Posted on 08/17/2011 8:18:46 PM PDT by smoothsailing
August 17, 2011
R.Emmett Tyrrell Jr.
Washington — There is squabbling in the White House. President Barack Obama's approval rating has dipped to unprecedented lows in the polls, and he has not a clue as to what to do about it. Within the president's team there are the pragmatists led by David Plouffe (pronounced plu' fey) and William M. Daley who favor small gestures. I mean really small gestures. They would opt for free trade agreements, possibly with Gabon, perhaps the Maldives. They also support improved patent protections for investors, assuming they can find investors, and something about Michele Obama's garden. At least I thought it was about her garden. At any rate, it was small. Maybe they were advocating growing cherry tomatoes.
On the other hand, there is the president's Chief Economic Advisor, Gene Sperling, a small-stature man who advocates big initiatives. Citing public anger with Republicans over the debt-ceiling debates, he is for big, bold, new initiatives, says The New York Times. He is not all that convincing about the public's anger with Republicans, but he is pushing for large initiatives, like tax incentives for businesses that hire the unemployed. I am not clear why they would hire the unemployed if they have little work for them. Do they do it for tax incentives? Sometimes, I get the idea Obama, a former community activist, got the chief economic advisors he deserved.
The best example of the big ideas that these clowns are thinking about is that the administration will create a new department in the federal government called something like the Department of Jobs or the Department of Competitiveness. I kid thee not. It would include the Department of Commerce, the Office of the United States Trade Representative along with certain economic divisions of the State Department. Why not throw in the Department of Education and perhaps the Marine Band?
Obviously, this administration is making heavy weather of it, and things will be getting worse. I do not like to belabor a point that I have been making for a year now, but Obama is the least experienced man ever to be president. He is also about the most ideological man ever to approach the presidency. The combination of inexperience and pigheaded ideology does not make for a very good president.
In the meantime, Gov. Rick Perry declared his candidacy for the White House. Declaring it is "time to get America working again" he cited the figures of unemployment and low growth — growth is lower than 2 percent. At this time in the recovery cycle of President Ronald Reagan, it was 7.1 percent. Perry is the longest serving Texas governor, and it is a plus that he governs Texas. According to the Dallas Federal Reserve, Texas has created 37 percent of all the new jobs made since the recession ended. A little over a year ago, Texas was compared to California, favorably. Texas is the big state that works. California is the big state that is dysfunctional.
With unemployment being the main issue in next year's election Perry has a very good message. He can link his state's record of low taxes, controlled spending and tort reform to challenge whatever ideas come out of the White House, whether its squabbles over big or small initiatives, or Michele's garden. Whatever ideas the White House trumpets will still be burdened with high unemployment and low growth — possibly no growth — in 2012. Moreover, Perry appeals to both the fiscal conservatives and the social conservatives. His background in the air force will not hurt him on the national defense issue — a very big concern now in light of our president's foreign policy disasters.
Meanwhile, another strong subject for Perry is energy. He comes from the state that has energy on its mind. He has spoken about natural gas and seems to understand, as no one running for the presidency does, that we have discovered enough natural gas in the country to change the rules of the game. If our natural gas can be used effectively, it can make us independent of foreign oil. Allowing us to set the price of oil, not the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC. It is both a domestic energy issue and a national security issue. What the governor has to say about these problems will be of great importance in the months ahead, not the least of which is how to develop natural gas. Only Perry is equipped to talk about natural gas as a source of energy and a national security matter. While the White House squabbles, I shall be listening to Perry on the issues.
He shore talks a mighty fine game!
Much of his talk reminds me of a certain man who was the last GREAT President of this Republic from 1980-1988.
We can only hope that his deeds match his words because he speaks mighty FINE words!
He has ever reason to talk a mighty fine game...Texas is cookin’... Perry ain’t perfect...and has made mistakes...but he’s done what needed to be done to continue Texas growth...economy and jobs...people are flocking to Texas...that’s the downside....the influx of people from across the USA...
1000 new people moving to Texas EVERY DAY!
