Rick Perry Slams Food Stamps, Government Subsidies

The State Column ^ | August 21, 2011 | Staff

[AAABEST]

Texas Governor Rick Perry, the latest GOP candidate to enter the 2012 presidential race, looks to challenge former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s status as the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination. Perry entered the race on August 13th after announcing his candidacy at an event in South Carolina. Perry’s announcement, which stole the spotlight from the Ames Straw Poll, put to rest several months of speculation about the Texas Governor’s decision to run for the GOP nomination.

During his presidential announcement, Perry said “we cannot afford four more years of this rudderless leadership.” Perry also added that “page one of any economic plan to get America working is to give a pink slip to the current resident in the White House.”

Ever since his presidential announcement in South Carolina, Perry’s criticism of the Obama administration has been relentless. More recently, Perry criticized the Obama administration’s comments on food stamps or the Federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

This week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said “when you talk about the SNAP program or the food stamp program, you have to recognize that it’s also an economic stimulus.” Vilsack also added that “it’s the most direct stimulus you can get in the economy during these tough times,” because of the work that goes into an item of food before it ends up in the grocery store.

While campaigning in South Carolina on Friday, Perry slammed the Obama administration’s view of food stamps and other government subsidies. “Most Americans do not yearn to be dependent on government subsidies, they want economic freedom, and economic freedom comes from work and wages, not welfare,” Perry argued.

One of the focal points of Perry’s presidential campaign is the longest serving Texas Governor’s record on job creation. Forty percent of the nation’s new jobs have been created in the Lone Star State since June 2009. “Our message is clear, we’ve got to get America working again,” Perry said during a campaign stop in South Carolina on Saturday.

Perry believes strongly that government subsidies, such as food stamps, shouldn’t be on the government’s list of responsibilities. “The central issue of this election is an Administration that believes Washington must be our caretaker, and a people who want Washington to only take care of their constitutional responsibilities,” Perry professed.

Besides reiterating his belief that food stamps aren’t “economic stimulus,” Perry talked about the need to focus on the private sector when it comes to job creation. “We have tried two and a half years of government trying to create jobs, it’s time to let the private sector get to work,” Perry argued.

[Salamander]

Well said.

[Salamander]

*And* a huge desire to keep my head attached to my neck....;D

[triumphant values]

People who have SS and Medicaire paid into the system and they -worked- to earn it.

Not necessarily, plus SS and Medicare tax is just another additional income tax. There's no set aside fund, just an accounting fiction. But let's take your premise as correct, what about those who have drawn more than they paid in?

What about the other government checks I mentioned?

I guess what I'm pointing out is you can't have a well-policed welfare state, without ending up with a police-state with welfare.

[greyfoxx39]

*

[Finny]

“Besides reiterating his belief that food stamps aren’t 'economic stimulus,' Perry...." His “belief”, really? Who writes this crap?! By what standard, economic or otherwise, can taking money out of the economy and placing it back in be considered “stimulative”.

THANK YOU! I had the same thought when I read that sentence -- "belief," yeesh!!! As if whether or not food stamps are "economic stimulus" is a mere matter of opinion! It's like when idiots say, "Well, you have a right to your opinion that lowering taxes increases tax revenues." NO, not an opinion, A DEMONSTRATED FACT. When liberals don't like provable, demonstrable truth, they claim that it's just a matter of belief or opinion.

I like your analogy of bailing water from one end of a swimming pool and dumping it into the other end. EXACTLY. But ... heya, that's just our belief! *rolls eyes*

[bigheadfred]

Thanks.

Here’s one for you. My DIL deidced to become a full time junkie and is splitsville. My son has custody of the kids. She (the DIL) marched out and got food stamps for her and the 2 babies, around $600 a month. My wife called and complained, especially since the DIL trades the majority for dope. They powers that be told my wife if that girl had those kids for one 24 period in a calendar year she could get full food stamps for all 3 all year.

[triumphant values]

What are you afraid of?

People like you who really don't want limited government. They just want it grown in a different direction.

You know. ANYTHING and EVERYTHING funded by taxpayer money.

Yeah, use the park, mandatory drug test. Use the roads, mandatory drug testing. Social Security, mandatory drug testing.

Excellent way to abolish the fourth amendment. I'm sure you're not the first to come up with this line of reasoning and I'm sure we'll get to see it implemented in the not too distant future.

[bigheadfred]

deidced

I don't know what this word is or how it got there. I'll let you decide.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

He's much more likely sincere about pro-life. To some of us that makes a very big difference.

In that case, your choice is clear when Palin announces her candidacy on September 3rd.

[muawiyah]

I can go to Texas and buy stuff tax free this weekend. So can a Mexican or any American, or a guy from the Congo Republic.

What I consider it is irrelevant to this discussion.

Seems to me you are hung up on the extra-constitutional argument that since Mexicans in Texas pay Texas taxes, that Mexicans should get instate tuition.

It's a cr*p argument.

[WOSG]

“Perry’s going to be slapped down with that statement. Texas has a huge welfare program.”

Fine. He can take the heat. He’s right. Food stamps are NOT economic stimulus, they are dependency, and we need to reduce it as much as possible.

“I used to share an office with the welfare office and their secretary quit after figuring out that welfare clients took home more than she did in her state of Texas paycheck. Also, how many illegals is Texas funding with welfare?”

none legally. Perry will get hit from both sides. Texas, like all states, provides food stamps, medicaid, etc. But they are less generous than other states.
Safety net is there for those in need.

[WOSG]

Perry’s been Texas governor for 10 years, and he has a 10+ year record of actions that back up his fiscal and social conservative talk.

