Free Republic

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – Walk into this West Des Moines hotel, and you’ll easily encounter volunteers in Rick Perry fleeces or staffers wearing official Rick Perry badges. The Perry campaign has set up shop here just days before the Iowa caucuses while nearly two thousand volunteers fan out across the state to promote the Texas governor with an expansive ground game as the campaign hopes he’ll earn a top three spot in the caucuses Tuesday. A source close to the Perry campaign confirmed to ABC News they have signed up 1500 precinct leaders across Iowa. At each of the...

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – After a four day hiatus from the campaign trail, Texas Gov. Rick Perry restarted his bus tour through Iowa, pounding his opponents for their Washington and Wall Street “insider” status and selling himself as the “authentic conservative” in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. “Why should you settle for anything less than an authentic conservative who will fight for your views and values without an apology? Why should you have to settle for anything less than the real deal to go to Washington DC and to represent your values and work for you in Washington,”...

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement condemning the terrorist attacks on Christian churches in Nigeria on Christmas Day: “These attacks are designed to strike at the foundation of a civil society by massacring innocent civilians at worship. These savage acts are part of a disturbing trend of attacks on Christians extending from Nigeria to Egypt to Iraq. Americans should not be afraid to express solidarity with these Christian communities, and to recognize their persecution for the evil that it is. “The United States should stand with our allies to support the Nigerian government in the aftermath...

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today released the following statement regarding the death of Kim Jong Il: “The death of vicious dictator Kim Jong Il provides some cause for hope but does not automatically end the reign of inhumane tyranny he and his father constructed. Twenty-three million people still live under North Korea’s isolationist, inhumane and tyrannical policies. North Korea remains a nuclear power, and there is a great threat that those weapons might fall into the wrong hands if civil war breaks out. “At the same time, Kim Jong Il’s death is an opportunity to reunify the peninsula if...

The first thing conservative Republicans need to do is stop paying attention to polls pitting potential Republican candidates against President Obama. That campaign is months in the future and every single one of those polls are meaningless right now. Most of the Republican candidates in this primary are strong in their own right, even that lunatic Ron Paul and probably every one of them is capable of defeating Obama, even if the unemployment rate is mathematically massaged below 8%. Michelle Bachman has the requisite experience to deal with Congress in the legislative process and is the most “tea party” oriented...

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement regarding the National Labor Relations Board’s decision to drop its case against Boeing: “The Obama Administration’s dangerous and inappropriate action against Boeing and the right to work state of South Carolina remains a frightening reminder of Washington excess even with the NLRB dropping the case. Unaccountable federal political appointees should never have the authority to tell a private company where it may or must build factories. “The NLRB action was a political payoff for the Obama Administration’s liberal big labor organizers, and remains a strong example of why President Obama...

Congress is finally feeling the pressure over insider trading, the practice of trading financial securities based on non-public information available to a select few in government. After a series of investigative reports, including several here at Big Government, the American people are beginning to realize that what is wrong with this country can be diagrammed on a map, with a straight line connecting Wall Street and Washington, D.C. Now exposed to the light of day, the political establishment is determined to show the American people it is “doing something” to clean up its act. This week, the House Financial Services...

In an interview today on CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, GOP presidential candidate and Texas Governor Rick Perry spoke with Wolf Blitzer on a wide range of topics from gays serving openly in the U.S. military to participation in upcoming debates.

Statement by Gov. Rick Perry on Ambassador Gutman and the Obama Administration’s Hostility Toward IsraelAUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement: “Ambassador Gutman’s troubling statement is part of a pattern of hostility on the part of the Obama administration toward Israel. In the same week that Ambassador Gutman excused anti-Semitism because of Israel’s refusal to accommodate Palestinian demands, President Obama’s Secretary of Defense ranted that the Israelis must get back to the ‘d*** table’ for negotiations, and his Secretary of State insinuated that Israel’s democracy is less than viable because of gender-related debates between religious and secular...

Statement by Gov. Rick Perry on Obama Administration’s Use of Gay Rights to Make Foreign Aid DecisionsAUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement: “Just when you thought Barack Obama couldn’t get any more out of touch with America’s values, AP reports his administration wants to make foreign aid decisions based on gay rights. “This administration’s war on traditional American values must stop. “I have proposed a foreign aid budget that starts at zero. From that zero baseline, we will consider aid requests based solely on America’s national security interests. Promoting special rights for gays in foreign countries...

