Conservatives are stampeding toward Rick Perry.
Rick Perry has pole-vaulted over Willard Mitt Romney in the race to become the top Republican to face President Obama on Election Day 2012. Texas’s governor beat Massachusetts’s former governor 29 percent to 17 percent, Gallup reported Wednesday, in the second national survey to find Perry leading by double digits among Republicans. Perry deserves this distinction. While he lacks the pro-market purity of Milton Friedman, Perry’s record should satisfy limited-government conservatives far more than Romney’s.
• As “America’s jobs governor,” Perry is a one-man antidote to Obama’s venomous policies, which have held unemployment above 9 percent for 25 of the last 27 months. Across all 50 states, between June 2009 and June 2011, the Dallas Federal Reserve calculates that 49.9 percent of America’s net new jobs arose in Texas. July was its eleventh straight month of payroll expansion, with 29,300 Texans finding work. Nearly eleven years into Perry’s governorship, Texas inarguably is No. 1 in job growth.
During Romney’s single four-year term, however, the U.S. Labor Department ranked Massachusetts No. 47 in job growth. Employment increased just 0.9 percent between January 2003 and January 2007. At that time, U.S. job growth was roughly 5 percent, reports WSJ.com’s Brett Arends. Romney did keep Massachusetts ahead of Ohio and Michigan — two Rust Belt job sieves — and Louisiana, crushed by Katrina.
• The libertarian Cato Institute’s Report Card on America’s Governors gives Perry straight Bs and Romney consistent Cs.
Cato praised Perry for introducing “a zero-based budget to force the state agencies to justify their continued existence and funding levels” and noted that “he has presided over moderate increases in the Texas general fund budget.” Cato applauded Perry’s “substantial achievement”: a $6 billion property tax cut in 2004 — including a first-year, $1.5 billion net tax reduction. However, Cato criticized Perry for partially offsetting this tax relief with a $1-per-pack cigarette tax hike and a gross receipts tax on business.
Cato observed that Romney’s “first budget, presented under the cloud of a $2 billion deficit, balanced the budget with some spending cuts, but a $500 million increase in various fees was the largest component of the budget fix.” Cato also saw that Romney “proposed modest increases to the budget and line-item vetoed millions of dollars each year, only to have most of those vetoes overridden.” In October 2006, Cato’s Stephen Slivinski predicted Romney’s current migraine: “If you consider the massive costs to taxpayers that his universal health care plan will inflict once he’s left office, Romney’s tenure is clearly not a triumph of small-government activism.”
• On health care, the free-market Club for Growth (where I twice have spoken) lauds Perry for expanding managed care within Medicaid. Among other recent modernizations, a CFG White Paper on Perry explains, “this bill could save Texas nearly $468 million over two years.” After Perry’s extensive lawsuit reforms, “the number of insurance companies offering medical malpractice insurance soared 650 percent,” along with a massive influx of doctors eager to perform diagnoses rather than depositions.
CFG credits Romney for requiring Medicaid patients to co-pay for some treatments and increasing new state workers’ health contributions from 15 percent to 25. But CFG also describes Romneycare as “one lab experiment that has completely failed.” Romneycare wields an individual mandate. Also, government-funded medicine has zoomed from $133 million in Fiscal Year 2007 to some $880 million in FY2010 — despite Romney’s promise that “the costs of health care will be reduced.”
Unlike Perry, who can slam the president on Obamacare to his face, Romney cannot do so without inviting an immediate and overwhelming smackdown from Obama. Imagine Romney in a fall 2012 debate against Obama. After criticizing the president’s signature accomplishment, Obama might say, “Mitt, considering what you did as governor, it’s strange to hear you speak so poorly about the health-reform plan that I signed. After all, the Wall Street Journal called Romneycare ‘the dress rehearsal for Obamacare.’” That line alone could do to Romney what Ronald Reagan did to 1984’s Democratic nominee, Walter Mondale, when he said in an autumn debate: “I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”
• While CFG chides Perry for “well-intentioned, but misguided state-funded subsidy programs to attract corporations to Texas,” it praises him for opposing the ethanol program, possibly Washington’s grubbiest corporate-welfare scheme.
Romney, in turn, boldly told Iowa voters on May 27: “I support the subsidy of ethanol.”
• Perry describes so-called “global warming” as an unproven “scientific theory” and believes that “there are a substantial number of scientists who have manipulated data” on this issue.
“I believe the world is getting warmer, and I believe that humans have contributed to that,” Romney declared June 3. On Wednesday, he retreated: “I don’t know if it’s mostly caused by humans.”
“It is quite likely that Perry would seek to move the country in a much more pro-growth direction,” the Club for Growth concludes. “Almost any movement in the direction of the Texas approach would be welcomed.”
“We also think that Romney is somewhat of a technocrat,” CFG summarizes. “He has developed an unshakeable reputation as a flip-flopper. He has changed his position on several economic issues, including taxes, education, political free speech, and climate change. And yet the one issue that he doesn’t flip on — Romneycare — is the one that is causing him the most problems with conservative voters.”
Conservatives hungry for free — or at least freer — markets are stampeding toward Rick Perry. True, the cowboy-boot-wearing governor recalls Pres. G. W. Bush in style. Unfortunately, Willard Mitt Romney reflects him in substance.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
-Deroy Murdock is a nationally syndicated columnist with the Scripps Howard News Service and a media fellow with the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University. This piece was originally published on National Review Online on August 26th, 2011.
August 29th, 2011 at 7:34 am
Thank you Cato for establishing that Romney’s efforts to cut more from Mass budget were overidden by the state house. He’d have left the state in far better shape, even better than the 2B surplus, if he could have.
There’s a vast difference between governing when your friends have the purse strings, and Romney’s achievemens as Mass Governor prove he’s got the capacity to make your enemies play in the same sandbox. This skill set is inevitably required in the POTUS. Fiscal Conservancy, even when its not easy.
August 29th, 2011 at 7:36 am
While Mr. Perry is not my first or second choice, he is certainly better than Mr. Romney. Great post!
August 29th, 2011 at 7:40 am
I think the main question should be, who will be the best president?
Romney wins that one hands down. He’ll be a good, strong, conservative president that the country will feel comfortable with and who will bring about lasting changes.
Perry would get nothing done, lose the House by 2014, and in 2016 we’d suffer our fifth straight change election as Obama sweeps back into the White House.
August 29th, 2011 at 7:42 am
Why is denying scientific consensus crucial to being a the Republican nominee?
August 29th, 2011 at 7:43 am
http://governor.state.tx.us/news/speech/10688/
Perry is no conservative. You must read this….
August 29th, 2011 at 7:51 am
Back to front-page hit pieces I see. oh well, I wouldn’t expect anything better from Murdock.
The fact is this: If we are going to measure job creation by how many low-wage, line-cook positions we can churn out, then we are in serious trouble. A high percentage of the jobs that Perry saw created under his term in office have been low-wage positions. Many of the rest were the product of high oil prices – a boon for texas, but a serious knife in the heart to much of the rest of the economy.
=====
Sure, Perry can “slam the President on Obamacare to his face” – to what end? Getting portrayed as a big-talking, partisan, couldn’t-care-less Republican who wants to dump millions of Americans back into the population of uninsured individuals who must take up valuable time and resources in the waiting room anytime they get even a little sick, or who must otherwise continue in an ailing condition because, in the most advanced country in the world, they can’t afford to see a doctor.
Romney can very much criticize the President for his misadventures with ObamaCare, particularly for distorting an otherwise effective program in Massachusetts into a massive federal boondoggle. What Romney cannot do, however, is be portrayed by the other side as a heartless Republican big shot who doesn’t give a damn if a mother can’t take her kids to the doctor when they bring home a cold.
For all the Conservative/Libertarian griping about the individual mandate – a policy many rightly supported in previous years – they seem to forget that requiring health insurance effects exactly one group of people: those who are financially capable of purchasing health insurance, but who refuse to do so. In other words, freeloaders and cheats. Are these the people you want to get into bed with?
When people point to the additional money spent on insurance in massachusetts, what they’re really citing is the money spent to help those [theoretically] too poor to purchase insurance do so. You could get rid of the mandate alone, and see very little drop in costs. Similarly, you could cut all assistance to the poor, keep the mandate, and see massive declines in money spent. Of course, you’d see rather noticeable increases in other things – illness, death, bankruptcy from healthcare bills, etc.
Rick Perry’s America seems to be one where millions of people go to low wage jobs that don’t provide them health insurance or the wages to purchase it, and then must sit in emergency rooms for a simple illness because they cannot afford to see a doctor. That is no measure of progress or achievement or success.
Romney isn’t one full of the big-talking-partisan style that makes the fringe drool…and he’s certainly not one the freedom-without-responsibility libertarian element wets itself over…but he is a competent and qualified leader who has pulled companies, organizations, and even a state out of very serious conditions. He’s a proven executive who doesn’t try and sell himself off accomplishments he had no control over, and he’s certianly not foolish enough to think that its the “real economy” that thrives when Oil prices go sky high.
Take your pick. You’ve got the big-talking-texan, or the turnaround expert.
August 29th, 2011 at 7:53 am
“There’s a vast difference between governing when your friends have the purse strings”
Indeed. The choice is between a man who wasn’t as conservative as he could have been in one of the reddest states [Perry], and one who wasn’t as conservative as we might have liked under ideal conditions in one of the bluest [Romney].
August 29th, 2011 at 7:54 am
Murdock has never been a Romney guy. In fact, he’s a total anyone but Romney, including Attila the Hun!
August 29th, 2011 at 8:05 am
“The fact is this: If we are going to measure job creation by how many low-wage, line-cook positions we can churn out, then we are in serious trouble. ” This is where you guys lose credibility. Not all jobs in Texas are low paying. Many of the hard-working people who move to Texas actually land decent jobs. Further, would you rather people stay on welfare than have no job at all?
August 29th, 2011 at 8:09 am
9:
All jobs are McJobs when you don’t like the guy creating them.
August 29th, 2011 at 8:11 am
Deroy always has the best analysis.
And this editorial is but a start. At some point, folks will have to ask themselves why Romney governed “successfully” in MA for about two-and-a-half years, upon which he fled to Iowa, and within four years had sold off his remaining real estate in Mass. When was the last time a governor so thoroughly cut ties to the state he once governed?
I’m sure the Rombots will claim that Mitt’s kids and grandkids weren’t home in MA — but why not? If he wants to “fix America” for his offspring like he did Massachusetts, should we anticipate that his kids and grandkids will flee the United States if he becomes president? Will Mitt subsequently follow them on the lam?
August 29th, 2011 at 8:13 am
Mr. murdock has an agenda, and that is to get Obama re elected.
August 29th, 2011 at 8:18 am
“Mr. murdock has an agenda, and that is to get Obama re elected.” Yeah, that coming from the gal who actually voted for Mr. Obama in 2008.
August 29th, 2011 at 8:29 am
OJ, I guess you can’t stand it that some folks can see through Perry, Palin and others like them, eh?
August 29th, 2011 at 8:32 am
Big Government Rick is at it again. National Review has a nice article about how the state of Texas has blown nearly $7 billion dollars on wind energy that is not producing much of any energy.
Did you know Texas has 3 times the number of windmills than any other state, thanks to Rick Perry’s mandates?
Link: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/275673/texas-wind-energy-fails-again-robert-bryce?page=1
From NR “What about Rick Perry, a politico who frequently invokes his support for the free market? In 2005, he signed a mandate requiring the state to have at least 6,000 megawatts of renewable capacity by 2015. Perry’s support has been so strong that a wind-energy lobbyist recently told the New York Times that the governor, who’s now a leading contender for the White House, has “been a stalwart in defense of wind energy in this state, no question about it.”
August 29th, 2011 at 8:36 am
11:
What are you talking about? Romney didn’t start campaigning heavily until after he left office. Hell, according to you he’d already left the state for a full year when his healthcare bill passed.
August 29th, 2011 at 8:39 am
Rick Perry the guy that nearly doubled the size of government in Texas, perhaps the only Republican that can make the case that the Obama stimulus was not big enough.
When will conservatives rise up and demand answers to Rick’s excessive spending. Will we see any of the level of outrage that has been directed at Romney’s health plan that now costs Massachusetts $400 million a year, directed at Rick Perry’s wind schemes that has cost Texas nearly $7 billion dollars?
How about his increase in the Texas state budget of nearly $40 billion a year since he took office a decade ago? That is 100 times the annual cost of Romney’s old health plan that has been hammered so much.
For those who want a purist conservative, there is Michelle Bachmann or maybe even Rick Santorum. Romney held spending below the rate of inflation during his tenure. Under what scenario do we need another big government Texan?
August 29th, 2011 at 8:43 am
#15 – That NR article is interesting. I would like to know whether the premise of the piece is true, that wind turbines tend to fail, or at least generate less power than normal, in high temperatures. Given the climate of TX that would make wind turbines uniquely unfit for TX (as opposed to cooler climates where turbines should be more productive).
TX investment in wind sounds like a boondoggle.
August 29th, 2011 at 8:44 am
There’s a vast difference between governing when your friends have the purse strings, and Romney’s achievements as Mass Governor prove he’s got the capacity to make your enemies play in the same sandbox. This skill set is inevitably required in the POTUS. Fiscal Conservancy, even when its not easy.
Amen and amen. Well said.
August 29th, 2011 at 8:46 am
Yes, RightGal, I do see right through Mr. Romney and your efforts to promote him. Now run along home.
August 29th, 2011 at 8:55 am
True Conservatives are Sticking with Romney
Lets start with, all the evidences points to Perry being as dumb as a tree stump.
