When Rick Perry Praised HillaryCare (1993)

The Atlantic ^ | Conor Friedersdorf

[Tempest]

So what does a complete review of Perry's record reveal? As it turns out, he sent a letter during his tenure as Texas Agricultural Commissioner that praised Hillary Clinton's 1993 health care reform efforts. "I think your efforts in trying to reform the nation's health care system are most commendable," he wrote. "I would like to request that the task force give particular consideration to the needs of the nation's farmers... Rural populations have a high proportion of uninsured people, rising health care costs, and often experience lack of services." He concluded by noting, "your efforts are worthy, and I hope you will remember this constituency as the task force progresses. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any assistance."

Dan Amira at New York magazine dismisses the story and mocks the Daily Caller for publishing it. "He didn't even say anything about the substance of Clinton's health-care reform plan," Amira writes, "just that it was 'commendable' to try to reform the system in some way, which is hardly controversial."

I disagree.

Clinton's efforts were widely criticized by Republicans at the time, and the substance of her reforms obviously constituted a substantial federal intervention into health care, the very thing Perry now claims is obviously unconstitutional and ruinous to liberty. (And yes, Clinton's plan did call for both an employer mandate to provide health care and an individual mandate to be covered.)

[Tempest]

Don't be an idiot. Everybody knew what the principals of the Obama health care package would consist of long before the official package was every unveiled. Only a political hack would claim otherwise.

[Freedom56v2]

Is Perry the Ultimate Conservative to match every ideal that the most narrowly minded purists seem to demand?

Probably not...no, absolutely not.

But check out his book, and take some of the most outrageous criticism with a grain or three of salt.

---

I don’t know that it is fair to label folks who want the most conservative candidate as narrow-minded purists.

I understand we need to get our candidate elected and that must be balanced with desire for most conservative candidate. However, in hindsight, many of the most heinous govt. departments were formed under Republican presidencies :(

So, yes I am concerned about electing a McCain...Oh, and I voted for him. Does that make me a narrow-minded purist? Eh, maybe. But I am a realist and understand that the real world may necessitate compromise. However, before primaries is the time for candidates to be vetted.

Thank you for suggestion that I read his book, I was not aware that he had written one. May the best candidate (whoever that is) win.

[CharlesWayneCT]

So he was on Al Gore's campaign team, supported Hillarycare and supported the bailout program?

No, he supported congressional action to stimulate the economy. This was before the democrats voted on their own plan to pay off their donors instead of stimulating the economy.

And as has been explained ad nauseum, he never supported HillaryCare, he told Hillary that her task force needed to take into account the constituents of Texas -- which she didn't, and he opposed the plan they proposed.

You are right though that he supported Gore in 1988 -- one out of three isn't that good except in baseball, but it's better than batting zero.

[CharlesWayneCT]

I thought this was a thread about HillaryCare. Having trouble staying on-topic? How about a link to the article that led you to believe what you said in this comment, so we can debunk that one for you as well?

[Tempest]

I’m still waiting for you to debunk anything...

[Freedom56v2]

So, at this juncture, I look forward to running across more information about Gov. Perry so that I can, with some level of confidence, place in either his Pro, or his Con, column. Hopefully, by the end of the primary period, everything about him will have hit FR, and have been hashed out enough to know all we can about him.

The same is true for Gov. Palin (and any other candidate that seems viable).

---

Well put!

[LomanBill]

How'd they fit all those folks in there?  Sure looks smaller from the outside.

[Finalapproach29er]

A few of ours are embarassing but don’t get elected President.

LBJ and both Bushes have done astounding damage and what have good do we have to show for all the spending?

I think what annoys me the the most is the brashness and swagger.
They’re all hat a no cattle.

[gogogodzilla]

When Rick Perry Praised HillaryCare

He concluded by noting, "your efforts are worthy, and I hope you will remember this constituency as the task force progresses.