>>>He shore talks a mighty fine game!<<<
Rick Perry can leave a message BEFORE the beep!
http://twitter.com/#!/rickperryfacts
>> Merck and Gardisal
Smooth, you know that’s one of my gripes with Perry. But you pointed to some clarification on that controversy that now escapes me. How was that issue reconciled? It would be good to get past it.
So far, his deeds have not. I suppose I can still hope for a conservative.
Let’s, see, stop printing money, but he uses it to balance his budget. The man is a fraud.
How many of those are illegals.
Governor Perry issued an Executive Order (EO) (RP#65, February, 2007) which mandated that all Texas girls be vaccinated prior to their admission to the sixth grade. Parents were allowed to opt out of the mandate by filling out an affidavit.
Perry was rebuked by both houses of the Texas legislature which overturned his EO by a veto-proof margin. Seeing the writing on the wall, Perry did not sign the law. He subsequently rescinded RP#65 with another EO (RP#74) and the issue is now dead in Texas. At least 18 other states (notably New York and Michigan) were considering similar actions with Gardasil, but none were actually implemented. Here is a link to additional data on other state’s decisions, from a 2007 article in Time Magazine Health.
Perry’s negatives related to the Gardasil issue were:
There are still some who are convinced that Merck contributed more than a paltry $6,000 to Perry. They are simply wrong. Merck gave two checks, one for $1,000 and another for $5,000 to Perry in the 2006 election timeframe (in 2008, they contributed a whopping $2,500). Here is a source to view all of Perry’s contributions: ProPublica. In fact, Merck has only contributed $23,500 to Perry over a 1998-2010 span, not exactly George Soros money. For comparison, from 2000-2006 Merck gave $2,460,000 to state politicians across 40 states.
The other side of the story:
Gardasil was believed to be a way to stop certain types of cancer among young women. Studies appearing in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2007 found that Gardasil was nearly 100 percent effective in preventing precancerous cervical lesions caused by the the strains that Gardasil protects against. Gardasil’s effectiveness increased when given to girls and young women before they become sexually active. Gardasil was found to be extremely effective in preventing several (but not all) of the strains of HPV known to cause cervical cancer and genital warts.
Some critics maintain that Gardasil has a record of “very serious safety issues.” That obvious attempt to further tarnish Perry’s image by intimating that not only did he do the bidding of Merck in ordering the vaccinations, he did so without considering the possible serious side effects. There is little doubt that Governor Perry knew a great deal more about Gardasil at the time than those critics do now. The CDC has been following Gardasil since its licensing and some current facts follow. Taken from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website:
“Since licensure, CDC and FDA have been closely monitoring the safety of HPV vaccines. “As of June 22, 2011, approximately 35 million doses of Gardasil® have been distributed in the U.S. and the safety monitoring system (VAERS) received a total of 18,727 reports of adverse events following Gardasil® vaccination. As with all VAERS reports, serious events may or may not have been caused by the vaccine.”
“Of the total number of VAERS reports following Gardasil®, 92% were considered to be non-serious, and 8% were considered serious. Out of 35,000,000 doses distributed, there were 1,498 occasions of serious complications; that equates to a .0000428 chance that a dose will cause a serious adverse reaction.” Hardly enough to consider the vaccine “a very serious safety issue” as claimed by some critics. Apparently, they are too lazy to “do a little research.”
As of June, 2011, the CDC says: “Based on all of the information we have today, CDC recommends HPV vaccination for the prevention of most types of cervical cancer. As with all approved vaccines, CDC and FDA will continue to closely monitor the safety of HPV vaccines.” Check out the CDC’s statements about Gardasil for yourself. And specifically check out the Summary at the end for the CDC’s conclusion about Gardasil’s effectiveness.
In Gardasil, Merck believed that they had a credible, FDA-approved, CDC recommended, fact-backed case for vaccinating young women and lobbied state officials to do so. Were they trying to make money on the drug? Without a doubt, that’s what a business does.