This is the same guy who gave a speech on International Health care system. You talk about big government. Not only did Perry want a national health care system, but one that included other countries in particular Mexico.
a true conservative would never, ever support Perry
You might as well hand Obama four more years. Perry is to the Obama what Sharon Angle was too Harry Reid.
Lets face it, Perry is only popular because he is a hard core Evangelical. You guys want to really destroy this country, keep on pushing Perry.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:03 am
Hee hee I smell an agenda. I like Perry. His policy stinks and he is dumb as a post, apparently. Why should I choose lower-end mediocrity over the excellence Romney offers? Re-write this is clearer, more persuasive form.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:08 am
16. MarqueQ and this new character “Casusit” live in a different reality. In their fantasy world it’s ok to simply fabricate anti-Romney propoganda. Not sure if they’re actually trying to convince others here with their silliness or themselves.
No sane person is that pathologically anti any candidate unless there are other issues going on with them we’re not privy to.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:08 am
Rick Perry is really wishing the election were tomorrow. But alas, he will have to endure revelations about his Al Gore promoting, wind mill building, vaccinating, big gov spending, low test-score, 1.9 GPA record to be seen by primary voters.
It’s a two-man race, but the choice isn’t as cut and dried as the author would like us to believe. Obama wants Perry too.
Let the games begin. Are you ready to rumble!?
August 29th, 2011 at 9:10 am
“You guys want to really destroy this country, keep on pushing Perry.” I am not pushing Mr. Perry, but if you do not want me to vote for him in a strict 2-way race, give me somebody besides Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Romney.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:11 am
“and he is dumb as a post,” Yes that is what they said about Mr. Bush.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:12 am
Why do we give a liar like Deroy Murdock a platform here? It hurts the credibility of this site.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:12 am
“Obama wants Perry too.” I dout that, but hey.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:13 am
I would vote for Perry if he were conservative and honest. I’m not convinced he’s either. If you can’t be conservative in Texas, you’re NOT conservative.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:14 am
And what evidence is there to believe that Mr. D. Murdock is particularly dishonest???
August 29th, 2011 at 9:15 am
The “dumb as a post” refers to his failing GPA and downgrading his major to animal matrimony. If it doesn’t go to his intelligence, it certainly speaks to his work ethic.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:16 am
I think I hate Romney’s liberal supporters more than I dislike Romney.
All they do is spout democrat liberal talking points.
Yes, we know you libs think all conservatives are dumb, you say it so often it has lost any meaning. Of course if we believe in conservative principles and don’t buy the elite groupthink mantra (from global warming to taxing the rich, er, sorry, enhancing revenues) we are dumb…what else could explain it.
I am going to love knocking you pompous asses off your high pedestals this election cycle.
We will not elect a spineless moderate squish. I guess we’re just not smart enough to see any value in doing that.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:16 am
He is sassy. I like his flamboyance in sending the big bill to Homeland Security, and in renting out a stadium to hold public fasting and prayer. He’s not shy. The epic flip flopping is alarming. He makes Romney look as solid as the earth’s core when it comes to that.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:20 am
Well said Tele!
August 29th, 2011 at 9:24 am
Race featured Murdoch hit-pieces against Romney in the last Presidential cycle as well. This piece is the “substance” of those recycled, with practically nothing new other than his new-found adoration of Perry.
Romney has essentially not changed his approach to government, but has modified his positions in light of the continuing stream of new data that emerges…..one would hope than ANYone would. The only issue he’s actually flipped on is Abortion.
Perry, on the other hand, has largely disowned a book he “wrote” less than a year ago.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:24 am
30 – The fact that he lies
August 29th, 2011 at 9:25 am
I love morons that think intelligence isn’t an important qualification for being the leader of the free world.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:26 am
I’m with Perry over Romney on ideology. The question is, is he electable in the general?
August 29th, 2011 at 9:30 am
dude,
WHO are you calling a liberal? There ARE no liberals here…..only enlightened conservatives…..and a few deluded ones.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:33 am
Metro,
There’s not all that much difference between Perry and Romney on ideology. There are considerable differences in levels of character, intelligence, achievements, and, yes, electability.
ALL of which favor Romney.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:33 am
If Perry runs against Obama, Obama STARTS with 251 electoral votes in the bag. He can then dump his $1 billion war chest into winning 19 more electoral votes from Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Nevada, Colorado, and Iowa.
Perry would need to rely on the old Bush map that ignores the bluing of Virginia, N. Carolina, and Colorado. It doesn’t work anymore. Yes, Obama would love to run against Perry.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:35 am
Great post, Deroy!
It is what it is.
GOP 12′s Christian also had this..
August 29th, 2011 at 9:35 am
BTW,
It needs to be said that just about everything Republicans LIKE about Perry, they already know. Rick’s numbers will start descending as Republicans find out things they DON’T know.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:35 am
38. Anyone we nominate can beat Obama.
He is far weaker than polls show.
He will not be re-elected. No way.
So, we may as well pick who we want…what a concept!
August 29th, 2011 at 9:38 am
#40: Agreed all those things favor Romney. There *IS* a difference in ideology and it is so big it may just outweigh all those things.
Romney is not an ideologue, period. He is a technocrat. He’d be Bush41 all over again. He’d sell is out. Doesn’t believe in limited government. Hasn’t read the books. Doesn’t speak the language. He is a budget trimmer who likes markets, but he is no fire-breathing limited government conservative.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:39 am
Deroy makes it sound like a slam dunk. I think there is more to compare, contrast and spin than Deroy did here.
Pedestrian article at best. Anyone have a link to a nice objective article? Thx.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:40 am
38. You may wish to consider whether his buddies that helped him organize his day of prayer and fasting and who came to pray over him have any influence on his ideology:
http://www.businessinsider.com/rick-perry-the-evangelicals-behind-the-response-2011-7-21?op=1
August 29th, 2011 at 9:46 am
#47: If Perry’s theme becomes religious instead of economic I’ll be supporting Romney.
What a screwed up party you folks have.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:47 am
“Perry would need to rely on the old Bush map that ignores the bluing of Virginia, N. Carolina, and Colorado. It doesn’t work anymore. Yes, Obama would love to run against Perry.”
I’ll give you CO, but Mr. Perry would do at least as well in NC and VA. Plus, Mr. Perry could have a better shot in Iowa, WI and MN.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:51 am
48. I can understand the sentiment re the party.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:52 am
“ALL of which favor Romney.” Not all, Mr. Perry wins achievement, hands down. Also, Mr. Perry will have an easier time preventing votes going to third parties.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:54 am
Texas Dust Bowl Drives Cotton Rally
August 29th, 2011 at 9:57 am
45:
I’d say fire-breathing anything is wrong for the times. The country needs a lot right now, but one of the most underestimated things it needs is stability. Right now we desperately need a popular 2-term president who will temporarily put a stop to the “change” elections. Yeah, the changes might be a bit slower and maybe not as grand as we’d like, but the changes would be made, and they NEED to be made or we’re in the deep.
If you bring in someone looking to push too hard too fast, it just isn’t going to work. Democrats will stop him. The voters will recoil. We’ll lose the House in 2014 and the presidency 2 years later. We’ll also lose any chance to actually fix our problems until 2021. Which will be TOO LATE.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:57 am
There has yet to be a credible explanation offered as to why, when hospitals and doctors are REQUIRED to provide medical services to anyone who shows up at the door, we should not require those capable of purchasing their own health insurance to do so.
The simple fact that Obama got one particular part of the healthcare fix partially right hardly justifies a sudden Conservative/Libertarian embrace of freeloading.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:58 am
#50: There is precisely one candidate who is a die-hard government cutter, isn’t controlled by the religious right and doesn’t define the party as one of dumb southerners, who is highly electable in the general. And that’s Rudy Giuliani.
I decided if the party is going to reject him, I’m going to reject the party.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:00 am
51: Not so sure about that. I could see somebody like Bloomberg or Huntsman trying to run a centrist third party candidacy if Perry wins the election. I have no idea whether that hurts Obama or Romney more. That said, I could see some Republicans staying home or bolting for a third party if Romney’s the nominee. It’s a crap-shoot either way.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:02 am
Metro,
LOL!! So, you have ACTUAL EVIDENCE Perry has read von Mises and von Hayek?? He wouldn’t make it through the first 20 pages of ANYTHING they ever wrote!!
If you want PROOF Perry’s not a student of Austrian Economic Theory, read Robert Bryce’s excellent article in National Review on Perry’s mandate for renewables that’s led to Texas blowing $7 Billion on transmission lines to get nonexistent wind energy to consumers during peak demand times.
Romney would have put this money into natural gas-produced electricity. For verification, see his recent town hall meeting in Derry, New Hampshire.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:02 am
*wins the nomination.*
August 29th, 2011 at 10:03 am
“And that’s Rudy Giuliani.”
The day this party nominates an abortionist, pro-homosexual marriage, adulterous scoundrel will be the day I leave the GOP.
You simply cannot have a strong country unless it is built on a strong cultural fabric…and that means traditional families, not a government licence to get legal recognition for whatever kind of alternative lifestyle you feel like living.
We can have the best economic policies in the world, but a fat lot of good it will do if our social underpinnings continue to fall to hell.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:05 am
Metro,
Your guy, Rudy wil not reject Perry. He’ll be doing quite the opposite – campaigning at side by side as much as possible.
Question: Why do you think Perry endorsed Rudy and NOT Romney for president in ’08?
August 29th, 2011 at 10:09 am
Dear DeRoy Murdock and your friends at CFG
All of your comments are interesting, curious, occasionally relevant and sometimes true. Your bemusing reference to Mitt Romney’s purported ” flip flops” is increasingly irrelevant in light of the new ” Gold Standard” for flip -flops”, an entire book of policy recommendations no more than 9 months old, denied 10 days ago and then partially re -subscribed to over the weekend, know as ” Fed Up ” the musings of Richard ( Rick ) Perry. This tome of pedantic abstractions was bought by no one until the named author decided to run for President. Prior to that, the trophy for flip -floppery was held by folks like Senator Jim DeMint and Herman Cain, who endorsed a 2 year old Romney Care in 2008 only to declare it abhorrent to right- thinking conservatives in 2011.
Still, DeRoy, you and your adherents mean well, although you are searching for artistic elegance in a political swamp peopled by Richard Nixon sycophants who seldom if ever give interviews or say anything of substance.
CraigS
August 29th, 2011 at 10:10 am
OJ,
You can’t, even CONCEIVABLY, think Perry’s achievements rank anywhere in the same Universe with Mitt’s. For someone who’s followed politics as long as you have, that’s mind-numbing ignorance.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:13 am
Romney or bust. It’s that obvious and simple.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:15 am
63. Well, it’s obviously not, that’s why we’re debating.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:19 am
“You can’t, even CONCEIVABLY, think Perry’s achievements rank anywhere in the same Universe with Mitt’s. For someone who’s followed politics as long as you have, that’s mind-numbing ignorance.” So you call MAcare an achievement? Also, while Mr. Perry did not personally create jobs, he created an economic climate whereby the private sector could create them.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:20 am
26.OHIO JOE Says:
August 29th, 2011 at 9:11 am
“and he is dumb as a post,” Yes that is what they said about Mr. Bush.
========================================================================
Lets start with, Bush had an MBA from Harvard, Perry got a D in economics at Texas A&M as an undergrad, with an accumlated 2.0.
enough said.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:21 am
Since George W. Bush and the Texas state legislature put the policies in that has kept Texas’ economy in such good shape. Perhaps we should elect W. to POTUS, rather than bring in a newbie who just kept George W.’s policies in place?
August 29th, 2011 at 10:21 am
The Fix tweets..
August 29th, 2011 at 10:24 am
Matthew Kilburn,
You’re comment in #59 reminded me of a joke I heard the other day:
It seems George W. Bush and Putin die the same day and wind up in Hell together, to be greeted by Satan. Putin asked if he could make a phone call home to Russia. Satan says he can have just one phone call, but it will be very expensive since Hell is billions of miles from Russia.
Putin talks for 5 minutes and Satan presents him with a bill for $5 Million. Putin’s outraged, but writes a check.
Bush then asks for a phone call home to Texas. He talks for 4 hours, after which Satan presents him with a bill for $4.
Putin goes ballistic, demanding to know why Bush only got charged $1 an hour…..while HE was charged $1 Million a minute.
Satan says: After W left office, Obama and the Democrats took over in America and the whole place went to Hell, so now it’s a local call.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:24 am
Politico tweets..
August 29th, 2011 at 10:26 am
65.OHIO JOE Says:
August 29th, 2011 at 10:19 am
“You can’t, even CONCEIVABLY, think Perry’s achievements rank anywhere in the same Universe with Mitt’s. For someone who’s followed politics as long as you have, that’s mind-numbing ignorance.” So you call MAcare an achievement? Also, while Mr. Perry did not personally create jobs, he created an economic climate whereby the private sector could create them.
===================================================================================================
First, Perry advocated International Health Care that included Mexico, so that is even far worst than ObamaCare.
Second, Mr. Perry did not create a climate to create Jobs, he inherited it from Bush. And btw, the unemployment rate in Texas is 8.4 in Texas and climbing. It has steadly increased over last 4 years.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:26 am
Any Deroy Murdock post on Mitt Romney should have Surgeon General’s warning attached. “Do not read unless you accept the risk of toxic venom leaping off the page.”
August 29th, 2011 at 10:26 am
GOP12 tweets..
Good read on Romney’s relationship with tea party groups http://t.co/QxhU5Lu
22 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
Christian HeinzeThe Hill
August 29th, 2011 at 10:30 am
OJ,
Massachusetts has the highest rate of Medical Insurance Coverage in the nation, with more than 98% of it’s citizens having coverage……while Texas has the lowest….with something like 24% of the population without ANY medical insurance protection whatsoever.
