Rick Perry: The Democrat Years

Gov. Rick Perry, a no-apologies conservative known for slashing government spending and opposing all tax increases, is about as Republican as you can get.

Perry spent his first six years in politics as a Democrat, in a somewhat forgotten history that is sure to be revived and scrutinized by Republican opponents if he decides to run for president.

A raging liberal he was not. Elected to represent a slice of rural West Texas in the state House of Representatives in 1984, Perry, a young rancher and cotton farmer, gained an early reputation as a fiscal conservative. He was one of a handful of freshman “pit bulls,” so named because they sat in the lower pit of the House Appropriations Committee, where they fought to keep spending low.

But Perry cast some votes and took a few stands that seem to be at odds with the fiscal conservatism he champions today. The most vivid example is Perry’s support of the $5.7 billion tax hike in 1987, signed by Republican Gov. Bill Clements but opposed by most of the GOP members. The bill passed by a relatively close 78-70 in the Texas House. Even without adjusting for inflation, the legislation triggered the largest tax increase ever passed in modern Texas, according to Dale Craymer, president of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association. Today, taking inflation into account, it would be worth more than $11 billion.

The Tribune thanks our Supporting Sponsors Craymer said the new taxes were used to plug a massive budget shortfall, with the money representing about 20 percent of the general revenue raised during that two-year budget period.

Almost a quarter century later, Perry, as governor, was faced with a similarly sized budget shortfall. But he took a markedly different tack in 2011: He opposed any new taxes, and signed a budget that made the first reduction in overall spending on public education since at least 1949.

Perry spokesman Mark Miner said votes taken decades ago don’t undermine the governor’s overall record, which he said includes the largest property tax cut in state history, enacted in 2006.

“You can pull votes from the 1980s, but the overall track record is one of fiscal responsibility and conservatism,” Miner said.

As a House Democrat, Perry also co-authored legislation aimed at tripling the amount of money state legislators are paid, House records show. In a 1989 interview with the Abilene Reporter-News, Perry cited the financial hardships Texas legislators faced trying to make a living back home while making a yearly salary of only $7,200 as part-time lawmakers. Voters rejected the proposal in a statewide referendum.

Perry said he could make ends meet only because his father tended to the farm while his wife worked as a nurse in Haskell, her hometown.

“I really don’t know how people in the insurance business or the real estate business do it. That’s one reason I voted for the pay raise,” Perry told the newspaper. “I think all the people of Texas ought to be able to serve.”

Another political move Perry made back then: He was a top Texas supporter and organizer in 1988 for Al Gore, who ran as a southern conservative rather than the populist reformer he eventually became as the 2000 Democratic presidential nominee.

Perry can trace his political heritage back to a great-great grandfather, D.H. Hamilton, a former state legislator from Trinity County. Perry’s own father, Ray Perry, served as a county commissioner in Haskell County for almost 30 years. They were Southern Democrats, from the party that produced politicians like Sam Rayburn and Lyndon Baines Johnson.

In 1984, Rick Perry, then a young rancher and former Air Force pilot from Paint Creek, about 60 miles north of Abilene, was recruited by fellow Democrats to run for a House seat vacated by Rep. Joe Hanna, according to interviews and news articles. Democrat John Sharp, the former state comptroller who was Perry’s old college buddy, recalls getting a call from Clyde Wells, then the chairman of the Texas A&M System Board of Regents. Wells wondered who might make a good replacement for Hanna.

“I said: ‘Yeah, there was a guy in my outfit who’s from Haskell. Let’s find out if he’s still in the Air Force,” Sharp recalled saying of Perry. “Three weeks later he was in the race.”

Then-House Speaker Gib Lewis, D-Fort Worth, decided to appoint several freshman lawmakers to the House Appropriations Committee — members he knew he could count on to keep spending low.

“All of them were very conservative guys and had a good head on their shoulders, and that’s how I picked 'em,” Lewis recalled. “When he first came to the Legislature it was predominately white, Democratic, conservative. He was one of them, and I was, too.”

No matter the label beside his name, the news coverage of Perry’s early years reveals the same ambition and enthusiasm for public office that the governor has brought to the national stage as a potential presidential candidate.

In one of the first lengthy newspaper profiles ever written about Perry, in the Abilene Reporter-News, fellow Rep. Cliff Johnson, now a lobbyist and longtime friend, said of the of the West Texas farm boy: “He’s one of the top two or three (representatives) of the freshman class. I think the sky is the limit.”