There are items to nitpick in his record, but he has balanced the Texas budget 10 years running and in 2 of those cycles, there were huge budget gaps to fill, and he did it without raising taxes or depleting our rainy day fund. He is a real fiscal conservative and a pro-life pro-gun pro-traditional-marriage social conservative.

He will drive the leftists nuts.

[bigheadfred]

People like you who really don't want limited government.

Making a pretty large assumption thinking you know what I want our government to be.

For all you really know, I want government's collective head on a pike and it's bloated corpse rotting in the sun.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

He will drive the leftists nuts.

So that's why they are rooting for him to be the nominee?

It's Palin they fear.

You can smell it.

[WOSG]

That headline is a lie. Perry *did not* “slam food stamps”. Instead he “slammed” the Obama apparatchik who said that “food stamps stimulate the economy.” This is NOT a subtle difference, so it is pretty obvious that whoever wrote the headline did so to attack Perry. That being said, supporting food stamps right now is essential to Republican victory, as people who rely on food stamps, more and more that are middle class unemployed, MUST have food stamps if they want to eat.

ASTUTE OBSERVATION!

This is a good example of the Ass.Press. doing the Alinskyite thing of trying to 'isolate' a Republican candidate. Take their words and twist it. Next up, they get a RINO on MeetTheDepressed and ask if they support FoodStamps or want it destroyed like Perry does. Then they get the blathering RINO to do the 'distance' dance and - voila - a GOP circular firing squad. Rinse and repeat.

Perry is smart enough to know that these things HELP HIM, so he will be making some out there comments that draw media attention. So far so good for him. He's correct on the substance and is already drawing blood from the Obama administration. The only prior candidate who did that was (gulp) Trump. It's good to see a candidate who can land a punch on the Obama administration.

[Ditter]

I don't see Perry getting out but Palin could very well get in. I could vote for either of them, very happily. The other possibilities, not so much. What I WILL do even if Ronald McDonald is the nominee, I WILL vote to kick obozo out of office! NO 3rd PARTY!

[Finny]

Aren't things like milk and eggs excluded from sales tax? I'm pretty sure they are in California.

In any case, Perry and every other conservative ought to JUMP holler and YELL that YESTERDAY should have been the day it was required: Food Stamps or those debit cards can be used ONLY for the purchase of essentials, and it would be easy enough to do that. You can't buy beer with them -- they must add soft drinks to that list -- the only beverages one should be able to purchase with food stamps should be milk (or milk substitute), water, or juice.

Screw drug testing. The only thing drug testing would do would be to force a black market in ways to outsmart drug tests, and druggie moms who suddenly lost their food stamp/welfare privileges would create MORE problems, not fewer. No, drug testing is a thing to salve the vanities of those who call for them, but it serves no real purpose. It sure as HELL isn't going to be "the thing" that gets these people off drugs. Been there, done that -- I know of what I speak. People start and stop drugs for other reasons.

SURELY, especially with today's amazing technology, it must be relateively straightforward and simple to have a list of food types eligible for food stamps -- canned tuna, eggs, canned soup, bread, peanut butter, jelly, margerine, cooking oil, dairy basics (milk, butter, cheese, etc.), flour, breakfast cereal, sugar, fish, GROUND BEEF (that should be the ONLY kind of beef one can buy with food stamps), chicken, fresh or frozen vegetables. OF COURSE that could be done, and I'd personally be okay if they allowed frozen TV dinners and frozen pizzas, because I know many people really don't know how to cook. If grocery stores can keep such tight track of what I buy that they'll custom-target marketing to me based on it, then SURE AS HELL any food stamp program can very strictly define the items that may be purchased with food stamps.

It ROYALLY PISSES ME OFF that my husband and I work hard and pay so much in taxes that when I go the store, I have to buy hamburger instead of my favoriate leg of lamb -- and I get in line behind some STUPID leech buying filet mignon and sodas with MY money that I COULD have used to buy lamb in instead of hamburger.

It is IMMORAL.

[mikhailovich]

Perry was not slamming food stamps. He was reacting to comments last week from the Obama camp that food stamps help to stimulate growth - because recipients are able to purchase food - which helps farmers, the ag industry, etc.

Perry was slamming the "notion" that food stamps help create and preserve jobs. And I agree with him.

[Bigun]

You are EXACTLY right and I also agree with him!

[LomanBill]

Perry's fithcal conthervatism(tm) isn't going to undo this:

[La Raza]Violence in Denver

The success of the alternative school and Gonzales' political achievements were overshadowed in 1973, when a man was arrested for jaywalking in front of the Crusade's headquarters.^[20] A protest against the persecution was organized, leading to confrontations between demonstrators and police. Soon, a gun battle erupted, and a bomb exploded in the upper floors of the Downing Terrace apartments, which were in the possession of the Crusade.^[21] One man was killed and seventeen were injured, among them 12 police officers. Gonzales accused the Denver police department of grenading the facilities, but a detective described the scene of the explosion as a "veritable arsenal".^[22] Historians and scholars have yet to evaluate the impact of the bombing, but later prosecutions of Crusade participants served to diminish the influence of Gonzales and his organizations.

After this incident, Gonzales retreated into the private life of his family and Denver's Chicano community. He was still active in the movement, although he maintained a much lower profile.^[23]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodolfo_Gonzales

^"Ooops"

There's no evidence at all that La Raza's organizationally violent and racist spots have changed since then -- and if that's the crowd Perry is pandering to, then:

NO SALE.

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&source=hp&q=Perry+La+Raza

“And the Truth will make you free”

 

Thanks for coming in Rick.  Have a nice day.

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