And you think THAT’s an achievement of Perry’s, but NOT one of Mitt’s??
August 29th, 2011 at 10:30 am
Romney is already history. The GOP was never going to nominate the one-term non-entity with no clear regional base–he can’t carry the very state he is alleged to have “governed”–and with no clear or consistent record of pro-growth economic policy way, way back in history when he was a governor for so short a time. All anyone remembers from that sad era is RomneyCare.
Any discussion otherwise is but dull ache of phantom-limb-syndrome among the Romney devotees for whom Romney is the messiah or something.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:30 am
I hope this level of passion spills over into the debates with the actual candidates.
This is getting good!
Let’s you and him fight!
August 29th, 2011 at 10:33 am
75. I like it. Good analogy.
But are the Perry-krishnas really any different?
I wonder.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:33 am
If Romney somehow becomes the nominee, it’ll be one of the biggest political upsets in US history.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:37 am
Any article that starts out with the words “Willard Mitt Romney” is not worth reading as the author obviously has a bias. Had DeRoy referred to the current occupant of the Oval Office as Barack Hussien Obama, I might be inclined to not make such a judgement. It’s a tell-tale sign of a lack of objectivitiy.
It is very disappointing to see this article here.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:37 am
73. Well, yeah, only Romney is wise to lie by claiming an affinity he does not have with the concerns of tea partiers, even as he keeps his distance from tea party gatherings or actual tea partiers. Can you imagine what would happen to him if he really showed up at a tea party assembly? Romney’s humiliation would become an instant youtube classic.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:38 am
To #18
The premise of the National Review Article is true. When the weather is hot in high pressure systems like the one that has been hovering over Texas for teh past two months, there is very little wind. Thus, the wind farms produce at less than 10% of their nameplate capacity. That is a huge problem because you have to have sufficient generating capacity to meet peak demand. The problem with the Texas power portfolio is that wind farms are a significant component of our supply. Yet, we cannot rely on wind to help meet peak demand. Thus, we have to invest in other power sources to meet demand when wind farms cannot meet demand.
What’s worse is that wind farms tend to be clustered in remote parts of the state with minimal power transmission infrastructure. This requires substantial investments in the construction of new transmission lines, the cost of which is passed on to consumers by force of law in Texas. Fossil fuel plants on the other hand can be developed in areas adjacent to existing transmission facilities that can accommodate their power generation.
In addition to providing an unreliable source of energy that requires substantial investment in new transmission facilities, wind farms also receive generous tax subsidies in the form of production tax credits that are necessary to make wind-generated power economically competitive. Thus, wind-powered energy cannot be justified economically. Moreover, the environmental benefits are not as one would assume. As I mentioned above, we still have to have fossil fuel plants to meet peak demand when the wind farms are not running due to lack of wind. Thus, the environmental benefits of wind farms are marginal at best.
The bottom line is that wind energy imposes enormous costs on taxpayers and consumers. For example, in 2002, we had a situation in which ERCOT was paying wind farms not to generate power because there had been a rush to build wind farms in 2001 before the expiration of the production tax credit at the end of 2001. As a result of that rush, we had all these new wind farms, but inadequate transmission lines to handle what they could generate. Thus, to avoid damage to our transmission infrastructure, we were paying the wind farms not to generate power. In fact, we even went so far as to pay them for the production tax credits that they lost by not being able to generate power. All of these costs were then passed on to consumers in the marketplace.
Yet during this time, Rick Perry was pushing for even more wind farms. He then pushed for more transmission lines, which require condemnation of private property to construct. As a Texas resident, that is one issue I have with Rick Perry. He’s been a great champion of wind power which benefits certain industry players, but imposes enormous costs on the public as a whole without really delivering the mythical environmental benefits.
Thus, I am astonished that he is out there spinning this narrative that he is this hard-core limited government conservative. His big-government ways are what caused so many primary voters flock to a virtual no-name candidate like Debra Medina as an alternative to Rick Perry in 2010. Hopefully, primary voters in other states will wise up to what Rick Perry is really all about and understand that he is not the man to tackle the problems our nation struggles with at this time.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:38 am
I think Deroy uses an interesting word “stampede”
A stampede is an act of mass impulse among herd animals or a crowd of people in which the herd (or crowd) collectively begins running with no clear direction.
You do get this sense that Perry’s poll numbers are driven by people who are all impulse and that perhaps Perry prayer meeting was the whistle that started the stampede.
Though at some point Perry is going to have to face hard questions about a lot of his record in a debate and with interviewers who are trying to trip him up and he’s not just going to be able to poke them in the chest and walk away.
Going on Laura Ingram type shows isn’t going to cut it, either. Which btw, doesn’t leave me hopeful, he was awful stumbling to find the right word, uttering platitudes. Even Laura said, when she asked a question about China, we want specific answers.
I hope the stampede mentality stops and we conservatives vet this guy properly before we decide to put him in the general election…..Perry needs it.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:41 am
Pigs could also sprout wings and fly I suppose. But it is wiser to hew to the laws of physics when making predictions.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:41 am
Lets see, we have a choice between a candidate who got 2.0 in Animal Science with a D in economics and worked as a door to door sales man
or
a Candidate who graduated first in his class in 1971 with a degree in English and a 3.97 GPA. And then went on to get a Joint MBA/JD as Harvard. Who worked in the private sector buying businees and turning them around.
Now, who hands would you want to put the economic future of the country in??? Whommmmm. Be honest!
August 29th, 2011 at 10:42 am
Posted at 10:59 AM ET, 08/29/2011
Rick Perry: The (tea party) frontrunner
By Chris Cillizza
August 29th, 2011 at 10:44 am
56.A.J. Nolte Says:
August 29th, 2011 at 10:00 am
… That said, I could see some Republicans staying home or bolting for a third party if Romney’s the nominee. It’s a crap-shoot either way.
A.J. There are some Republicans staying home or bolting for a third party if Perry is the nominee. At this point of what I know about his record, I will vote 3rd party if he is the nominee. Perry will excite the far right, excite the far left to come out in opposition, and I expect the independents and moderates will either stay home or stick with Obama (better the devil you know).
That may be the best scenario if Perry is the nominee… Obama stays in, republicans keep the house, perhaps gain the senate but the goverment stays split and little is accomplished. 2016 then turns into a wide, wide open election.
If Romney wins the nomination, he wins enough republicans, swings independents and moderates, does not overly excite the far left in opposition, therefore keeping Obama votes down, and he will be there 8 years with the chance of his VP continuing republican control of the White House.
I’m looking forward to his policy rollouts beginning Sept 6th.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:46 am
Rick Perry is a flash in the pan folks. A year from now, we’re all going to be asking, “Remember Rick Perry? What were we thinking when we actually thought he was going to have a chance to beat Romney?”
Perry’s a pipe dream. He is strong only in the south, and nowhere else. Independent and moderate Republicans are going to be fleeing him in droves in the coming weeks.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:47 am
I agree completely, only how much louder does the tea party need to be about how unacceptable Romney would be to us, er, I mean them.
Running as the establishment’s anointed was the stupidest strategy ever for Romney. Perry doesn’t need to help Romney hang himself from the dead tree of the establishment. Just stay out of the man’s way while he strings himself up.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:47 am
I said it so it must be so Says:
A.J. There are some Republicans staying home or bolting for a third party if Perry is the nominee. At this point of what I know about his record, I will vote 3rd party if he is the nominee. Perry will excite the far right, excite the far left to come out in opposition, and I expect the independents and moderates will either stay home or stick with Obama (better the devil you know).
====================================
I may also vote liberterian myself if Perry is the nominee. I would perfer a republican congress against Socialist President than a Republican Congress that have to deal with the small minded candidate from Texas.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:49 am
casusit Says:
August 29th, 2011 at 10:47 am
If Perry can hold on to his support from economic-focused tea parties then, he doesn’t need to beat Romney among the establishment
=========================================================================
If the Tea Party push Perry, it will no longer be an organization that cares about economics since Perry isn’t smart enough to understand basic economic principles.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:50 am
If people stay home over Romney winning the nomination, Republicans deserve to lose. They deserve to fall apart as a party too. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Romney is one of the most qualified people that has ever run for the Republican nomination, and is far more conservative than most of our recent nominees. If he isn’t good enough for the Republican party, the Republican party deserves to die a slow and miserable death.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:53 am
All you guys freaking out and threatening to leave the party if Perry or Romney is nominated…not to worry.
Governor Palin will be the perfect compromise candidate and unite our party. You will see.
She alone has all the characteristics that can unite economic conservatives with cultural conservatives and foreign policy conservatives. She may be the perfect candidate for this time.
She will be a breath of fresh air, along with having the best record and views that are shared by a vast majority of American’s.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:54 am
The fact that people are praising Perry and acting like Romney is the devil is as much proof as you are going to get that there is something else behind the Romney hate than health care and the flip flopped meme. Perry is not better than Romney in any of the ways that people are upset with Romney. There must be some other reason for the Romney hate. Is it the fact that he is rich? That he is Mormon? That he is not a hateful flame thrower?
I don’t know, but it clearly has nothing to do with policy.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:54 am
Tea partiers are already pushing Perry. Perry leads everyone else by 21 points among self-described tea partiers. This is yet another boat that Romney missed before it set sail. The man is always a day late, a dollar short, and probably stuck in a porta-potty somewhere because he can’t operate the door correctly as his trusty man-servant is at Starbucks enjoying his break while he hits on the baristas or something.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:56 am
Yes it does. One word: RomneyCare.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:57 am
I’m hearing new rumors of a Bloomberg/Gore third party run.
Now THAT would change the landscape.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:58 am
This is what baffles me about Romney supporters as a group. They’re not interested in party, or policy. All that concerns them is Romney.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:00 am
I’ll say! The “radical centre” rises up! All 2 of them, and their one supporter, Tom Friedman of the NYT.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:00 am
Kinky Friedman aka the Jewish cowboy will be on O’Reilly’s show tonight single praises for Perry.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:01 am
*singing
August 29th, 2011 at 11:01 am
95
EVERY single “liberal” policy that can be leveled against Romney can also be used against Rick Perry, but far worse.
The Gardasil health care mandate is enormously worse than MassCare. Look at it this way, The REPUBLICANS had to -Stop- Perry from his mandate. DEMOCRATS overrode Romney’s vetoes in MassCare.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:05 am
If the tea party supports Rick Perry then it shows they are as phoney as a three dollar bill. A $27 billion deficit. Nearly doubling the budget. Nearly
tripling the debt. Influence peddling. Plus the guy makes $150,000 a year and thinks taxpayers should spring for his subscriptions to ‘Wine and Food’.
Sounds like business as usual to me.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:05 am
ABC NEWS reports..
August 29th, 2011 at 11:05 am
That was boneheaded policy to be sure, but it was easily reversed as it was simply a mandate to provide a vaccine. RomneyCare reorganized the entire healthcare delivery system for the state of MA in a series of unfunded mandates that even now unfold in one fiscal disaster after another–and Romney has never once said that he would support reversing it. He defends it.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:06 am
And yet we’re not phoney as we elect candidates who support our views. So it is time to question your assumptions as they are demonstrably false.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:09 am
102. The Tea Party is thrashing around, looking for an anti-establishment candidate. They thought it was Trump…then they thought it was Bachmann…now they think it may be Perry…
but each of these ‘flavors of the week’ eventually disappoint.
When the rill dill enters the race, everything will fall into place.
This is still going to be a Romney v Palin race.
Establishment elites vs insurgent grassroots
politics as usual vs shaking things up
Staus quo vs real reformer
Perry’s star will fade…his support is not so much For him as it is AGAINST the establishment GOP.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:09 am
97.casusit Says:
August 29th, 2011 at 10:58 am
“If he isn’t good enough for the Republican party, the Republican party deserves to die a slow and miserable death.”
===
I’ve noticed that since day one here.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:12 am
If it shakes out that way then I will support Palin. No question.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:15 am
Deroy Merdock is just like all the other suckups in the media who KNOW the facts, but choose to ignore them.
The reason these media types do this, is because they don’t respect YOU, or people LIKE you. They think you’re too stupid to raise questions about Perry, and they think that if they attack Rick Perry, you will be angry with them.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:15 am
Let’s grade Romney and Perry on their liberalism:
1.
Romney was a life-long independent private citizen before becoming a Republican (B)
Perry was an elected Democrat and ran Al Gore’s Presidential Campaign before becoming a Republican (D)
2.
Romney was publicly pro-choice before flipping to pro-life before running for Governor. (D)
Perry was pro-life, but still endorsed abortion supporting Rudy Giuliani. (C)
3.
Romney was never pro Gay Marriage, but vowed to not try to overturn Mass Gay Marriage policy to follow the will of the people and the legislature. (C)
Perry was never pro Gay Marriage but publicly stated that was just fine with other states allowing it, including New York. (C+)
4.
Romney signed the Massachussetts Health Care law after several of his vetos were overturned by the Democrat Legislature. The law mandated citizens have health insurance (private or public) to place more of the burden on individual responsibility and less on the public taxpayer. (C+)
After receiving a $6000 Merck Lobbyist donation from Merck, through executive order, Perry mandated all 11-12 year old girls in Texas to be vaccinated with Gardisil to prevent HPV, a virus transmitted primarily through sex. Public outrage and the Republican Legislature later overturned the mandate. (D-)
5.