Perry maintains that the justification for his executive order making the shot mandatory was twofold: 1) that the vaccine offered a chance to save lives that might have otherwise been taken away by cervical cancer and, 2) that insurance companies wouldn’t cover the $360 cost of the vaccine ($120 for each of a 3-shot regimen) when it was simply an optional “recommended” vaccine. That put it out of the reach for most low-income Texans. This from the Time Magazine article (linked above), “Some pediatricians and gynecologists are refusing to stock Gardasil because many insurance companies reimburse so little for the vaccine, which costs $360 for the three required doses.”
When Perry mandated Gardasil, it would have become part of a school-related vaccine package which was then covered by insurance for simply the cost of a co-pay.
An update: from Perry’s Speech in New Hampshire at the Home of New Hampshire Deputy Speaker Pam Tucker (8/13/2011):
When a voter in New Hampshire confronted Perry on the Gardasil issue, here’s what he said, “I signed an executive order that allowed for an opt-out, but the fact of the matter is I didn’t do my research well enough to understand that we needed to have a substantial conversation with our citizenry,” he said. “I hate cancer. Let me tell you, as a son who has a mother and father who are both cancer survivors.”
Perry said he’d invested governmet resources in cancer cures, adding, “I hate cancer. And this HPV, we were seeing young ladies die at the early age. What we should have done was a program that frankly should have allowed them to opt in, or some type of program like that, 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.”
A cynic may not buy his explanation, but Obama would never admit to a mistake at all.
Agree or disagree, at least he listened to the people and backed off.
Seventeen (17) things that critics are saying about Rick Perry
I assume they are non-union since we don't have unions.
And how about the so-called economic development fund in TX that went to Perry’s cronies? He is as slick as they come.
#1 Is someone not entitled to change their mind without being labeled a liar (with full scriptural support)? Maybe the relationship between Perry and Obama became so contentious that he changed his mind. Perry asked for support on immigration issues and was snubbed. Perry asked for FEMA assistance during the out of control wild fires earlier in the year and was snubbed. Perry and Obama do not like one another. And so far, I like the way Perry is poking at Obama. Maybe we should remember who we are trying to defeat.
#2 If you will remember the mandatory Gardisil vaccine was under consideration in at least 20 other states. I think that Virginia and D.C. adopted a weak version that may have been rescinded by now. My point being, I spent many hours on the phone and e-mailing in protest. Governor Perry and his office were always polite and willing to listen. The EO was revoked.If you think ALL politicians are not assailed by lobbyists and take campaign contributions from them, you are naive.
I can't courtesy ping the Freeper I had a debate with a couple of years ago because I can't remember his name...but he thought Perry should go to the hot place for some bicycle legislation that he vetoed. Go figure.
Gardisil didn't happen. The same restrictions would be in place in a presidency.
I assume you will be spamming every Perry thread with this nonsense.
Well, I have a question..let’s suppose for the moment that his crony friends have viable companies that can enhance the Texas economy and create jobs. Would that be a bad thing?
Although I don’t live in Dallas, I base my opinion on their conduct. They spend lots of money to bring business to the city. And my tiny town does as well. A couple of years ago, when Jerry Jones was looking to relocate JerryWorld he was shunned by the mayor of Dallas. He went to Arlington and they will make the bucks.
Thank you, sir.
>> When Perry mandated Gardasil, it would have become part of a school-related vaccine package which was then covered by insurance for simply the cost of a co-pay.
Good intentions, wrong method. Had Perry advanced an opt-in approach, that “black cloud” of statism would have never been an issue save the unavoidable insurance coverage concern. Paradox.
>> Perry: “but the fact of the matter is I didn’t do my research well enough to understand that we needed to have a substantial conversation with our citizenry,”
Would Perry have hit a home run if he stated in reflection the govt has no justifiable authority to coerce vaccinations on its citizens? Well, that might contradict the accepted practice of requiring children to receive a battery of vaccinations prior to attending public school. Paradox.
At least Perry was receptive to the feedback of the citizens. Nobody’s perfect, and perhaps the experience will help to shape his views on Liberty.
I hope so too.
Perry's done a few things as Governor that have rankled me some, but I give him credit that he does listen to us and respond accordingly.
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