Perry’s wife, Anita, told the paper a few years later: “He breathes politics.”

At the beginning of his six-year run in the state House, Perry shot down the notion that he might switch parties despite his conservative leanings that put him at odds with his party leaders. After former U.S. Rep. Kent Hance of Lubbock defected to the Republican Party in 1985, Perry told the Abilene paper he was “disappointed,” saying he planned to “change my party” rather than defect to the other side.

“I want the left hand side of the party to make the right hand side of the party comfortable,” Perry was quoted as saying. Hance, now chancellor of Texas Tech University, said he remembers telling Perry, “‘Good luck on it. I don’t think you can do it.' … And sure enough he couldn’t.’’

The gap was obvious by 1989, his last year in the Legislature, when Perry carried a workers' compensation insurance bill that angered the Texas trial lawyers, then a much more powerful force in state politics. That same year The Dallas Morning News named Perry one of the state's ten best legislators, but he was ripped by another publication.

The liberal Texas Observer called Perry the “Benedict Arnold of the Democratic Party” for siding too often with Clements, the Republican governor, and not enough with his Democratic colleagues.

“If the Texas Observer ever says anything good about me, then I’ve been hit on the head and they can send me back home,” Perry quipped.

Rumors that Perry would defect to the GOP — and run against populist Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower — picked up steam by late 1989. On Sept. 29, 1989, he made it official at a Capitol press conference. At his side were GOP chairman Fred Meyer and U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm, a former Democrat who was aggressively courting would-be converts.

“I intend to vote the same convictions,” Perry said. “The only difference is there will be an R beside my name.”

Perry’s timing, now legendary, could not have been better. He was one of only two Republicans elected to nonjudicial statewide office in 1990. Eight years later, Republicans swept every one of them.

“Perry has been a risk taker,” said Hance, the party-switcher who became Texas Tech chancellor. “And if you look at Perry’s timing in every race, he’s been the golden guy.”

We need somebody who can WIN this thing. That means somebody with cross-over appeal, which our Palen, Bachmann and Cain (no matter how much we love them) simply do not have.

Until 1989, Rick Perry was a conservative Democrat. He switched parties as, like many Democrats including Ronald Reagan and Phil Gramm, he saw that party moving farther and farther to the left. Under Perry’s decade as governor, hundreds of Texas Democrats have followed his lead and become Republicans. As a former Democrat, Perry can speak to that swath of his former party that has become disenchanted with their party as President Obama has taken it even farther to the left, in a way that few Republicans can. He can also speak well and credibly to all wings of the national GOP, from the fiscal cons to the social cons to the libertarian set.
He would appeal to all segments of the Republican electorate and would come armed with a record of economic success and a commitment to liberty that no other contender can match.

Texas has been voted #1 business climate for the last seven years.
Texas has been getting all of California’s jobs.
Perry must be doing something right.
We need a good business guy right now.
Perry has proved it.

CONSERVATIVE ICONS SUPPORT PERRY:

>Sarah Palin threw her endorsement to Rick Perry for governor.
Recently restated that she likes Perry
“He walks the walk of a true conservative” “And he sticks by his guns — and you know how I feel about guns.”
Sarah Palin
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/02/palin-perry-201.html

>Rush said that Perry is his dream candidate.
http://gretawire.blogs.foxnews.com/rush-limbaugh-on-the-record-3/

>Michael Reagan praises Perry:
“If you don’t believe Reaganomics can still work in this day and age, for whatever reason, I say you should look no further than the state of Texas.
Under the leadership of Gov. Rick Perry, Texas has championed and built upon the concepts my father used to rebuild America in the 1980s..
In short, Reagan Revolution is alive and well - deep in the heart of Texas.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jun/24/reagans-vision-lives-on-in-texas/?page=1

>Ted nugent is a close friend and supporter.

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>Since Perry has been Governor of Texas, Texas has added more than 850,000 jobs, more than all other states combined. Texas has added over 180,000 jobs since August of 2009.

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>According to this web site Texas is #1 this year and last year for business friendly.
http://chiefexecutive.net/best-worst-states-for-business
Obama would not want not run against a governor that has the BEST business climate in the U.S. when everything else is in a depression.

>He refused to raise taxes when Texas faced a record $10 billion budget shortfall in 2003. Instead, he was the first Texas governor since World War II to sign a budget that lowered state spending (and has now done it twice). As governor, Perry has used his line item veto to cut over $3 billion in proposed spending.

