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.

[mikhailovich]

The term “La Raza” has its origins in early 20th century Latin American literature and translates into English most closely as “the people” or, according to some scholars, as “the Hispanic people of the New World.” The term was coined by Mexican scholar José Vasconcelos to reflect the fact that the people of Latin America are a mixture of many of the world’s races, cultures, and religions. Mistranslating “La Raza” to mean “the race” implies that it is a term meant to exclude others.

Don't shoot the messenger. That's from their website. If someone is going to claim one thing about a group, its only right to listen to their reply. That is their response. Take it for what its worth. Not everything on the internet is gospel. That's my only point. Have a good one.

[dragnet2]

You go ahead and twist into knots explaining La Raza includes those from Israel, the Congo, the Irish and Mexicans.

Maybe you'll find someone drooling in a cup to buy your claptrap.

[mikhailovich]

One last comment on this and I'm done. I already said I wasn't defending La Raza. Your buddy put up some guilt by association photos and innuendo and claimed ABC equals XYZ because he said so, end of story. No room for an explanation or rebuttal. I highly doubt someone with the clout of Rick Perry (or for that matter, George H. Bush Sr., who was the first prominent leader to speak at a La Raza National Conference) would do so at the peril of "catering to a terrorist organization" as was alleged by your cohort. There has to be some people who view them as relevant, otherwise a former president and acting governor would NOT have spoken at their convention.

If you insist on being a hard-headed zealot with no ability to listen to two sides, then it is you that is drooling into a cup.