Mitt Romney did not raise taxes, but raised fees on individual services to help pay to turn a 1.5 Billion dollar deficit into a 600 million surplus (B+)
Rick Perry raised both taxes and fees several times including a fireworks, emissions, property, cigarette tax, and many more. The state deficit still increased from $13.7 billion to over $30 billion. In addition to this, spending increased substantially under Perry from $49 billion to $90 billion. (D)
6.
Romney has always been for strong immigration reform, including securing the border and requiring verification IDs for immigrants. Although, he never passed anything substantial to fight illegal immigration in Mass. He did once have illegals working on his lawn without his knowledge. (B)
Rick Perry has always been for strong Open Borders, has refused to build a fence in his state, and allowed for in-state tuition for illegals. (F)
7.
Romney has rich friends and bought some expensive houses with his own money. (B)
Perry put an enormous amount of people on his staff who had given him donations over the years. He also pushed for legislation based on contributions. (F)
———————–
Other than social issues, Perry handily wins out on the liberal report card – scoring far lower grades than Romney on almost every issue. Other than Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry is easily the most liberal candidate in this race.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:16 am
#104
So you’re saying we’ll just as easily be able to stop any future Perry mandates? I wouldn’t bet on the US Congress being as conservative as the Texas legislature…
So you just wave it away and want the whole Gardasil thing to disappear. “Pigs could also sprout wings and fly I suppose. But it is wiser to hew to the laws of physics when making predictions.”
August 29th, 2011 at 11:22 am
I think Perry learned his lesson on that one. He publicly recanted. Romney, however, still defends RomneyCare, and while I do not fear any Romney mandates as Romney will never be our president–Romney has no political base, and no clear regional base as he cannot even deliver the state he was alleged to have governed–his record would predict one policy disaster after another. But, again, Romney is harmless, because stupidity is self-correcting. He could no more get himself elected as fly.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:22 am
As far as the charge that “Rombots” only care about Romney, not the party…
The LAST THING I care about is supporting a party full of sheep whose minds are entirely controlled by Fox and Talk, who intentionally choose not to think critically.
If they want to coronate Rick Perry without asking any real questions, that’s not my problem. It’s America’s problem. And by virtue of being America’s problem, it will ultimately become the world’s problem.
Why would we nominate someone who appeases the rising power China the way Clinton, Bush, and Obama have? Mitt has been warning us about China since 2007, while Perry was selling American oil fields to a chinese military contractor.
The fact is, America is on its way toward 2nd-tier status, as we are projected to be overtaken in economic size by China by 2016. If you want a president who will sell you out to the Chinese and the global elites, that’s not just your problem, that’s AMERICA’S problem.
Rick Perry is simply NOT serious about China. And he sure as hell isn’t serious about the illegal immigrants who undermine wages for American citizens. In fact, he LOVES them. He wants them to be citizens, with the same rights as you and I have. And that makes me sick.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:25 am
Washinton Post, Monday, August 29, 8:49 AM:
The Romney campaign will argue that Perry repels independents and can’t win in key swing states such as Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan — while Romney can.
Will this strategy work? As Romney wrapped up his Dover town hall, I asked a veteran reporter how he thought Romney did. People were leaving impressed with Romney, the reporter said, but no one was leaving “in love.”
Therein lies Romney’s problem. Perry is the exciting guy in the cowboy boots people fall in love with. Romney is the steady, clean-cut guy who waits patiently while you flirt with other candidates — hoping you’ll realize they’re not right for you. He’s the guy you settle for.
The question is: Are Republicans willing to settle in 2012?
====
No. Period.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:25 am
Thank you for seconding my point for me. If you support Romney, you think critically, right? Case closed. Your alleged “conservatism” is flaky formica veneer for some sort of cult-of-personality for a man who, ironically, has no personality, Willard Mitt Romney.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:28 am
I’m willing to settle for Perry. But not Romney. I have standards, damn it.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:29 am
115
If you want to judge my support of Romney as “cult of personality,” then you obviously haven’t been here long. I take it back: you are not Adam X.
Another reason your points of view hold no weight on this site. No one knows you, you know no one, and your comments are based on almost nothing.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:29 am
97 – You are right. I don’t give a damn about the party. Why should I when they support idiots like Perry? I am about America, not the Republican party.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:30 am
112
First of all, he only recanted a few days ago, the day after he jumped into the race. He stood by his “mistake” for FIVE years.
I can accept an apology from someone, but Perry has a history of “shoot first, ask questions later”. It is also pretty suspicious that he got the Merck check in the mail just DAYS before he issued the executive order.
I can let all of this crap go. But what I can’t let go is his undisciplined way of running things. Didn’t it really bit us in the butt when we found no substantial WMDs in Iraq? Can you not see Perry doing something like this? Running into a war or other situation based on faulty data or misinformation?
August 29th, 2011 at 11:31 am
What if the party put forward a candidate who was neither Perry nor Romney? Would you support him or her?
August 29th, 2011 at 11:32 am
You mean like the spiralling fiscal disaster of RomneyCare?
August 29th, 2011 at 11:35 am
So then why are you hyperventilating? Relax. Talk. Discuss. And allow those of us who oppose the idol whom you worship–some empty suit named Romney or something–to give voice to our misgivings without going all apocalyptic.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:35 am
121
How can you even make that comparison? MassCare was passed with support of the Legislature and the VAST majority of people of Massachusetts. Romney vetoed 7 of the more liberal sections, but was overridden. This is called Representative Democracy. It was planned, supported and executed through the proper channels and it is STILL widely supported in Mass today.
PerryCare was defeated by the -Republicans-!
August 29th, 2011 at 11:35 am
97.casusit Says:
August 29th, 2011 at 10:58 am
“This is what baffles me about Romney supporters as a group. They’re not interested in party, or policy. All that concerns them is Romney.”
No. What concerns this Romney supporter is the Federal debt, spending, and size of the Government. Romney’s background just happens to be tailor made for tackling my major concerns: Balancing budgets, getting out of debt, streamlining organizations. I WANT someone who will fire people and shut down useless federal programs. That is exactly what I want done to the Federal Government. Perry has done the exact opposite in Texas from what I’m looking for as POTUS.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:36 am
120 – If they were good for America I would. We have much bigger problems to worry about than party loyalty.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:37 am
121
As far as costs go, yes, the costs have been higher than expected, but it is STILL fitting into the Mass budget. In other words, they are not going into debt over it. Had Romney got 100% of what he wanted, the price tag would have been far less.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:38 am
Which candidates other than Romney do you believe would be “good for America”?
August 29th, 2011 at 11:38 am
120
Jeb Bush? Probably.
Chris Christie? Absolutely.
Marco Rubio? Absolutely.
Bobby Jindal? In a heartbeat.
Criteria for earning my vote:
Against Amesty
Squeaky clean ethics record
Understands China
Understands complex issues
Pro-life
Pro-gun (although mild gun regulations don’t preclude a candidate from earning my vote)
Executive experience
August 29th, 2011 at 11:39 am
““I think the military men and women respect the commander in chief regardless of who it is”
I thought just a little while ago he[Perry] implied this wasn’t true when it came to obama.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:40 am
One word: RomneyCare. Romney with but a sweep of his pen on a bill expanded the government of MA’s domain of operation enough to seize 8% of its economy, that of healthcare, and the funding of healthcare through insurance.
What makes you think that Romney has changed his ways? He still defends RomneyCare!
August 29th, 2011 at 11:41 am
110.
I didn’t do an average – but did Perry’s GPA in your analysis come to a 1.9?
August 29th, 2011 at 11:42 am
127 – Pawlenty would have been good. Huntsman is fine, though not my first choice. Cain. Santorum. Gingrich. Even Palin would be someone I could support. The only two I couldn’t bring myself to support are Perry and Bachmann.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:42 am
130
The government didn’t “seize” health care, you ignoramus!
They told everyone to get insurance on their own, or ask for subsidies if they cannot afford it!
Where’s the “seizing?”
August 29th, 2011 at 11:42 am
That disqualifies Jeb b. and Christie. Both support a “path to citizenship.”
What does “understanding China” mean?
August 29th, 2011 at 11:43 am
130 – Get your head out of your ass.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:44 am
Oh, and Ron Paul. Couldn’t support him either.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:44 am
130
casuit. You are simply ignoring the facts on MassCare. Check FactCheck.org
http://www.factcheck.org/2011/03/romneycare-facts-and-falsehoods/
August 29th, 2011 at 11:45 am
Watch the name-calling, little one. Try to keep control of yourself. Here you go:
Romney-cultist claiming that CATO is a liberal organization organized by hateful liars who want to destroy America in 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 …
August 29th, 2011 at 11:46 am
casusit -
So you are a 1 topic hate factory. Romneycare? Were you as adamantly against it during the time that Heritage foundation and a majority of republicans were behind him and supporting him at the signing? I have a strong sense that you had no idea about it until after Obamacare came about and there was a smiliarity to it so you ran w/ all of the other flip-floppers against Romney because his 70 page STATE law had a few similarities to the 70 pound NATIONAL law.
To turn a blind eye to Romney because of this one issue shows me that there is more to it than you are letting on – but that you will never come forward with that reasoning.
I guess in Romney’s own words (from his IA fair speech) – “That’s fine! You won’t vote for me – vote for Obama.”
August 29th, 2011 at 11:48 am
What? There is no theme or thread that connects these candidates. As I suspected, you seem to go on personality alone, and you seem to reject so-cons for some reason.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:48 am
130
“Romney with but a sweep of his pen”
Can we have an honest conversation about this? An executive order is much different than legislation signatures.
The difference is that MassCare was passed through a voting legislature only after it was desired by the people. Romney signed the bill just as our Constitution requires when passing bills through the proper channels of government.
What Rick Perry did was create an executive order – or mandate – to force teen girls to get vaccinated for a Sexually Transmitted Disease. He did not go through the proper channels at all.
You are really mischaracterizing RomneyCare (MassCare, whatever). Let’s debate the Romney/Perry comparison, but let’s debate them honestly.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:48 am
I only had to read the first sentence to see this article can’t be taken seriously. “Rick Perry has pole-vaulted over Willard Mitt Romney”. If the author was serious about winning over an independant like me, he wouldn’t have chosen to use ‘Willard’ in that sentence. His effort to degrade shows that it’s an anti-Mitt piece. Authors from both parties can come up with pieces like this explaining why to “not” vote for the other guy. Biased articles always embellish. Non-biased sources do not start out the piece like he did here.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:49 am
I prefer Perry to both Obama or Romney.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:50 am
140 – It is clear that you are a moron. No need to continue this conversation.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:50 am
Forgot the link on the CATA excerpt in 138:
http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/v30n1/cpr30n1-1.html
August 29th, 2011 at 11:52 am
PerryCare is far more like ObamaCare than RomneyCare. Think about it. Obama shoved his health care program down the throats of Americans against our will. Perry did the same, and didn’t even have the support of his own legislature.
At least Mitt Romney had everyone supporting him both inside his state, AND outside his state. Fox News, Talk Radio, Jim DeMint, The Heritage Foundation, and many others supported MassCare in 2008.
PerryCare had NONE of this.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:52 am
Is there a Romney supporter here who’s over 12? Or one who does not believe that name-calling is appropriate in a discussion of differing points of view?
August 29th, 2011 at 11:53 am
140.
He named Santorum, Pawlenty, & Palin in his list and you turn around and try to say he rejects so-cons. HA! Wake up casusit – it isn’t all about the so-cons.
It is about policy, ability, electability, trustability, non-divisiveness, and many other factors.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:53 am
Which candidate other than Romney would be good for America?
Huntsman would. He did everything right as Governor of Utah….lowering taxes a lot, streamlining government programs, balancing budgets, increasing jobs by a much larger percentage than Perry did during the same time frame……in fact, PEW Research anointed Utah as the best governed state in the nation during his tenure.
And Perry is my third choice for the nomination, although he would be 4th if Pawlenty was still in. If Perry were to get the nomination, I would support him, and were he to be elected, he would be a significant improvement over what we have now.
Just not nearly as significant an improvement as Mitt would be.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:53 am
Precisely. Which is what made the order so easy to reverse. RomneyCare, on the other hand, continues to plunder the once proud state of MA.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:54 am
casusit
You telling me to watch the name calling? What about Perry calling Bernanke “treasonus?” What about Perry questioning Obama’s patriotism?
You ARE an ignoramus. You know nothing, but hate everything that contradicts your tainted world-view.
If anyone is a “cult of personality” participant, it’s you. There is nothing attractive about Rick Perry as a presidential candidate that holds any factual water. He is actually WORSE than Romney on:
immigration
spending
business experience
intelligence
foreign policy
ethics
August 29th, 2011 at 11:55 am
I’m thinking casusit is rubber and thinks we’re glue.
He’s practicing the whole “whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you” theory today and, admittedly, most days.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:55 am
143.
To which I repeat – “That’s fine – you won’t vote for me – vote for Obama” – because IMO – that is ultimately what it will be.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:55 am
Perfect. Agreed. I don’t like Huntsman or, and especially, Romney, but neither man has a chance anyway. So whateverz.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:58 am
150
Is there a Perry supporter on this site with an IQ over 50?
“RomneyCare, on the other hand, continues to plunder the once proud state of MA.”
LOL!!!!!!! Massachusetts was never a proud state in its history, politically. But if you’re talking about economics, Massachusetts’ unemployment is FAR below the national average right now, at around 8%. We have the best schools and health care facilities in the NATION.
And oh yeah, we have a balanced budget, AND EVERYONE has health insurance.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:58 am
“Is there a Romney supporter here who’s over 12? Or one who does not believe that name-calling is appropriate in a discussion of differing points of view?”