>For seven years running, CEOs polled by Chief Executive magazine have rated Texas first in business development and job growth. Texas boasts 58 Fortune 500 companies — more than any other state.

>As America’s No. 1 exporting state, Texas shipped $206.6 billion in goods abroad last year, composing 16 percent of America’s $1.28 trillion in exports. California’s $14.4 billion in exports ranked it second, with 11.2 percent of U.S. outflow.

>Texas’ achievements so stunned Gavin Newsom, California’s Democratic lieutenant governor, that he flew a delegation to Austin last May to ask Perry how he lures defectors from the Golden State.

>Of the 70 companies that fled California in 2011, the Wall Street Journal’s John Fund reported last April, 14 relocated to Texas — these exiles’ primary destination.
http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2011/06/21/opinion/nh4142489.txt

>In 2005, Perry signed a historic $15.7 billion property tax cut for homeowners and businesses that also included new taxpayer protections against appraisal increases. In 2009, Gov. Perry secured a tax cut for approximately 40,000 small businesses in Texas and protected the Rainy Day Fund for future challenges.

>He led the battle to pass the country’s most sweeping lawsuit reforms, closing the door on junk lawsuits that had been making trial lawyers rich while driving countless doctors either out of the state or the profession all together. Since Texas voters approved these reforms, malpractice claims and premiums have fallen and access to healthcare is increasing across the state as doctors have applied in droves to practice in Texas.

>Perry is also known for his socially conservative views on homosexuality, and he opposes same sex marriage. He condemned the United States Supreme Court decision in Lawrence vs. Texas, which struck down a Texas sodomy law. He called the law “appropriate”

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ABORTION:

>Perry is pro-life and opposes government funding for elective abortions. In 2005, Perry, a social conservative, signed a bill that limited late-term abortions and required girls under the age of 18 who procure abortions to notify their parents. Perry signed the bill in the gymnasium of Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Worth, an evangelical Christian school.

>Perry signed into law a bill requiring a sonogram and doctor’s explanation before granting an abortion

>In 2005, Perry signed a new law that requires minor girls to receive parental consent before getting an abortion. This law strengthens a parental notification law Perry supported as Lt. Gov. in 1999, which
helped reduce teen abortions by 26 percent.
Perry has also signed a ban on third trimester abortions, a ban on tax dollars being used to support abortion facilities, a prenatal protection act that protects
unborn children from assault, and an informed consent law that helps expectant mothers better understand the risks and consequences of abortion. Perry supports a ban on human cloning and will veto any
legislation that provides state dollars for embryonic stem cell research, a process that ends a human life.
Perry urges to keep up pressure to roll back the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion until “Roe v. Wade is nothing but a shameful footnote in our nation’s history books.

>Perry, a frequent critic of the federal government, also bashed President Barack Obama for his administration’s policy allowing federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, saying he was deeply disturbed by studies that turn “the remains of unborn children into nothing more than raw material.”

>Perry has faulted Obama for reversing the so-called “Mexico City policy” that banned giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide information about abortions. Obama struck down the policy during his first week in office, saying it was too broad and undermined family planning in developing countries.
Under Obama “our federal tax dollars can now be used to fund abortion all over the world. With the stroke of a pen, abortion essentially became a U.S. foreign export,” Perry said.

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IMMIGRATION:

>Perry adds immigration issues to lawmaker session
Perry wants passage of a measure requiring every person arrested to be run through the federal immigration databases as part of the Secure Communities program. He also wants to provide the state Department of Public Safety with the authority to make sure someone is in the U.S. legally before issuing a driver’s license.

>These measures, along with a ban on sanctuary cities, would “provide a clear message that Texas will not turn a blind eye to those breaking our laws,” Perry said in a statement.
“Texas owes it to the brave law enforcement officials, who put their lives on the line every day to protect our families and communities, to give them the discretion they need to adequately do their jobs,” Perry said.
http://www.rickperry.org/media-articles/perry-adds-immigration-issues-lawmakers-agenda-0?amp

>Gov. Perry has made numerous requests of the federal govt. to enforce the border in Texas including handing President Obama a letter in person when he landed in Dallas last year.
(Obama insulted governor Perry when he turned away and Perry had to hand the letter on the illegals issue to presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett. Obama declined to personally accept it.)

>Gov. Perry refuses to meet/greet Obama in May 2011 at El Paso during his Texas tour.
Perry later declared, “If he wanted to meet, I was in Austin.

>Perry signed into law photo ID required before voting.

