Perry? Say it ain't so!

For over a decade, we Texans have witnessed firsthand what Perry's done to our state. And it's not a pretty picture. We've watched him threaten secession and rail against Washington while using federal stimulus money to cover up his own billion dollar budget shortfall.

Perry bragged to the national media about shooting a coyote, but we watched him do more lasting damage to public education by shortchanging schools, knocking 100,000 kids out of full-day Pre-Kindergarten, and crowding more kids into classrooms. He brags about the Texas economy, but his budget proposal would have destroyed hundreds of thousands of Texas jobs from both the public and private sectors.

During any debates that he may choose to participate in (remember that he refused to attend any debates during his last run for governor) pay close attention to his attack on the new health care act, specifically the provision that mandates that everyone have coverage. He really cannot criticize this provision without being beat down by the opposition because as govenor he mandated that:

• All Texas girls receive a vaccine against the human papillomavirus before entering the sixth grade. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4521884.html
• All women undergo an ultrasound, hear a detailed description of the fetus and then wait a full 24 hours before receiving abortion care.http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7572639.html

The first one had to involve some kind of payoff from Merck to him or his family. The second one was just playing to the base, of course.

If he ends up being the nominee I would certainly hope that smart Republicans will write in a better choice for president.

Absentee Governor

Go into your boss’s office and tell them that from now until late November, 2012 you will:

• Work many fewer hours per week.
• Not be at work as much, many weeks not at all.
• Be spending your time trying to obtain a new job.
• Be coming back and resuming a normal work schedule if you do not obtain the new job.

How do you think that would go over? Probably not very well. However this is precisely what Governor Rick Perry is doing now that he has thrown his hat into the ring for the Republican presidential nomination.

Governor Perry was elected to direct the activities of the state, not to spend a year or more running for president. Seems like we need an amendment to the Texas State Constitution that either prohibits this practice or requires that elected officials resign if they want to seek a higher office.

Better yet, this should be a federal law, which would help to implement term limits on these do-nothing career politicians.

Perry vetoes texting while driving bill

During the coverage of the US Open a commercial was aired multiple times that showed a number of parents making sure that their kids were safe, e.g., wearing safety gear while biking, floaties when taking a bath, etc. One of these parents was shown buckling her child into a car seat and checking it. Then it cuts to her driving while texting, with her child securely buckled in the car seat in the back seat. Suddenly, as she is not paying attention she runs an intersection and is hit broadside. The commercial illustrated that one should be mindful of all risks to the safety of their children and should not be texting while driving. This was definitely a good and effective way to drive home this message.

On Friday, June 17, Texas Governor Rick “I wanna be president” Perry vetoed a bill that would have made texting while driving illegal. He did so because he views it as "a government effort to micromanage the behavior of adults." He recognizes that "texting while driving is reckless and irresponsible”, but prefers information and education campaigns to dissuade drivers of all ages from texting while driving.

So OK, that is understandable, especially when considering the governor’s hard right leaning political posture, one that he moved to after previously being a Democrat. (He no doubt changed parties because he saw no future in politics as a Democrat in Texas, but I digress.) However, he is currently flying all over the place to address various groups of conservatives, testing the waters for a presidential run, and repeating his anti-abortion stance.

Does anyone else see the hypocrisy in this? He vetoes a bill that may save real, living and breathing lives because he does not want “to micromanage the behavior of adults”, yet he wants “to micromanage the behavior of adults” by outlawing abortion. What about an “information and education campaign” to dissuade folks of all ages to avoid unwanted pregnancies? Plus doesn’t “pro-life” include all lives? Apparently not to our governor.

This is just one of many examples of why this guy should never be president. C'mon Republicans, you have to have someone better than this guy. If you don't, then there is no hope for your party and our great country.