the state level, which will encourage government growth in the long run by stifling local tax competition.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Spending <\/em><\/p>\n

Perry is a mixed bag on spending as well.<\/p>\n

While his \u201crecord on spending generally reveals fiscally conservative tendencies,\u201d Perry has \u201ccreated well-intentioned, but misguided state-funded subsidy programs to attract corporations to Texas,\u201d a move on his part that \u201cagain indicate that Perry doesn\u2019t necessarily fully rely on free-market principles when he makes economic decisions.\u201d\u00a0 Club for Growth reports that Perry \u201caggressively<\/em> used government spending to attract jobs toTexas\u201d (emphasis mine).\u00a0 The Texas Enterprise Fund and the Texas Emerging Technology Fund are two robust economic development initiatives that Perry signed into law.\u00a0\u00a0 The problem is that \u201cinitiatives like these, often supported by big business, create huge market distortions in a place that should naturally be a nationwide leader in attracting jobs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

To put it simply, Perry has proven himself to be a proponent of corporate welfare<\/em>.\u00a0 As Club for Growth states, Perry\u2019s \u201cgimmicky subsidies\u201d implies that he \u201cis more pro-business<\/em> than he is pro-free markets<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his book,\u00a0Fed Up! <\/em>Perry objects to the federal government\u2019s several failed attempts to address the economic crisis of 2008.\u00a0 However, as Club for Growth observes, he also intimates reluctant support for such measures\u2014as long as they are \u201ctemporary.\u201d\u00a0 President Bush may have initiated the expansion of government power over the economy, but, as Bush himself famously (notoriously?) said, he \u201cabandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system.\u201d\u00a0 That is, because government intervention courtesy of Republican President Bush was only meant to be for a limited time to address a crisis, it may be necessary.\u00a0 But Democratic President Obama seeks to make such intervention \u201cpermanent\u201d–and this is bad.<\/p>\n

As far as entitlements, Perry\u2019s work at trimming them down has been not altogether unsuccessful.\u00a0 Yet it isn\u2019t just congratulations that he his owed.\u00a0 As the Governor of Texas, Perry couldn\u2019t resist trying to impose a mandate <\/em>on insurance companies that would have required them to offer a specific prescription drug plan.<\/p>\n

It is also important to recall that while Perry was a candidate for Agriculture Commissioner in 1990, he advocated price supports for farmers.<\/p>\n

Other Issues<\/em><\/p>\n

That Perry is most definitely not <\/em>the champion of liberty that he makes himself out to be is also born out by two other highly significant facts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

First, as governor of Texas, Perry permitted illegal aliens<\/em> to pursue a higher <\/em>education for the same tuition price charged to the state\u2019s legal <\/em>residents\u2014a decision that amounted to the decision to grant a de facto amnesty.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Secondly\u2014and this is particularly disturbing\u2014Perry attempted, by way of executive order, <\/em>to impose a vaccination upon young girls\u2014whether they or their parents wanted it or not.\u00a0 That is, in order to get his way, Perry sought to circumvent the legislature.<\/p>\n

Foreign Policy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perry\u2019s foreign policy stance is not easy to differentiate from that of every other establishment Republican. He supports \u201cthe War on Terror,\u201d specifically, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he is a stalwart defender ofIsrael.\u00a0 Considering that Perry has never so much as come close to signaling a desire to alter the current relationship between America and Israel, it is most reasonable to conclude that he wishes to continue subsidizing the latter via American foreign aid.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is only so much that can be said about Perry within the little amount of time available to say it.\u00a0 Hopefully, what has been said <\/em>here is sufficient to establish that Rick Perry, like the Republican Party to which he belongs, is bewitched by an ideology of Big Government. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jack Kerwick, Ph.D.<\/p>\n

originally published at The New American<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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