There are, just not jax or CF. For whatever reason, they’ve gotten it in their heads that Jr. High insults enhance one’s argument.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:59 am
And you need to talk about your control issues in a caring, therapeutic environment, because you have boundary issues if you experience rightful criticism of some unremarkable former governor of MA who has never-to-be-realized fantasies of becoming the next U.S. President as a personal attack on you.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
154.
Now……can you say the same, while putting Romney and Huntsman on the bottom of your list? Or are Satan and Obama still above them?
Let’s see if your true colors show through.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:01 pm
150
Did you read my quote and link from FactCheck.org about the costs associated with MassCare? It’s not “plundering” the state -at all-. And Massachusetts is still a very proud state – they are 4th household income, first in health care, and rank very high in employment. None of this could be said for Texas.
But you’re okay with Perry’s mistake because it was easy to fix? I don’t understand this logic at all. What happens if Rick Perry does this in Washington and the House and Senate is run by Democrats? Then how easy is it to fix?
August 29th, 2011 at 12:01 pm
MWS.
Are you still liking Jon Huntsman, Jr.?
And does anyone know if anyone who frequents this blog/board was affected by Hurricane Irene?
August 29th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
So you do support RomneyCare. Well, that’s where we absolutely disagree, and where Obama and Romney absolutely agree: mandates. This is why I will never support Romney. I don’t do mandates.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:03 pm
CF – #150
Casusit thinks Perry has “learned his lesson” somehow and feels Perry could never do a similar thing again. I really don’t think there’s much use talking to him about this issue since he’s got his mind made up.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
I will never support Romney because of RomneyCare, as I explain in 161.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:05 pm
161
“So you do support RomneyCare. Well, that’s where we absolutely disagree, and where Obama and Romney absolutely agree: mandates. This is why I will never support Romney. I don’t do mandates.”
What about Rick Perry’s mandate? You’re fine with that?
August 29th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
157
I never projected what you’re saying onto myself.
If you’re wondering where my belligerence is coming from, it’s because Perry is a total electoral disaster for this country, and idiots like you latch onto him for dear life simply because he grew up as a farmer and talks like George W. Bush.
People like you really don’t think about elections very seriously. Do you realize the enormously high stakes this election will have?
August 29th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
163.
Just so that we are clear – you will vote for Obama before you vote for Romney. Right? Yup – just what I thought.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:09 pm
For all of you Perry (anti-Romney) supporters -
How long ago did Perry start apologizing/changing his views about his shot mandate? Because if it wasn’t more than 4 years ago then I guess you can’t say that he isn’t being politically expedient and puting his finger in the wind depending on what office he is running for. Hmmmmm…….
August 29th, 2011 at 12:10 pm
CF, Jax, and MassCon are the three worse junior high school debaters at this site.
They could learn quite a bit by reading and acting more like their fellow Rombots/Huntsbots: Dave, Pete, Mark, and all the Matts.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:10 pm
I once thought I was a Tea Partier, but people like CASUSIT have forced me to realize that being intellectually honest is more important than blindly following the latest flavor of the month. Translation of all of CASUSIT posts: Blah, blah, blah………. same old, same old…….
August 29th, 2011 at 12:10 pm
Casusit doesn’t do mandates…
Except maybe the one that requires hospitals to treat everyone who walks in the door, regardless of ability to pay.
And the one that says everyone driving an automobile must have insurance (ensures that you can be held responsible for damage you do).
And the one that says I’m going to take your property because I need it/want it and I have the power (see Trans-Texas Corridor use of eminent domain proposed by Rick Perry).
And the one that says you must sign up for the Selective Service Draft (keeps our country safe to have an orderly way to call up a military).
If Casusit were POTUS, would he get rid of these mandates? Or would it all of a sudden be that some mandates “are more equal than others.”
August 29th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
161
Yes, I do ENTHUSIASTICALLY support Romneycare in my state.
But, like Mitt, I think health care should be left to the states, and Obamacare is a total fiscal and economic train wreck that is keeping our economy down.
The federal mandate is also unconstitutional. But the fact is, I really don’t mind the Romneycare mandate, because I’d rather someone be told to buy insurance, than them living in the ER for 3 days after getting in a car accident, and forcing me to pay for it, when they should have taken PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.
There’s something to be said for Romneycare, as everyone in this state has health insurance, and we STILL have the BEST health care coverage in the nation. Our hospitals are FANTASTIC. UMASS, Boston General, Brigham & Womens, Boston Children’s Hospital, and more.
The FINEST health care facilities in the nation.
Period.
And we all have insurance.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
James Richard Perry is to Willard Mitt Romney as Ricky Perry is to Mitt Romney. One way or the other, be consistent. The majority of people who use Romney’s full name are bigots.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Dave Says:
August 29th, 2011 at 11:53 am
Which candidate other than Romney would be good for America?
… “If Perry were to get the nomination, I would support him, and were he to be elected, he would be a significant improvement over what we have now.”
Dave, I usually agree with your comments. This one I don’t. Based on Perry’s expansion of the Texas Government and deficit spending, I doubt there would be any change to our current financial trend. The Republicans have already proven they cannot be trusted to reign in spending based on their past period in power.
Romney’s budgetary approach is based on percentages of the GDP. If Republicans were to try to forward pork-filled spending legislation that exceeded a President Romney’s percentages, he would veto them. No way Perry takes on Republican big spenders as he is one of them.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:14 pm
You have real self-esteem issues, little one. Time for your nap.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:14 pm
Lol, Craig. I’m the worst debater on the site?
Comedy gold.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:15 pm
174
Yes, you are an idiot. And no, I’m not a little one.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:16 pm
Watch it MassCon – you are on the verge of getting sent to Craig’s Corner for a time out.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:16 pm
Perrywinckles………..I like the sound of that. Rombots vs Perrywinckles, let the games begin.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:16 pm
168
“CF, Jax, and MassCon are the three worse junior high school debaters at this site.”
Translation: CF, Jax, and MassCon piss me off the most at this site.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
171. You’d LOVE it in Cuba. They all have insurance AND it’s free!
ahem…you are not helping the Romney argument..although there is nothing short of him renouncing RomneyCare that will.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:18 pm
The only RomNots who have any sense of how to debate:
Matt “MWS” – although he mostly tries to pinpoint Rombot inconsistencies and misstatements
Adam X – although his worldview is very tainted
And… that’s about it. The rest of them dodge my questions and resort to spamming massive walls of text in blockquotes that usually have nothing to do with the topic at hand.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
Well, there you go, see? This is the basis of our disagreement once you brush all of your pre-pubescent name-calling aside. I oppose the expansion of the state on principle, and you’re a progressive, like Obama, only you dress it up in the language of conservatism, like Romney. Good for you. Thankfully for me, Romney will never be our president as he has no regional basis–he can’t carry the one state he “blessed” with his progressive policies–and no political basis, as the ideological formations of the party uniformly, and quite rightly, reject him, the tea partiers, the social conservatives etc., etc.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
CF in #179
LOL – probably true!
August 29th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
180
It’s not free in Massachusetts because people have extra money to pay their own way when they aren’t burdened by heavy entitlement taxes and hospital price gouging.
There is nothing “socialist” about RomneyCare. How is paying your own way “socialist”?
August 29th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
180
There is absolutely NOTHING in common between Cuba’s health care and Massachusetts health care. And you know that.
We have excellent hospitals and insurance coverage rates because we spend less money on funds to hospitals, and more money on payments to the poor to get insurance. There is not a massive expenditure on state health care here.
And in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not here entirely to shill for Romney. I am here for an honest and thoughtful discussion.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
Cacusit – AKA Mr. perrywinckle, making everyone pay their share is not socialist, taking form some and giving to others is. You obviously went to a public school, what state was that in?
August 29th, 2011 at 12:24 pm
To get health care:
In Texas:
Don’t buy health insurance, get sick, show up at the crowded Emergency Room, and get health care FREE at the tax payers’ expense.
In Massachusetts:
Show your insurance card at the doctor’s office.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:25 pm
182
Can you explain how RomneyCare is “progressive”, “liberal” or “socialist”? For it to be those things, it would have be owned and/or paid for in large part by the Government.
Mandating citizens to purchase their own health insurance is not the same thing as the Government (read: taxpayer) paying for it. It’s diametrically, ideologically, and 180 degrees opposite of progressive or Government/Community controlled.
And again, you didn’t answer my question. I asked how you can be against Romney/Obama mandates but be FOR Perry mandates. Can you answer that?
August 29th, 2011 at 12:26 pm
Then it follows that you support ObamaCare, because it is modeled on RomneyCare, e.g. “Romneycare Exchange Facts Spell Disaster for Obamacare”
http://byrondennis.typepad.com/masshealthstats/2011/05/romneycare-exchange-facts-and-falsehoods.html
And, again, this is where we disagree. I oppose ObamaCare, just as I oppose RomneyCare.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
CF – they wont answer because they are intellectually dishonest.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:28 pm
Show where I used the term “socialist”? I said “progressive”, and there is a difference. Obama is no socialist, but he is a progressive. So too Romney, as you yourselves conceded on this very thread when you began to praise the statist programme called RomneyCare, which became the policy-basis of ObamaCare.
Thank you for outing yourselves as non-conservatives. My work here is done. But I’ll be back to tease you some more.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
“statist programme.”
Casusit just outed himself as either Canadian or British (or I suppose Indian or Australian). Are you legal to vote in this country?
Or perhaps I’m just getting overblown over a typo. That could be true, too.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:34 pm
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dougbandow/2011/08/29/can-mitt-romney-escape-his-romneycare-albatross/
8/29/2011 @ 11:17AM |126 views
Can Mitt Romney Escape His Romneycare Albatross?
August 29th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
191
You just contradicted yourself. You said RomneyCare is not “socialist”, but it is “statist”.
Socialism and Statism is essentially the same thing, yet you say RomneyCare ISN’T a socialist program. You can’t call RomneyCare Statist and say it’s not Socialist.
The fact is that it is NEITHER. It is a requirement for private citizens to purchase PRIVATE insurance (or for low income people to acquire public/subsidized insurance). It encourages free market capitalism by keeping private insurance in the buying/selling process.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
189.
Yes – because there certainly isn’t anything else added in the additional 2000 pages for Obamacare over RomneyCare – they are identical – it is just in 35pt font and the margins were changed to only allow 20 words per page. I knew there had to be something that made them different. Sheesh…….
NH is one of the few states in the country that doesn’t require you to carry car insurance – you just have to prove that you have the ability to pay for the accident if you cause it if you decide not to purchase it. I’m sure that if you think that those governors of other red states that live where there is a mandate to purchase auto insurance would all implement a national law to require it if they were to run for president. Right?
States vs. Federal – it can’t honestly be that difficult of a concept to grasp – CAN IT?!?!?!
RomneyCare was for Mass – not for the country. Romney knows that and will deal with that if/when he is elected president by getting rid of the federal law.
then – as long as you aren’t forced to live in Mass (I don’t think anybody would be driven by gun point to go to Mass) you won’t have to deal with the mandate that the HEAVY majority of people from Mass wanted.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:36 pm
Casusit
If you actually had the desire to understand the difference between a 70-page, free-market oriented health care bill, and a 2700-page monstrosity, unconstitutional, federal takeover, then you would.
It’s pretty clear there are other reasons for your hatred of Romney other than facts… perhaps it’s his hairdo or his wealth. Perhaps it’s because you’re brainwashed by the MSM.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:37 pm
182. “I oppose the expansion of the state on principle…”
Are you stating that Perry in no way was involved in any expansion of the state of Texas?
August 29th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
Casusit – I was a Conservative when you were still being potty trained, I hope that will work out for you someday. Perry is not a conservative, he is a politican, end of story. once a Dem now a Rep anything to get elected. In your mind MANDATING untested drugs is OK but telling people they need to pay for their own Health care is somehow progressive?????????? Your dishonesty is amazing
August 29th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
Casusit is not an idiot. He’s certainly intelligent. But he’s compromised.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:41 pm
I think casuit left the room. Too bad. The people that need to hear the truth and differences about Romney and Perry don’t want to listen.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:42 pm
198
That’s the part that frustrates me most. How can someone not look at Perry’s record and see that he is a politician first, a globalist second, and an American third?
August 29th, 2011 at 12:43 pm
199
That’s better. Well said.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:44 pm
By your overly literal definition the department of motor vehicles is socialist. It isn’t. Please enroll yourself in a political science 101 course or something.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
‘
I have to say, I love this particular dodge for all its inner contradictions, and what it says about the innocent naivete of those who retail it. Hey, this was just Romney ruining the fortunes of a once proud state, not the whole country. States should have the right to ruin their own fortunes through policy debacles, right? So please elect Romney so that he can the same for the country?!? … uh … yeah … I’ll get right on that.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
I’m laughing at Rush’s monologue on Rick Perry jumping to his defense and then talking about Conservatism. Everything he’s talking about regarding Conservatism is great. Too bad if he looked into Perry’s substance and policies and compared that to what he’s saying he wouldn’t be so passionate about Perry.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:48 pm
RomneyCare is ObamaCare! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IJsiBHYTFg
August 29th, 2011 at 12:49 pm
It’s funny to me how Romneycare was a good thing for conservatives in 2008 but now it’s a bad thing in 2012. What a flip flop!!!!