WHAT have other states done?? (with the exception of AZ Ok and Ga)

What have other candidates stated that they would do?

What has Sarah stated she would do?

What is Backmann’s plan?

What did Reagan do?
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/jan/06/rudy-giuliani/yep-reagan-did-the-a-word/
President Ronald Reagan was the first president in history to grant amnesty to illegal aliens. On November 6, 1986, he signed into law the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986, [PUB L 99-603]. In so doing, he set a precedent whereby the United States would not seek to deport illegal aliens, but to reward their lawbreaking by granting them full citizenship.

NEWSFLASH! None of them are going to do much.
We have to take the best of the lot.

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CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS BELIEFS:

In what was described as a “God and country” sermon at the Cornerstone church in San Antonio, attended by Perry and other mostly Republican candidates, the Rev. John Hagee stated, “If you live your life and don’t confess your sins to God Almighty through the authority of Christ and His blood, I’m going to say this very plainly, you’re going straight to hell with a nonstop ticket.”
Perry was asked if he agreed with those comments and said, “It is my faith, and I’m a believer of that.”[39] Perry went on to say that there was nothing in the sermon that he took exception with.
Humorist and entertainer Kinky Friedman, the Jewish independent candidate for governor in the 2006 election, said, “He doesn’t think very differently from the Taliban, does he?” Carole Keeton Strayhorn disagreed with Perry’s comments, and Democrat Chris Bell said that one who is in public office should “respect people of all faiths and denominations”.
Conservatives then responded, arguing that Perry had a right to his religious beliefs, and that he was not disrespecting Americans of other religious convictions. While visiting Israel in August 2009, Perry gave an interview to the Jerusalem Post in which he affirmed his support for Israel from his religious background, “I’m a big believer that this country was given to the people of Israel a long time ago, by God, and that’s ordained.”

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:

>Perry does not believe there is valid scientific proof of anthropogenic global warming. He has said several times that there is no scientific consensus on the issue.[69] In a September 7, 2007, speech to California Republicans, Perry said, “Virtually every day another scientist leaves the global warming bandwagon. ... But you won’t read about that in the press because they have already invested in one side of the story.”

>Pro-life, Pro-guns, pro-spending cuts, pro-business

>He’s an outside-the-Beltway candidate

>He is not a Ivy League grad

>He was an Air Force captain who flew a C-130

>Speaks Spainish.
(Odumbo says everybody should speak a foreign language, but he CAN’T)

>Fighting with Obama on many fronts
Google Perry/Obama and you will see he’s been fighting him and his government for the past two years.

>PERRY ISSUES OBAMA A COUPLE OF BIG FUBOs:

1. “Texas to Allow Regular Incandescent Bulbs”
Reports are the governor will sign Bill HB2510 by June 19th.
Bill HB2510 allows for the manufacture and sale of incandescent light bulbs otherwise banned in federal legislation of 2007, applicable from 1 January 2012 onwards.
The legality, at least in the way the proposed law is framed, has apparently been cleared with the US Attorney General’s office.
The Bill has already passed in both House and Senate with overwhelming support.
While Texas has no current manufacture, relevant parties are being invited to restart it.
Texas has been a leading US state in providing new local jobs, and this is seen as a further contributive measure.
http://freedomlightbulb.blogspot.com/2011/06/texas-to-allow-incandescent-light-bulbs.html

2.Perry Adds TSA Anti-Groping Bill to Call
http://www.texastribune.org/texas-politics/tea-party/updated-perry-adds-tsa-anti-groping-bill-to-call/ ^

Gov. Rick Perry this evening announced the addition of TSA anti-groping legislation to the agenda for the special legislative session. In a statement, he said lawmakers could consider legislation “relating to the prosecution and punishment for the offense of official oppression on those seeking access to public buildings and transportation.”

.
>There is no such thing as ‘Perrycare’

>Signed into law sonogram and explanation by physician before abortion

>Signed into law, photo ID ident to vote

>Perry did not apply for federal “Race to the Top” education funds because he said it would force national standards upon Texas.

>He has vetoed a record 248 bills, including dozens after the 2001 session, angering many lawmakers.

>He said last year that President Barack Obama was “hell-bent” on turning America into a socialist country.

>Won governorship of state with lots of latinos

>He used to be a Democrat. So? So did Reagan.

>The Bush’s don’t like him

>He has NEVER lost an election, including an elementary school contest for “king” of the Paint Creek School Carnival. He secured that win by handing out pennies for votes.

