The Deficit that Defines Rick Perry

It is no surprise that Rick Perry has announced he is running for President in the 2012 race. The surprise is that he continue to characterize himself as an economic wizard, creating jobs in Texas, and balancing the budget.  Over a month ago Rachel Maddow called this “baloney.”

I think MSNBC probably told her she couldn’t say “Bull Shit”. I don’t have a producer telling me what I can say, so I’m calling it like I see it…“Bull Shit.”While there are many reasons that Rick Perry should never lead this country, the most obvious reason is the disaster he has been for the Texas economy. With our greatest challenge for the next President being restoration of the viability of the American economy, we MUST have a leader that is honest, capable, and experienced with economic matters. Rick Perry has none of these attributes.

The debt of Texas has almost doubled during the time Perry has been Governor. Texas Republicans started the year promising to make hard choices to solve the largest budget shortfall in the state’s history. They delivered one speech after another about not “kicking the can” down the road. Yet, that is exactly what they did under the direction of Rick Perry. Gov. Rick Perry signed a budget that was balanced only through accounting maneuvers, rewriting school funding laws, ignoring a growing population and delaying payments on bills coming due in 2013.  It accomplishes, however, what the Republican majority wanted most: It did not raise taxes, took little from the Rainy Day Fund and shifted any future deficits onto the next Legislature. Many Republican lawmakers in Texas have complained privately that Perry worked to ensure during the last budget session that nothing passed that would hurt a potential Presidential campaign.

Texas is the #1 state to benefit from the federal stimulus. Not only did Perry accept federal stimulus dollars, but he used that money to plug  97% of the state’s 2010 budget shortfall. Texas was facing an anticipated $6.6 billion shortfall. With the help of the Recovery Act, Perry was able to return the Texas budget to viability. Thus Rick Perry, as Governor of Texas, found the perfect solution to the deficit …the Federal Government. The Federal Government bailed out Texas, and Rick Perry. Without the Federal support, Texas would be bankrupt. Rick Perry is bankrupt of any honest or ethical standards. He is a fraud to promote himself as a “fiscal conservative.” It’s not just “baloney” of which he is full!