August 29th, 2011 at 12:49 pm
Yuh-huh. Only you’re missing the point. Conservatives are excited about Perry. About Romney? Not so much. Romney doesn’t stand a chance.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
What are you talking about!? RomneyCare was an albatross around Romney’s pencil neck in 2008 too.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Romneycare is a plus for Romney and all the conservatives who say it’s not are being very dishonest.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:53 pm
Whatever dude. I remember everyone loving it. The Heritage Foundation helped him put it together numbnuts. You’re dishonest in your assessment. Plain and simple…
August 29th, 2011 at 12:53 pm
Mitt Romney for Health Czar
Why the former Massachusetts governor should run health care reform.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/03/28/mitt-romney-for-health-czar.html
August 29th, 2011 at 12:53 pm
You are running a circular argument casusit –
Either you allow people to have their freedom to choose what they want (which like I said MassCare is what more than 85% of the people in Mass wanted) or do what the federal gov’t thinks should be done.
Do states get to decide what they want or not? Make up your freakin’ mind!
August 29th, 2011 at 12:54 pm
You’re making this too easy, guys:
Mitt Romney’s Romneycare dilemma: Heritage Foundation disowns mandates
Continue reading on Examiner.com Mitt Romney’s Romneycare dilemma: Heritage Foundation disowns mandates – Boston Top News | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/top-news-in-boston/mitt-romney-s-romneycare-dilemma-heritage-foundation-disowns-mandates#ixzz1WRRmmT3S
August 29th, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Wake up people! Perry is an absolute moderate. He’s not a conservative by any stretch of the imagination. He doesn’t know the first thing a out creating jobs. Texas would of had those jobs no matter who was governor. Perry is worse than McCain. I repeat, Perry is worse than McCain! You people are going to regret voting for him just as the liberals regret voting for Obama.
Romney has the whole package. He’s a job creator, a problem solver, a family man with moral values, and a God fearing man. He is exactly what we need in the white house! Wake up people!
August 29th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Romneycare was barely a blip against Romney in 2007-8. It wasn’t until Obama passed something that had some basic similarities to it and everybody jumped on the anti-Obama care and anything to do with it bandwagon. Had Obama not gotten Obamacare through I doubt we would even be having this discussion.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
I’m wondering if Casusit is a program like IBM’s Watson. He’s been programmed to mess with Romney fan’s minds and we’re just feeding the beast.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
As a practical matter states enjoy prerogatives, yes. Romney chose wrongly for his state by massively expanding the scope of its operations into healthcare. The result: disaster.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
So your main gripe with Romney is his Health Care program that he signed? Is that the only reason you dislike him as President? If so, what else is there?
August 29th, 2011 at 12:59 pm
209 – They’re excited about Perry because no one is taking him to task on the facts of who he is. Liberals want Rick Perry or Sarah Palin that is guaranteed. You’re blindly being led by people like Rush and everyone else who are looking for an Obama to push conservatism and I’m telling you it’s not gonna work. Liberals are liberals and they’re not going to just sit there and let Perry be Perry or Palin be Palin. To think that this country is moving far right means you’ve never been outside of your conservative bubble. Politics is universal and perception is the key to winning in politics no question. Ideology is something to be persuaded and there is no persuasion with Perry and Palin. Perception will be whatever the MSM or liberal media will want it to be and I guarantee you and with the substance of who the candidates are, i.e. Perry and Palin? Game, set, match. Time to wait for 2016.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
Oh, believe me, I would have brought it up. Again and again.
The Failure of RomneyCare
The former Massachusetts governor enacted something very similar to the Obama health care plan; it is’t going well
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703625304575115691871093652.html
August 29th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
209 – I guarantee you the MSM will paint them as stupid and no better than Bush was who started this whole mess – AS A CONSERVATIVE!!! This opportunity will take us two steps back with a Perry or Palin.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
Did you listen to the Limbaugh monologue? It amounted to an apologia based on the questionable aspects of Perry’s long record of conservative governance in the nations second largest state. The party’s base is rapidly digesting the Perry record and coming to its own conclusions, and they are positive.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:03 pm
How many reasons do I need?
August 29th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
We can but hope.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
casusit,
Why don’t you spend your time writing a well thought-out, rational, explanation as to why Perry should be the nominee.
I much prefer reading why someone supports a candidate rather than irrational sniping about a candidate one doesn’t like.
I always respected Smack for that. He was an unapologized cheerleader for Tim Pawlenty but seldom, if ever stooped to criticizing other candidates.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
MA v. TX – Governor Records
1a. Unemployment was not a problem for Romney in MA. The rate was always 4-5% during his term (4% is generally the benchmark for optimal employment). People cite MA’s lack of new jobs during Mitt’s tenure as a sign that businesses didn’t like him. The reality is that MA was business-hostile when he took office and got better through his policies and the stability his reforms created. Mitt’s policies brought jobs to MA a year or two after they passed (as is usually the case).
Mitt’s main problem was a massive debt/deficit in MA, seriously threatening the state w/bankruptcy. Mitt turned the deficit into a surplus (which he had previously done w/dozens of companies and the SLC Olympics). He did so by cutting spending, closing corporate loopholes and increasing fees.
1b. Rick Perry’s crew paints him as a jobs savior. He’s not. Texas actually ranks 27th (8.4%) in the country in terms of unemployment–that’s below average & worse than MA, which is ranked 16th (7.6%). Perry’s limited employment success is largely due to (a) policies of predecessors (b) the luck of not being an investment state during the bubble and (c) massive military installations all over his state. Had TX been an investment property state, it would be as sunk as NV right now. Fortunately for Perry, no one wanted to invest there during his first term, so he’s cruised through his 2nd term bubble-free.
Why any limited government people like Perry, I’ll never know. Perry’s spending is through the roof. TX carries more debt-per-resident than CA and Perry is directly responsible for a huge portion of that. People complain about MA’s $400M healthcare bill (as they should), but fail to consider Perry’s $7B wind-power waste. As surely as over-spending will hurt a state in the long run, it will net some positive economic success in the short run. Perry has been selling out TX’s future through big spending just as big O’s been doing nationally.
2. For those hating Romney on the MA healthcare: Consider Perry’s vaccine mandate. A mandate is a mandate is a mandate. Days after receiving a sizeable contribution from Merck, Perry mandated that millions of girls be given an unvetted vaccine, guaranteeing Merck $360 per girl. The TX legislature had the wisdom to overturn Perry’s mandate. That vaccine has gone on to kill 1 girl & permanently disable dozens more. The obvious corporate favor-trading that went into this deal is astonishing. Perry gives to those that give. I’m tired of favor-trading, corrupt politicians.
In a general elections, stories like this will carry weight. Perry’s embarrassing academic record and the fact that he sounds exactly like W will also eliminate significant voting blocks (I recognize this even I’m no W hater). For those of you who believe Obama can’t come back from his current ratings, think again. Reagan was @ 37% approval at one point and won his re-election in a landslide. Clinton had no hope of winning and then he smoked Dole. Obama will have $1B to spend, which is the most in history & more adds usually mean more minds changed. We need to send our best candidate to turn this country around. Mitt has the best chance of beating Obama and has the experience we need to turn around this country.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Perrywinckle campaigned for AL GORE the most liberal politician ever, do you so called conservatives not see the irony of that? Perrywinckle forced an untested drug on teenage girls and received an very handsome donation for his efforts.
Don’t call yourselves conservatives if your pushing Perrywinckle, he wasn’t a conservative, and so using your thought process, he can’t be one now. Perrywinckle is a politician, flip flopper extraordinaire!!!!!
August 29th, 2011 at 1:06 pm
Is one of RomneyCare’s “successes” that it is driving population growth elsewhere in these here quasi-United States? I mean, even Willard abandoned the ship he once helmed…
August 29th, 2011 at 1:07 pm
224
I’m just curious to try to understand the whole breadth and scope of your disdain for Romney. I respect your opinion about RomneyCare and your personal decision not to like it. I, along with many others on this site are sensing that there is some deeper animosity or anger you hold for him that goes beyond the Health Care program.
We’d just like to help figure that out and perhaps help each other out so we can have a more civil conversation.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:07 pm
In business schools they often say that A students work for C students. Some perform well in classrooms, others in state houses.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
Persuasion is the key to advance conservatism, podium thumping, in your face campaigning will work with our party but unless we get serious we’re going to get HAMMERED. Only articulation and competence will offset Obama.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
So he’s an independent thinker. So he was young once. And you have no right to criticize anyone else’s political choices if you support Romney.
Perry has a solid record of supporting policies that promote economic growth as governor. I can forgive the other stuff.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
To be civil is a choice. Choose civility.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:13 pm
RomneyCare proves Failure: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/05/10/romneycare_proves_failure_255222.html
It seems that google is Romney’s worst enemy. Yikes. Google hates Romney.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:15 pm
If we’re going to take Gardasill off the table, then Romneycare is a non-starter to you Perry fans. You’re a bunch of dishonest people if you can’t do that. If you’re going to take Perry’s dealing with Acorn then we’ll have to look for things that Romney’s accused of off the table. Cronyism et all, if you want that off the table then let’s take comparisons of Romney and his own personal wealth off the table. Come on people let’s put everything on the table if that’s what we’re doing but let’s stop being dishonest if you’re a Perry supporter.
Then we can start somewhere.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:16 pm
233 – Hypocrisy at it’s finest.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:16 pm
I am seriously starting to think that this anti-Romney hostility in light of Perry entering the race is because of Romney’s Mormon religion. There is simply no other explanation.
Mormonism was constantly brought up as a hinderance to Romney wining the nomination in 2008, but now its hardly mentioned. However, Rick Perry prays in front of thousands at the National Day of Prayer just days before officially entering race. Perry has serious issues involving his ethics, fiscal conservatism, crony capitalism, stance on illegal immigration, globalistic tendancies. However, to Perry supporters, Fox News, talk radio none of that matters.
The only thing that matters is that Romney must be stopped? WHY? None of this adds up at all unless there is indeed a whisper campaign to stop the Mormon from being the Presidential nominee. It’s the ONLY explanation for this irrational behavior.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:17 pm
Who said you get to make the rules? The vaccine fiasco doesn’t matter to me. But RomneyCare does. The 2 are not somehow equivalent.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:18 pm
235
Interesting theory about Google. I haven’t heard anyone specific that works at Google say that they “hate” Romney. Do you have any programmers, or engineers working at Google to back that up with?
Hmmm, I just don’t agree that RomneyCare was a failure. I think that if it was, the state would be in debt and the public wouldn’t approve of it. But the state is still financially doing well, and the people still overwhelmingly love it.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:19 pm
OK., everyone, DRINK!
I was waiting for the first person to step forward and play the religion card. Like freakin’ clockwork, here it comes.
Let me pour myself another shot.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:21 pm
@231 “In business schools they often say that A students work for C students…”
Most people who say this are wrong. And even when they’re right, it doesn’t mean the C students are capable of understanding complex economic models.
The problems w/in the US financial system are extreme and complicated. I really don’t want a dumb guy making decisions purely based on what his chosen group of econ pros tell him. I want someone who actually understands what happens to credit union interest rates when the fed pushes $1T into the money supply–not a mental midget who got a D in his only economics course.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:21 pm
I was just commenting on the fact that when you google any combination of words and “Romney”, you get lots and lots of anti-Romney material. It’s quite exciting to know that I am in really good company.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:21 pm
Don’t waste your time with people like casuist guys. He is a troll that doesn’t care about the truth. The more you feed him, the more he will come back.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
@232: “Persuasion is the key to advance conservatism, podium thumping, in your face campaigning will work with our party but unless we get serious we’re going to get HAMMERED. Only articulation and competence will offset Obama.”
Exactly.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
Casusit: So he’s an independent thinker. So he was young once. And you have no right to criticize anyone else’s political choices if you support Romney.
Perry has a solid record of supporting policies that promote economic growth as governor. I can forgive the other stuff.
There is no correlation between being “an independent thinker” and supporting AL GORE. And yes I have the right to criticize yours or anyone else’s political choices especially when you support a candidate that is so pro government.
Perrywinckle inherited policies that promoted business in Texas and he went along for the ride. Name a couple of these so called Perry “policies that promoted economic growth”.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
You don’t seem to have a clue about how presidents or executives in general operate. What you describe is a specialist or a technician, not an executive.
Did you know that the business plan for FedEx got a ‘c’ as a class project?
August 29th, 2011 at 1:24 pm
Adam X…oops, I mean Casusit…THERE’S NO EXPLANATION FOR THE HOSTILITY against Romney’s record while the overwhelming approval of Perry’s record, which is FAR LESS CONSERVATIVE than Romney’s. NO OTHER EXPLANATION.
And yes, Perry’s support no doubt came from his pandering to thousands of evangelicals just prior to his official annoucement. And you honestly don’t think there’s NOTHING behind that?
Good grief Adam…I mean casusit…can you be any more intellectually dishonest?
August 29th, 2011 at 1:24 pm
243
Oh okay. Well I don’t think that Google, as a non-human piece of web software, can actually “hate” someone.
Google actually works by indexing many articles, blogs, forums and other web sites and organizes them for individuals to find data. It can’t “hate” people, as it has no feelings to do so.
Perhaps the reason why you are finding so many anti-Romney articles is that the people writing them “hate” him?
August 29th, 2011 at 1:26 pm
Um, one is the government taking over an entire sector of the economy in order to plan it centrally, write all the rules in collaboration with “key” industry lobbyists, and decide who wins and loses. The other is a short-lived attempt to save lives from a specific disease by vaccination against the disease a requirement for attending government schools, something that is done with other vaccines across the country in order to eradicate deadly communicable diseases that have plagued mankind forever.
As usual, the Rombotic conflate-n-confuse three-card-monte routine falls flat.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:26 pm
Why bother when google can do it for me? This is too easy, guys. Here is an article by Forbes, a fairly respected business magazine, wouldn’t you say?