Hmm, looks like he wasn't praising Hillarycare at all. He was asking her to take rural farmers into account when drafting up the health care legislation that would... in time, become Hillarycare.

In other words, at the time he sent the letter, there was just a task-force to look at the problem... and nothing yet created.

[gogogodzilla]

Look at the timeframes here. That letter was sent to the health-care *task force*... which meant that Hillarycare didn’t yet exist. He was trying to influence what would later come out.

He doesn’t have a record of endorsing the cr@p that eventually came out of the task force.

[gogogodzilla]

For every one of these articles that you post, you drive another voter AWAY from Palin. I think you are having the opposite effect that you want. The more Palin supporters act like cultists, and the more they attack other candidates rather than pointing out her strengths, the less support she is going to get. Is that what you want?

Honestly speaking, that's the real reason I've started to support Perry. I started to see all these threads about him... and how the conclusions made did not match the information provided in the articles.

So, I started to think that if these is this much hysterical lying going on about a candidate, I better look into him. And I found a candidate that has a pretty good record on the most important areas (economic growth, jobs, deregulation)... and a decent record on the rest.

Had there been no blatant lying about the guy, I'd still probably be supporting Cain right now.

[Freedom56v2]

For me, I am just trying to get facts on candidates. I am amazed at the latitude that is given for this letter on this thread. Perhaps he has changed his position, and it was a long time ago, but I am sorry, I don’t like the letter; I never liked HIllarycare...not when it was being discussed in illegal closed session task force meetings or when it was being discussed openly in Congress. I didn’t like it and did not think ti was worthy or commendable. Period...

...He said her efforts were commendable and her efforts are worthy...I need to find more info about that and info that he did not support National Healthcare ....I am working on it, but I have been rather busy defending my comments here from some Perry supporters....

Sorry, but no way would I have ever sent a letter saying something along those lines of what he said...

I would have said I have the following concerns, and then launched into how Canadian system doesn’t work, how there are free-market solutions, etc.

I am not saying this is the deal-breaker for Perry, but I want to learn more about his past to determine if I think he would govern conservatively and effectively.

[gogogodzilla]

Not seeing how the letter is about the bailout in the first place. It looks like he’s just saying that there is an economic crisis right now... and that the guys in Washington need to *DO* something about it.

I think it’s troubling that as a knee-jerk response to the crisis, he turned to the Federal government. But then, d@mn near about everyone else was as well.

(have to remind everyone that the TEA party movement did not yet exist)

[Chief901]

why is that, because Perry’s replacement will be more conservative than he is?

No, that is because when a person with a political past changes their position from 17/18 years ago, I have a tendency to see if it is real. Perry will repeal Obamacare while some of the others have not shown they will go that far.

I am very Conservative, but I am not a single issue voter, that is what got us Obama in the first place.

And the Zerobamabots are very pleased anytime they can get others to divide the conservatives.

[newzjunkey]

Chairmen of the Governor’s Association ask the Speaker to set partisan ship aside and work on an economic recovery package. Scandal!

[newzjunkey]

Chairmen of the Governor’s Association ask the Speaker to set partisan ship aside and work on an economic recovery package. Scandal!

[newzjunkey]

At least you posted the actual letter so people can see it's nothing but a state agriculture commissioner advocating for his constituents 2 months into the Clinton presidency when Hillary was pulling together her health care task force and developing a plan.

This is yet another case of "gotcha" sound-and-fury signifying nothing.

[JimWayne]

I think it’s troubling that as a knee-jerk response to the crisis, he turned to the Federal government. But then, d@mn near about everyone else was as well. (have to remind everyone that the TEA party movement did not yet exist)

This is a bogus argument. The bailout is the reason for the TEA Party movement. Look it up. The sales of Atlas Shrugged surged before Obama took power. The NYT article in the surge of the sales of Atlas Shrugged was in Jan 2009.

