I am one of those who came to Texas for work and had some of the same reservation that have been voiced over and over on FR My current job is newly created due to growth and is not minimum wage by a long shot.
I was knee jerk on the gardasil issue (Florida had something similar, I believe) until I found out about the opt out and political reason for the EO.
I’m guessing that on FR most of Perry’s harshest critics have never been in a position of responsibility with serious problems to handle where no matter what they did SOMEONE was going to be pissed.
Perry is going to piss someone off no matter what he does. In a couple places it was me.
Consider that Perry didn’t throw a hissy fit and try to take anyone out when the legislature overruled him. He dealt with it and moved.
Texas is a Red State now due to him, IMO. He’s got some solid Conservative beliefs unlike Bush’s conservative beliefs.
Find me the perfect candidate. Not partially perfect but fully perfect, then vote for that candidate.
But I suspect it won’t be in 2012 or any time soon.
My opinion is that he did throw a hissy fit. Given the sentiment he expressed when over-ridden, why would he move on?
Gov. Rick Perry's Remarks Regarding the HPV Vaccine Legislation - May 5, 2007
Those legislators who claim this is about their right to determine public policy have succeeded in overturning my order. But if they care about succeeding in stopping the spread of the second most deadly cancer among women, and not just asserting their power, then they will turn around and pass legislation to make access to the HPV vaccine as widely available as possible. Instead, they have sent me a bill that will ensure three-quarters of our young women will be susceptible to a virus that not only kills hundreds each year, but causes great discomfort and harm to thousands more. Instead of vaccinating close to 95 percent of our young women, and virtually eliminating the spread of the most common STD in America, they have relegated the lives of our young women to social Darwinism, where only those who can afford it, or those who understand the virtues of it, will get access to the HPV vaccine.In fact, this legislature has not only overturned an order that could save women's lives, but they put rider language in the budget that prevents the state from funding vaccines for low-income women if it is mandated by the commission. This is shameful. Not only does this not make sense in terms of social policy, it doesn't make fiscal sense. The cost of providing this vaccine to eligible young women through the Vaccines for Children program and Medicaid is less than $13 million in general revenue each year, while the cost of treating HPV-related cervical diseases is $173 million in direct medical costs each year. ...
Perry is more conservative than Bush, but not a movement conservative. Probably has more in common with someone like Allan Shivers, a major figure in Texas politics in the ‘40s and ‘50s. or, to use a better example, someone like Phil Gram, who also switched parties. None of these guys was exactly a stranger to the rich and powerful.
That depends on what definition of 'hissy fit' you rely. Perry certainly did not like it that his EO was overturned and he was far from going along happily with it.
In short order, the Legislature overwhelmingly overturned the decree. Acknowledging he did not have the votes to sustain a veto of the legislation, Perry announced he would allow it to become law without his signature. But he sharply criticized the Legislature.
"In the next year, more than a thousand women will likely be diagnosed with this insidious yet mostly preventable disease," Perry said at a May 9, 2007, news conference, surrounded by women who had been affected by HPV, including one who he said had been infected by a rapist. "I challenge legislators to look these women in the eyes and tell them, 'We could have prevented this disease for your daughters and granddaughters, but we just didn't have the gumption to address all the misguided and misleading political rhetoric.'"
Until now, Perry never yielded to opponents who said he should have handled the issue differently rather than through a unilateral executive order. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison tried to make it an issue in her gubernatorial campaign to unseat him in 2010. In a January 2010 debate, Perry defended his decision to issue the executive order. It was not a mistake — “no sir, not from my position,” he said. “I stand proudly by my pro-life position.”
Not a mistake? Then why does he now say it was?
“I made a mistake on that,” Perry told Iowa Radio later in the day Monday, calling it “an error in not having a conversation with the people of the state of Texas.”
Crist also tried to grab some big Pharma dollars, and the Republican Governor of Florida handily lost his party primary race for reelection.
Perry did throw a hissy fit when he was stopped, by all accounts.
Just out of curiosity Eagle Eye, where are you from originally?