Yes, Rick Perry Deserves Credit For The Texas Economy
http://news.yahoo.com/yes-rick-perry-deserves-credit-texas-economy-202710572.html
August 29th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
247
“You don’t seem to have a clue about how presidents or executives in general operate. What you describe is a specialist or a technician, not an executive.”
Hmm, the CEO of the company I work for was actually a straight A student in college. Mitt Romney was a straight A student as well when he was the CEO of “Bain and Company” and “Bain Capital”.
I have a couple clues at least.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
Were you born this literal or did someone beat it into you? I was speaking figuratively.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
250
“Um, one is the government taking over an entire sector of the economy in order to plan it centrally, write all the rules in collaboration with “key” industry lobbyists, and decide who wins and loses.”
Actually, that’s not what it was. The Government actually didn’t take over anything and, in fact, it let individual citizens take over their own insurance.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
The equivalency is that you have a “conservative” governor trying to ram something down the throats of his constituency for his friends in spite of his true conservative legislatures saying no. HE TRIED TO USE AN EXECUTIVE ORDER to do it. Go look at Michelle Malkin the only honest person who’s looked into it.
If that is conservative then you don’t know anything about conservatism and advancing the conservative agenda. Romney created a market based system solution and yes, it was mandated and well within the States rights to do so. He tried to persuade his 85% DEMOCRAT OPPOSITION legislature to agree but they would only take so much. Fine but at least his constituency sees that there are conservatives who are willing to SHOW them why conservatism works. I believe this even helped Massachusetts to finally put a Republican in the Senate after Kennedy. THEY COULD SEE THE DIFFERENCE between Obamacare and Romneycare and they understood it because of ROMNEY, even though they’re an 85% democrat state. Romney didn’t raise taxes to do what he needed to do and he used conservatives to help him get what he needed passed. NOW THEY’RE jumping ship!?!?! Idiots! Here you have Perry actually PUSHING something that HE KNEW would be costing HIS government however hundreds of millions of dollars and you want to say there is no equivalency?!?!?!
August 29th, 2011 at 1:30 pm
Really. How do you know that? Did he or she tell you? Does he or she wear her transcript around her neck? Is it tattooed on her butt, or his butt? How odd that a CEO would have self-esteem issues to the point that he or she would need to remind everyone in their cubicle-farm that he or she made straight ‘a’s in college. Did he or she also tell you about their perfect attendance record? This sound like an episode of The Office.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:30 pm
Casusit – oh, please enlighten us on how a president or executive generally work……
August 29th, 2011 at 1:33 pm
256
No, it’s not actually tattooed on his butt since I’ve never seen (nor want to see) his butt. I actually talk to him quite often, I’ve known him for many years as he grew up locally – we’re good friends and he has told me how he did in school.
He averaged pretty close to 4.0 in school (3.8 or so?). Does that surprise you that there are CEOs that average As in college?
August 29th, 2011 at 1:33 pm
So your average Joe MassHatt can run out and buy, say, catastrophic only coverage with a 5k deductible? Can a man buy a health plan without women’s health coverage? Can the InsCos actually devise specific policies to meet the price-coverage criteria of individual customers? Hmm? Can they?
August 29th, 2011 at 1:35 pm
casusit – your article is very nice but all it said was the Perrywinckle is supportive of business. not one mention of a bill or government policy that Mr Perry put forth to do anything. He is going with the flow, OF OIL
August 29th, 2011 at 1:36 pm
Yeah-yeah. I got all that all-caps boy. I don’t like it one bit. But its over; bygones. Stuff happens, you deal. And Perry recanted. I’ll reconsider my position when Romney recants RomneyCare, which is not simply a mandate but the state seizure of an entire economic sector:
Making a Disaster National: Massachusetts’ Romney-care v. Obama-care
http://thenewamerican.com/economy/markets-mainmenu-45/3374-making-a-disaster-national-massachusetts-romney-care-v-obama-care
Google is like a treasure-trove of anti-Romney facts and data.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:36 pm
259
I’m not sure. I can’t answer that. I know that in my own state there are many plans that include coverage tailored to males and females. Group polices provide more broad coverage. I assume it works similarly in Mass.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:37 pm
@247: “You don’t seem to have a clue about how presidents or executives in general operate. What you describe is a specialist or a technician, not an executive.”
What does a drone like you know about executive roles? The more an executive understands about each component of his operation, the better his decision making will typically be. Claiming the macro economy of the USA is something left for the technicians to understand could only be said by someone who knows nothing about economics or being an executive.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
The law of averages would predict that a few get through to the top, which also predicts that your CEO is fairly mediocre both as a businessperson and especially as a human being–but I’m hoping that he or she beat the odds and is actually a high-performing person of good character.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
259 – So you can drive around in your state without car insurance? What’s your point? Romney didn’t say his plan is perfect and if he could make changes he would and I guarantee you it would be 100% conservative if he did. But you and this other casuit are being dishonest literally and aren’t looking to REALLY push the conservative agenda. You just want the person you REALLY like.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
261
“which is not simply a mandate but the state seizure of an entire economic sector:”
Actually, casuist, that’s not true. The individual mandate simply required individuals to purchase their own health care plan – to be responsible to pay their own way. In other words, the state gave up quite a bit of control over Health Care by passing the mandate.
Gosh, I’m starting to sound like a broke record!
August 29th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
The worst part of Perry being protected by the conservative media is hearing Rush and Hannity whining about how unfair Perry’s critics are…
Let Perry answer his critics himself like the other candidates do….Perry’s all show…
August 29th, 2011 at 1:40 pm
Casusit,
You are Canadian, correct? What is your opinion of the health care delivery system in Canada? I know this is off topic, but I was just curious.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:40 pm
“Perhaps the reason why you are finding so many anti-Romney articles is that the people writing them ‘hate’ him?”
Actually, Google has been well connected to leftist politicians and has frequently been accused of having a leftists slant. They can manipulate their programming and indexing to yield results they want you to read as easily as giving you the results you want to read. And they do.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:41 pm
264
“which also predicts that your CEO is fairly mediocre both as a businessperson and especially as a human being–but I’m hoping that he or she beat the odds and is actually a high-performing person of good character.”
Hmm, actually he’s a pretty good human being and a good business person. Our company leads the city in internet service provision. He has a happy marriage and 4 great kids.
I’d like to see your odds though. Do you have a poll you’re reading off showing that most CEOs are NOT of good character?
August 29th, 2011 at 1:41 pm
How does a state “give up control” by mandating that you purchase a service under penalty of the law?
What a concept were it truly the case that every time someone ordered you to do something it made you more free, or something …
August 29th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
U.S. citizen who lives in Canada.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:43 pm
271
“How does a state “give up control” by mandating that you purchase a service under penalty of the law?”
It’s like when you walk out of the grocery store and you’re required to pay for it, or you could be arrested for theft. The government is involved in “enforcing” that people don’t steal things, but they are not actually paying for your groceries.
Same thing in the case of RomneyCare.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
No, just yours, based on the character you’ve demonstrated here. So I surmised that since like attracts like, you’d probably be attracted to someone with a character like yours. But as you say this person beat the odds so all is well, right? Right!
August 29th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
271 – casusit – good post finally your speacking honestly about Perry’s mandates and growing government.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
Yikes are you confused. To pay for groceries is a transaction, not a mandate. And no one forces me to do it. I could grow my own food or shop at farmers markets if I wanted.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
264 – Wow. Can you be any more of an idiot? Most executives went to top business schools, like Harvard, Penn, and Northwestern, and got top grades. You are losing credibility by the second. Keep on posting.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:46 pm
“No, just yours, based on the character you’ve demonstrated here.”
You’re just basing your analysis of “good character” on a single sample? Me? So by including my boss in your sample size, your odds just went to 50/50 right? If we include Mitt Romney, the odds go to 33/66 right?
I have to say, your odds aren’t very good!
August 29th, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Well, that would explain the underperformance of the U.S. corporate sector at the moment. But where did you get your data?
August 29th, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Casusit can’t win an argument with facts or persuasion so he calls names and insults those making him look stupid.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:49 pm
Yes, 24/7, as long as I don’t operate that vehicle on a public road. By operating a motor vehicle on a public road, there is a risk that I may damage someone else’s person or property to a high-dollar figure to make that person or property whole again. The potential for expensive damages to another person result from the vehicle’s mass and possible velocity.
For your analogy to work, you’ll need to explain that by the mere act of living, I’m breathing public air, or something like that, and must therefore pay a payment middle-man who will pay a health care provider if I should ever seek the provider’s services.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:49 pm
I didn’t include your boss in my sample. How could I unless your boss is posting too, which would predict the underperformance of your enterprise I suppose. So I had an n of 1, a single data point from which I could draw a line in any direction, and, based on elementary social network analysis, the principle that like attracts like (we tend to congregate with the like or like-minded), I registered a hypotheses which you assert to be false, and I am happy to take your word for it as I have no further data to enter into the analysis.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:50 pm
276
“Yikes are you confused. To pay for groceries is a transaction, not a mandate. And no one forces me to do it. I could grow my own food or shop at farmers markets if I wanted.”
You could grow your own food because you always have a choice where you can eat. In many circumstances, you don’t have a choice about going to the hospital.
For example, if you get hit by a car and are bleeding to death on the side of the road, is it now your choice if someone calls an ambulance for you? If you don’t have health insurance, you have just costed the taxpayer thousands of dollars for the ambulance techicians, gas, and time. In other words, you lost the ability to choose whether or not you wanted health care. A concerned citizen made the choice for you.
This is why the best way to ensure people pay their own way, is that they have health insurance for emergencies just like these.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:51 pm
279 – Go read their bios. Where on earth did you get the idea that they were all college dropouts?
August 29th, 2011 at 1:52 pm
WOW, the idiots are taking over the asylum.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
261 – okay so Romney is not going to be dishonest and apologize for what he did. Good for him. Yet it’s okay for Perry to recant and we shouldn’t really look into his real intentions by it? I believe Romney tried his best to persuade liberals to accept what he was trying to do by bringing in a conservative approach and they took as much as they could. I as well as other conservatives who see the wisdom in persuasion are wondering where the Heritage Foundation is right now? Where are all of the conservatives that did look at his plan and gave him their blessing?
Conservatives are making the mistake of not getting behind Romney and saying, Romney’s plan was a conservative approach to his state, and the reason why it’s not the way it should be is because of the changes that were made by liberals. That the plan isn’t 100% conservative because of an 85% liberal democrat congress. That if they do want their STATE’s plan to really take off, they should bring in more conservatives to their congress to make it better. That’s how you advance the agenda. Casusit and margueG and many like them are not really interested in advancing the Conservative agenda.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
#272 – Casuist,
Oops. Ah, well, nevermind then. Beyond the Romney/Perry dichotomy, are you satisfied with the field as it is currently set? Is there anyone you’d like to see running who isn’t?
Philosophically, I’d love to see Ron Paul in the White House; however, my more practical and pragmatic side tells me that would never be possible, so I’m currently supporting Huntsman.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
Yes, a mandate is a solution to the problem as you describe it, a progressive solution in that it depends for its substance on political agency, and assumes the supervision of the state. It is not a conservative solution as it undermines personal agency, and as it supports the growth and extension of state power. It is a solution that I oppose, and it is the reason that I will always oppose Romney.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
“The law of averages would predict that a few get through to the top…”
Spoken like a guy who has clearly not competed @ high academic levels. The smartest/hardest working people tend to be successful and productive everywhere–academics, employment, government, etc.
Perry’s academic history suggests he is probably either stupid or lazy. Or, is he just a brilliant distracted guy like Gates, Dell, etc? Considering his total lack of ingenuity or entrepreneurialism I think the smart money’s on stupid or lazy.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
How does that make sense? Huntsman is a progressive, and Paul is a libertarian.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:57 pm
can anybody show me when Perry came out with his appology for the HPV fiasco? Did he stick his finger in the air to test the winds?
August 29th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
“It is a solution that I oppose, and it is the reason that I will always oppose Romney.”
Funny how you “will always” oppose Romney for a mandate, but then shrug off Perry’s far more progressive & intrusive mandate that his legislature later eliminated.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Yes, and it is smart, hardworking people in the financial services sector that tanked our economy, and the current White House is filled with smart, hardworking people trying to finish the job of destroying our economy. Smart, hardworking people are a positive menace at the moment. Someone needs to stop these A students. See:
A Plague of ‘A’ Students
Why it’s so irksome being governed by the Obami.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/plague-%E2%80%98a%E2%80%99-students
August 29th, 2011 at 1:59 pm
The driver of the car would be liable here. Your health insurance company would balk at covering costs arising from the driver’s irresponsibility and/or negligence.
August 29th, 2011 at 1:59 pm
I don’t hear you laughing, laugh-boy.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Casusit – the MANDATE “is the reason you will always oppose Romney”???? Perrywinckle’s mandate is worse, he tryed to do it with an executive order, and to benefit himself financially. But that is forgivable to those C students that run major companies, like yourself.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:01 pm
288 – So the Heritage Foundation is a bunch of progressives too? They are the ones that came up with the health care mandate. The progressive move is the one that Mitt Romney had a huge role in stopping in Massachusetts and at the federal level. The progressive move would be a single payer system, like Medicare and the health care system in Canada. That was what was on the table and it is what Romney was fighting against. It is what Romney helped defeat in the Obama plan by getting Scott Brown elected and killing the public option.
And what is the thanks that he gets for saving Massachusetts from a single payer system, and from playing a large role in stopping the federal public option? He gets stomped on by moron who can’t get their heads out of their asses and realize that the plan that got implemented was much better than it would have been without him and much better at the federal level than it would have been without him.