Statement by Gov. Rick Perry: U.S. Senate Should Reject Nomination of Liberal Judicial Activist Caitlin Halligan AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement: “As New York Solicitor General, Caitlin Halligan used her liberal interpretation of the law to target pro-life Americans, gun owners, and gun manufacturers, and otherwise use the law as a liberal political tool. The last thing the American people need on the second highest court is another liberal judicial activist, like Ms. Halligan, who lacks respect for the U.S. Constitution. “The nomination of liberal activist Caitlin Halligan to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals...

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement regarding sanctions for Iran’s Central Bank: “Iran’s support for terror, assassination and nuclear proliferation demand tough U.S. sanctions against Iran’s Central Bank to cripple the regime’s access to the international economy. “Tonight’s bipartisan action in the U.S. Senate is a strong step in the right direction. President Obama should stop excusing Iran’s dangerous behavior and drop his opposition to these strong economic sanctions against the rogue Iranian regime. “Earlier this evening, the U.S. Senate voted 100-0 to penalize foreign financial institutions that do business with Iran’s Central Bank, the main...

CONCORD, N.H. – Rick Perry transitioned from pushing his immigration message to slamming the link between Wall Street and Washington, D.C. Wednesday along with urging the New Hampshire legislature to override a veto on right-to-work legislation. “If you pass into law a right- to-work law, you may join my home state and take over the title of the state that’s creating more jobs in American than any place in this country,” Perry said to a standing ovation by Republicans at the New Hampshire State House. “Unions have their proper role in America but you shouldn’t be forced to join one...

Gov. Rick Perry: The Entire, Uncut ‘On the Record’ Interview by Greta Van Susteren As promised, here is our entire interview with GOP presidential hopeful Gov. Rick Perry (it has footage that we were not able to show you on last night’s ON THE RECORD because of time constraints). Watch and share your thoughts! ...

. . . from a couple of months ago somehow escaped my notice (and perhaps not coincidentally,Jennifer Rubin’s) until today. It’s the highest, most unreserved praise for a politician I’ve ever read from the formidable mind of Ferguson in which he extols Rick Perry’s accomplishments in reforming the Texas higher education system. No other candidate in the field comes close to being as effective in taking on an entrenched establishment in the interest of taxpayers. Perry’s admirers praise his sure-footedness​—​his ability to sense cultural trends before others do and turn them to his political advantage. He was the first national...

AMHERST, N.H. - Texas Gov. Rick Perry today received the endorsement of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a steadfast advocate for border security and national leader in combating on illegal immigration, citing Gov. Perry's unmatched efforts to bolster border security in Texas in light of a federal government that for too long has abdicated this basic responsibility to the states. Sheriff Arpaio made his announcement at Joey's Diner in Amherst, New Hampshire. "The federal government has failed on border crime and border enforcement, and no candidate for president has done more to secure the border than Governor Rick Perry. I have been...

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement on today’s news regarding the Federal Reserve’s undisclosed bank loans: “These outrageous secret federal loans to bailout big banks are why Americans are disgusted with business-as-usual Washington, the Federal Reserve and taxpayer-funded bailouts. The actions of Chairman Bernanke and Secretary Geithner have again proven that Washington insiders cannot be trusted to stop bailouts, protect taxpayers, or create jobs. “My economic reform plans seriously overhaul Washington, end federal bailouts and cut government spending, regulations and taxes to put American job creation and our economy on the right track.”

Rick Perry is set to appear on his second late night show this campaign cycle on Thursday when he will be a guest on the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” according to a promo run during Sunday night’s Pittsburgh Steelers-Kansas City Chiefs game.

The weird thing about Governor Perry’s “Syrian no-fly-zone” moment was not that he talked about a no-fly zone (NFZ) with the Fox news pundits, and then reiterated his comments in the GOP foreign policy debate on Tuesday. The weird thing is that there seems, in fact, to be a proposal for a Syrian NFZ – one in which the US would reportedly provide logistic support – and it took a GOP candidate to tell us about it. Perry took a lot of heat for “bringing up” the idea of an NFZ for Syria. But foreign news agencies have been furiously...

Rick Perry 1992 RNC Convention Speech as Texas Ag Commissioner.