>Perry has degree in animal science from Texas A&M University

>He is an Eagle Scout and wrote a book about the Boy Scouts, ‘On My Honor’.
Rick Perry uses the Boy Scouts to draw a battle line in what he considers a “culture war,” defending them against the American Civil Liberties Union and what he sees as a moral struggle for the country’s future.
The book also traces a 30-year history of litigation involving the Scouts — most of which they won — which Perry considers an attack on traditional values and faith in God.

Perry targets the ACLU as the primary force behind a leftist push to accept homosexuality and challenge Scouting’s duty to God.
http://www.rickperry.org/media/perrys-new-book-supports-boy-scouts-attacks-aclu

>Perry has a reputation for not sweating

MISC:
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>He played quarterback on the six-man football team for the Paint Creek Pirates. He also played basketball and ran track.

>He’s a runner and triathlete.

>He is an outdoorsman who enjoys hunting and fishing.

>He plays the drums. At a January 2005 inaugural party in Washington, he played with ZZ Top in front of 2,000 people

>Perry has Romney’s looks without the other baggage.
Raised on a ranch.
Has hair.
6’ tall- presidential (especially after Obama)

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PERRY TRASHING:

Anytime governor Rick Perry is mentioned, Free Repubic seems to turn into something resembling Democratic Underground.
Posts regarding Perry are peppered with profanity, vulgarity and downright fabrications- the likes of which is seldom seen on Free Republic.

This is hardly in the best interests of our Conservative agenda. The Loony Left does not need any help from us in the character assassination of our Conservatives.

This Perry trashing comes from the Ron ‘truther’ Paul nuts, Debra Medina sour grapers, lurking Libs- and I suspect, over zealous Sarah Palin supporters and a few Bachmann supporters.
(I love Sarah and Michelle Bachmann as much as anyone else, but we MUST face reality when it comes to our beautiful Conservative ladies’ chances of winning this thing!)

Don’t you think it more sensible to trust what the Conservative icons have to say about Perry?

>Sarah Palin threw her endorsement to Rick Perry for governor-. She recently restated that she likes Perry.

>Rush said that Perry is his dream candidate. http://gretawire.blogs.foxnews.com/rush-limbaugh-on-the-record-3/

>Ted Nugent is a close friend and supporter.

Don’t you think it more sensible to trust what numerous politicians and scholars have said about Rick Perry than various haters?

VISIT THIS SITE

Read the official statements of dozens of Perry’s fellow politicians and scholars (both Democrats and Republicans) have had to say about Rick Perry: http://www.politico.com/arena/archive/rick-perry-for-president-in-2012.html

All (including Democrat opponents) have called him a staunch Conservative, and not one of the dozens issuing opinions has mentioned the vaccine or TTC.
Apparently they don’t consider these things an issue. They DID mention Perry threatening to secede from the union as a strike against him.

What Perry actually said; “You know, my hope is that America and Washington in particular pays attention,” Perry continued. “We’ve got a great union. There is absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what may come out of that? So. But Texas is a very unique place and we’re a pretty independent lot to boot.”

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The Gadasil vaccine Perry tried to “force” on Texas girls?
Dead issue.
He never tried to force it.
There was an opt out. It was up to parents to choose
Always.

Perry statement of Gardasil:
8/15/11

“I signed an executive order that allowed for an opt-out, but the fact of the matter is that I didn’t do my research well enough to understand that we needed to have a substantial conversation with our citizenry,” Perry said at the Manchester, N.H., event in response to an audience question about the HPV controversy, according to ABC News’ The Note. “But here’s what I learned: When you get too far out in front of the parade, they will let you know, and that’s exactly what our Legislature did, and I saluted it and I said, ‘Roger that, I hear you loud and clear.’ And they didn’t want to do it and we don’t, so enough said.”

Trans Texas Hiway?
Dead issue.
If that’s the worst he’s done, I can live with it.
I just want someone who can kick the Marxist/Muslim usurper’s sorry a$$ out of our White House!!

Bilderberg member?
Dead issue.
Governor Perry attended one meeting in 2007.
Many prominent Americans have attended these meeting.
That does NOT mean they are members or agree with their ‘agenda’- whatever that is.
Some who attended in the past: Reagan, Thatcher,Ford, Eisenhower, Gates

Why NOT attend if invited? I would want to know what in the heck they are all about and what they are up to.

>Americans WILL get it:
>Better looking
>Better record
>Rick Perry for President

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