what has Perry ever done to cut Texas budgets and reduce state government?
If he actually tried to use the office of the Governor to do those things, he would be acting outside the Texas Constitution. Texans have deliberately made the role of Governor a weak one.
Perry's greatest power is probably in making six year appointments that still need 2/3rds majority approval. He has line-item-veto (though no governor really uses it), can call out the National Guard, order a convening of the Legislature, and can stay an execution. Beyond that, his influence can only be measured in the quality of his speeches.
The real power is in the Lt Governor's office. He sets the Legislative agenda.
I understand that the Texas Governor is not as powerful as some, and yeah, is downright weak in a lot of ways. 12 years of appointments from Perry ought to mean a little more to me, though.
Also, more importantly, you note that Perry has the line item veto after you intimate that gubernatorial reduction of state government and budgets are not possible under the Constitution of the state of Texas. Don’t you see a little problem with your declaration regarding gubernatorial prerogatives given that line item veto, which is a darn powerful tool? Just because most governors don’t use the line item veto doesn’t mean a conservative wouldn’t. Unfortunately, we just don’t have a hell of a lot of conservatives in office. And Perry sure hasn’t been one to cut the fat. Just consider the alphabet soup in Texas, starting with TEA, THECB, TLC, Texas Railroad Commission, umpteen redundant state university system bureaucracies, Texas Sunset Commission, etc...seems to me there are a lot of state payroll dollars for a conservative to excise, and that has not been tops on his to-do list. Heck, it’s not even tops of his talking points. I’m pretty sure hot air in the form of faux-secessionista speak and faux-pro-A&M Bonfire talk come way first on his teleprompter.