So if Perry was not part of the crowd that was furious at government intervention, but his instincts make him believe that the government is the solution to economic problems, he should move to Berkeley and join the Revolutionary Communist Party. Perry is no Ronald Reagan. Reagan pointed out that government was the problem, Perry believes that the government is the solution.

If this former Al Gore partner is not a closet Communist, he is an incompetent fool who believes in government interventions like Paul Krugman.

[JimWayne]

No, he supported congressional action to stimulate the economy.

Okay, so he believes that the government is the solution and not the problem. I also see that Nancy Pelosi's press release lists Rick Perry's support for stealing our money and giving it to Wall Street cronies.

No wonder we are in a hole. You have a penchant for defending RINOs who have created a large government. Are you sure that you are not a leech feeding off the system and benefiting by the government doles and various grants and contracts?

What is clear is that you are not a principled ideologue. You keep defending RINOs on FR, especially when they are criticized for their large government programs.

First, it was support for RINOs who want ethanol subsidies, public works programs like Railways (Amtrak), Community Block development programs and so on. Now you try to give a positive spin to someone who supported TARP and called Hillarycare as commendable.

You are on the wrong board. You need to go to DUMMIEland. This board is for people who do not believe that we are leeches who can happily feed off the system.

[CharlesWayneCT]

90% of your post is a personal attack. Personal attacks are a poor substitute for a reasoned argument.

I oppose ethanol subsidies.

Rick Perry opposes ethanol subsidies "The federal government doesn’t need to pick winners and losers. Rather, the federal government needs to get rid of all of these onerous regulations that are costing you substantial amounts of money. They need to level the playing field for everyone."

Sarah Palin, whom I have supported, also opposes ethanol subsidies. Bachmann "sort of" opposes them, and I've given her some support.

You are correct that in 2008, I backed Fred Thompson, who happened to support Ethanol Subsidies. However, nobody here considered him a RINO -- he was the FR candidate.

So I'm not sure which candidate you believe I supported because they backed ethanol subsidies.

I also oppose Amtrack, and I'm pretty sure I've never said a kind word about community block grants. So it appears you have confused your freepers.

Government is the solution to our economic problems. Or, to put it more precisely, government ACTION is the key to our economic problems. Government stands in the way of our economic potential. The laws that exist, the regulations that exist, the actions of our executive all conspire to destroy our economy. This was just as true in 2009 when Obama took over and the democrats had already been at destroying our economy for two years.

So yes, government action WAS needed. We needed government to lower taxes, to ease up on regulations, to get out of the business of picking winners and losers, and even to provide temporary tax holidays and other relief to help small businesses meet payroll, invest in the future, and get people working again.

There were plent of good conservative ideas circulating in 2009. That Pelosi ignored them is not Perry's fault, or the fault of the Republican Governor's Association (which likely had a vote on the subject, which is why Perry wrote as the head of that organization carrying out THEIR wishes, rather than as the Governor of Texas).

Then-Governor Palin even had kind words for parts of the stimulus AFTER IT PASSED (not vague hope for a solution beforehand, like Perry), even while she castigated the social welfare aspects:

Sarah Palin: "On the whole these things that are good for the state we will appreciate those dollars coming as an addition to our economy, certainly the construction projects we are still looking forward to those because those are what actually create the jobs."

Sarah Palin: ""I beg to differ with the premise of this economic stimulus package that it, as a whole, stimulates the economy when you look at the programs that are entailed in this economic stimulus package, the programs that could end up costing a state so much more at the end of the day, those don’t necessarily stimulate the economy."

So as you can see, Palin at that point thought that parts of the stimulus WOULD create jobs, while others were a waste of time. Conservatives did not reject the entire idea out-of-hand.

You are free to believe that nothing the government ever does could possibly help an economy. But don't pretend that your view is the only conservative view. Calling everybody who disagrees with your particular position a RINO is not an argument, it's an admission that you can't defend your position on the merits.