Its a conservative purification process, and it is going to lead to the death of our country. Sadly, I am losing faith in the idea that people will eventually wake up and get us back on track. The Perry surge has made me very cynical. I am losing hope in America.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:02 pm
281.
It isn’t the “public air” it is the federal mandate of being unable to turn somebody away from health care. Health care facilities are mandated to care for the ill/those who need care. If they don’t have insurance or decide not to pay for said service then they use the “public roads” via increased costs passed through to others around them because they didn’t pay. The scenario does work.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:02 pm
288
I like this conversation we are having. You have shown that you can indeed dip into an intelligent discourse. So many who dislike Romney choose not to talk about the intricacies of RomneyCare. Let’s keep this going.
—–
“It is not a conservative solution as it undermines personal agency, and as it supports the growth and extension of state power.”
Health Care, in particular, catastrophic Health Care such as terminal illness, and emergencies are the most costly to the state and incidents in which personal agency is already undermined.
Like the example above, you lose personal agency when an ambulance is called in your behalf. My brother played High School football and dislocated his arm during a game last year. The School’s POLICY is to call emergency care personnel to the field. My family became responsible for payment and they lost personal agency.
When someone goes into a coma or stops breathing or has an extremely high temperature from a life threatening disease, another individual who loves them very much will likely admit them to the Hospital or call and ambulance. This person has lost their personal agency.
In the same way that states require people to carry car insurance because you lose your agency when someone runs a red light and hits you, so should states require individuals to carry health insurance when life threatening situations occur in which we lose personal agency.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:03 pm
I just never get tired of debunking this particular lie. It really takes me back.
Mitt Romney’s Romneycare dilemma: Heritage Foundation disowns mandates
Continue reading on Examiner.com Mitt Romney’s Romneycare dilemma: Heritage Foundation disowns mandates – Boston Top News | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/top-news-in-boston/mitt-romney-s-romneycare-dilemma-heritage-foundation-disowns-mandates#ixzz1WRRmmT3S
August 29th, 2011 at 2:03 pm
293 – Wrong again. It was greedy politicians that tanked our economy, by forcing lenders to lend to people that couldn’t afford to pay for their homes. You really should inform yourself before you talk. It would help you not look like a high school dropout.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:05 pm
Wow, that’s interesting, so I wonder why a lot of high-end banks who never retailed consumer loans went belly-up. It’s a … mystery …
August 29th, 2011 at 2:05 pm
#290 – casuist,
I knew that would come up.
First of all, I don’t view Huntsman as a progressive at all. If I did, I could not support him. I think he is a competent executive who managed his state in a fiscally prudent manner. He cut taxes while not driving his state into a deficit; he is pro-life; I agree with his foreign policy views (which are primarily non-interventionist, like Paul’s); he knows how to create an environment for business to flourish; and he recognizes the problems we face as a country are complex and require a thoughtful approach rather than simply mouthing platitudes that people want to hear (a la Obama).
August 29th, 2011 at 2:05 pm
The flipside to this coin is that if we do not require people to pay for their own health care, someone else will lose their personal agency through taxes.
Someone is guaranteed to lose some personal agency when it comes to health care costs. The point is that it is better for the individual in the emergency to cover it, not their neighbor.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
300 – Did the Heritage Foundation create the mandate idea or not? Did the definition of conservatism change between 2006 and 2010? Disowning something doesn’t mean they aren’t responsible for it in the first place. Talk about flip flopping. And you didn’t answer the rest of my post. Would you rather Romney fight for pure conservatism and let the single payer system get implemented? Is that your idea of leadership?
August 29th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Heritage foundation disowns Rick Perry’s Mandates on innocent teenage girls
http://www.casusitisanidiot.com
August 29th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
What is your take on Huntsman’s stance on anthropogenic climate change?
August 29th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
302 – Inform yourself
August 29th, 2011 at 2:08 pm
293
“Smart, hardworking people are a positive menace at the moment. Someone needs to stop these A students.”
Unbelievable. I’m stunned by this. Wow!
I have never read something so blatantly hypocritical in my life. Rick Perry is the most “Conservative” candidate that you support, but you believe smart, hardworking people need to be punished?
I’m absolutely shocked.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
306.
I’m sorry – but I just about spit out my drink on my computer over that one. Perfect timing. Much akin to Craig for EVERYBODY (except maybe Romney unless I’m on my deathbed) and his “Bless his heart” moment w/ TEX.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:11 pm
They claim they had nothing to do with RomneyCare. They claim that to use them as a defence for RomneyCare flies in the face of the facts. Also, white papers are not policy documents.
Hey, maybe heritage got caught retailing a very bad idea and now they don’t want to be associated with RomneyCare–you can hardly blame them if this is the case!–but I prefer to take them at their word, their word being that those who claim RomneyCare was a heritage proposal are lying liars who are full of lying lies.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
MarkG: “For your analogy to work, you’ll need to explain that by the mere act of living, I’m breathing public air, or something like that, and must therefore pay a payment middle-man who will pay a health care provider if I should ever seek the provider’s services.”
OK, I’ll take a shot: By living w/in the territory and society you automatically create risk to hospitals and collective tax payers that you will have some medical problem. In fact, unlike your car on public roads, it is certain you will eventually create medical costs during your lifetime. So, by your “mere act of living,” you are bound to create some medical expense for society at some point analogous to the possible expense you could create w/a car driving on public roads. And it’s not just a risk of occurrence, it’s certain to happen–the only question is the level of expense.
The middle man in this case is the same: an insurance company that pays a fellow driver for the damage v. an insurance company that pays the hospital for its services.
The primary reason people don’t see these two laws the same is because everyone fears getting t-boned by some loser not carrying insurance and no one worries about the free-rider that gets free medical care based on the collective tax payers or at the direct expense of the hospital. It’s less direct, so it’s less in mind. But it’s really the same thing.
That said, I’m not a big fan of mandates for either.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
Grow a sense of humour, little one. I cited an article by satirist O’Rourke where he chides the “Obami” for the A student mentality.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:13 pm
311 – If they claim that, they are full of crap. Their involvement in MassCare and the individual mandate is well documented.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:15 pm
#307 – casuist,
I’m honestly up in the air. I think the evidence shows that some researchers manipulated data; however, there is also data that seems to somewhat corroborate the initial evidence that climate change is occurring on some level. How much humans contribute is debatable (and I know that goes to the heart of your question, as you said anthropogenic), but it seems like we do, indeed, contribute some. Whether or not we can (or should) do anything about it is a completely different story.
So, I take it you are pretty satisfied with the current field of candidates?
August 29th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
You want to take them at their word. Try this:
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2006/04/understanding-key-parts-of-the-massachusetts-health-plan
And this:
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2006/10/the-rationale-for-a-statewide-health-insurance-exchange
And this:
http://articles.boston.com/2011-05-30/lifestyle/29600244_1_health-care-mitt-romney-individual-mandate/4
August 29th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
I am absolutely unsatisfied. Perry is the first candiate who piqued my interest.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
And there is not one word in the article you posted that said the Heritage Foundation was no responsible for coming up with the mandate idea.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:22 pm
casusit,
What do you think about Perry’s connections to Merck, including his close relationship to their shareholders and lobbyists and their max donation to his campaign just days before he signed their immunization mandate?
August 29th, 2011 at 2:25 pm
#317 – casuist,
Well, that stinks. I guess I know the feeling – I really wanted Mitch Daniels to run, but that never happened, so I’m onto my second choice.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:34 pm
The conservative attitude on Global Warming is one example as to why we get cast as an anti – intelectual group. This issue is a matter of science one way or the other and is not a matter of political ideology. Is there corruption in the scientific community and do scientists get things wrong? Yes, and I do not know for sure about Global Warming. However, I will venture to guess most committed conservative partisans on this issue have done little real research on the topic either. I will take the opinions of scientists over Limbaugh and Beck any day of the week. The talk radio crowd plays with facts like a cat does with a mouse. If you have a background in science and have read the scientific literature and disagree with the Global Warming crowd, then I can respect that. If you disagree with the global warming because a charismatic voice on the radio told you to, then not so much.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:49 pm
John Mark,
I understand your take. Conservatives should not care what other conservatives believe nearly as much as they do. They should care how they will execute in their official capacity. I don’t care about Romney’s religion or whether he believes the globe is warming. I care deeply about actions he might take regarding those beliefs, but if it won’t affect his policy it’s irrelevant.
That said, the “charismatic voice on the radio” has value as well. It has really been a major gateway to getting conservative thought back in the mainstream.
August 29th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
Can someone please post what it is Perry DID in Texas to promote job growth? I have yet to hear about any laws Perry passed, except:
(1) Tort reform (I like that)
(2) Free in-state tuition for illegal aliens
(3) Gardasil executive order (was overturned)
That’s about all I’ve heard that he’s done. Can someone PROVE that Perry did things to get jobs going?
August 29th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
321
EXACTLY
August 29th, 2011 at 3:37 pm
“That said, the “charismatic voice on the radio” has value as well. It has really been a major gateway to getting conservative thought back in the mainstream.”
“Thought” certainly isn’t the word I’d use.
August 29th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
It’s so fun to read all the Rombot posts against Perry (the frontrunner at the time).
Haven’t any of you learned that smart people who go to the Elite schools don’t always make the best Presidents. There are smart people, then there are “common sense” people who usually are the most successful people. Perry is a “common sense” person and Romney is a “intellectual”. Nothing wrong with either.
Romney would be more apt as President to make his decisions based on “what the public wants” rather than what is good for America (hard decisions not usually popular). Sorry, I want a President who cares more about America than his own political agenda….note how Romney handled the guy who wanted a pardon. You all know that awful guy who shot a beebee gun when he was a teenager and got caught. He won honors in the military and wanted to be a policemen when he got out of service, but couldn’t because he had a record. He asked Gov. Romney for a pardon, but because Romney cared more about his political future than helping a fellow citizen, he turned him down. This was a classic example of someone who cared about himself rather than doing the right thing.
For people who think that Romneycare is nothing like Obamacare, I have been collecting articles written by many different people, including Republicans,who claim the same thing….Romneycare is Obamacare no matter how many times Romney says it isn’t! When candidates like Perry put ads out in every primary state against Romneycare and how similar it is to Obamacare, Romney won’t stand a chance. The reason why we haven’t heard about Romneycare in months is because the Republican Establishment was willing to let Romney be the nominee and give up the Republican right to go against Obama for Obamacare because they didn’t have a candidate they wanted or thought could be Obama. How sad they would rather accept Obamacare (because we couldn’t effectively go against it if Romney was the nominee) and all it’s terrible financial ruin on our economy now and in the future than to accept Palin, Bachmann, or Huckabee as the nominee. But now Perry comes out and the Republican Establishment can accept him (he’s rich you know), so they will run with Perry who doesn’t have the Romneycare albatross around his neck.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like Perry either, but he is better than Romney (a little). It will be fun reading your posts, Rombots, because you can’t do anything about it. Have fun! LOL
August 29th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
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He also proposed a massive toll road that would have taken a boatload of private property via eminent domain, but it went down in flames almost as quickly as the Gardasil executive order. He pushed it back into the legislature in 3 or 4 separate sessions though. Perry also pushed to lower property taxes in Texas (as part of a piece of legislation that would also raise business taxes). It went through, but has been unpopular and has hurt small businesses while having little effect on larger corps. It also caused a $5B shortfall & created a massive structural deficit pushing the state into massive debt. TX currently has more debt per resident than California. Also, the tort reform came from the TX legislature, not Perry–he just signed a massively popular bill they had passed.
August 29th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
“Vote for Truth”, is one more example against public education.
August 29th, 2011 at 6:03 pm
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Perry’s a disaster. His spending in TX over the last 12 years is mind numbing. TX now has more debt per resident than CA due to Perry’s spending. If you want the current federal spending to continue at its present rate, bring him on board. If you want someone who can turn deficits into surpluses, Mitt’s the easy choice. He’s done it w/dozens of private companies, the 2002 Olympics & MA. You may not like all of Mitt’s policies, but you know he’ll bring financial responsibility to DC.
August 29th, 2011 at 7:37 pm
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/62214.html
This article is entitled “Is Rick Perry Dumb?”
Obviously, it’s a lefty organization asking the question and their answer is essentially, “it’s complicated.” Anyone who can be elected to office for 25 years isn’t dumb, so Politico got the answer wrong, IMHO. Still, fascinating article with scores of quotes from Perry guys more or less saying “The Texas political scene is littered with opponents who thought Rick Perry wasn’t smart.”
More than that, it’s got 2,000 freaking comments. Just for that reason alone, it’s worth a read.
(Cross posted from another FPP here. Just trying to make sure folks can see this and read it)
September 6th, 2011 at 11:29 am
Most people could sleep through class and earn around a 3.0 in college. Perry managed a 1.9? And Perry got a D in his “intro to econ” course? His accomplishments make clear he’s not dumb, but it’s clear he’s no genius either.
September 6th, 2011 at 11:35 am
Perry’s real problem:
Raised the TX debt from $13.4B to $37.8B (faster rate of increase than the federal debt under Obama).
Despite a good year for TX jobs, TX is still @ 8.4% unemployment (27th place nationally) and carries 2x the national average in minimum wage jobs.
Mandated a Merck vaccine for all TX schoolgirls ($360/per in Merck’s corp. pockets) just days after Merck gave Perry a max donation.
Spent $7B on unadvisable windmill energy, which has proven to be a total waste.
Attempted (4 times) to take massive parcels of private property to build a toll road via eminent domain claims.
If Perry’s elected, he’ll continue Obama’s wreckage of the national deficit/debt, but he’ll do it as a “conservative.” We can’t afford this guy.