They say that everything is bigger in Texas, and sometimes that is true. It is definitely true when in reference to the egos of Texas politicians. Now, the Texas politician with the biggest ego (and the biggest hair) has decided that his ego is just too big for Texas. Republican Governor Rick Perry announced his candidacy for President of the United States, and will try to persuade voters that what America really needs is another president from Texas.
How exactly will Perry do that? Well, just look at the miracle that is the Texas economy! He will tout Texas as business friendly (Read: corporate friendly), low regulation (Read: highly polluted), and low taxes (Read: limited welfare services). Republican primary voters will likely buy into Perry’s version of Texas, and the media and pundits on Fox News will varnish over Perry’s record as Governor.
The Rick Perry’s Texas project is a clearing house of information about the actually story of Perry’s tenor as Governor of Texas. The page will be updated regularly – and these updates will be posted on the blog. Hopefully we can catalog the actual effect of radical far right conservative public policies in Rick Perry’s Texas.
Rick Perry's Texas
American Outsourcing: According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, from June 2009 to June 2011 the state added 262,000 jobs, or half the country’s 524,000 payroll gains. However, those jobs are not being created in Texas, but the equivalent of in country outsourcing. As the New York Times has reported, Perry has been traveling the country pouching jobs from other states – and not developing homegrown jobs in Texas.
Stimulus Miracle: “In Texas, we actually know it is a good idea to look a gift horse in the mouth.” Rick Perry rejected $555 million in unemployment insurance from the federal government, only to accepted $14 billion in other federal stimulus dollars. The San Antonio Business Journal reported that economic stimulus initiative created about 2.2 million to 2.8 million jobs nationwide in the first three months of 2010, and Texas reported 205,000 jobs which was the second largest number of job increases in the nation.
Crony Capitalism: Perry has used the governor’s office to ensure that top campaign donors were rewarded with state money or appointed to high profile positions. As the New York Times reported, over three terms in office, Mr. Perry’s administration has doled out grants, tax breaks, contracts and appointments to hundreds of his most generous supporters and their businesses. According to a study by Texans for Public Justice, Perry has raised at least $17 million from more than 900 appointees or their spouses, roughly one dollar out of every five that he has raised as governor.
Corporate Welfare: The businesses and jobs that have relocated to Texas have not just been motivated by low regulation and low taxation. Time magazine reported that since 2003 Texas has spent $732 million in tax credits and subsidies to companies that relocated to the Lone Star State.
Working Poor: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Texas tied with Mississippi for states having the highest percentage of hourly paid workers earning the minimum wage or less in 2010; 550,000 Texans, 9.5% of hourly paid workers, made the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour or less last year. San Antonio Express News reported that median wage of all hourly paid Texans was $11.20 last year compared to $12.50 nationally. In Texas, the median hourly wage for men was $12.13; for women, $10.24. Nationally, the median was $13.76 for men and $11.83 for women.
Child Poverty: A report from the Center for Public Policy Priorities that found nearly one in four Texas children lived beneath the poverty line. Texas Kids Count released a report showing that Texas is home to 1 of every 6 children newly added to the poverty rolls, and continues to have the highest rate of uninsured children. More than 600,000 Texas children have at least one unemployed parent who is looking for work. One of every four Texas preschool-aged children is not read to on a regular basis - ranking last in the country.
Uninsured Population: Texas has the highest rate of people without health insurance in the nation. According to statistics from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 26% of Texans are without health insurance, compared to a national average of 15.4%. There are more uninsured residents in Texas than there are people in 33 states. According to reporting by the Houston Chronicle, 1 in 5 children in Texas are without health insurance.
Innocent Execution: Along with executing the mentally challenged, Texas also executes innocent people. Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in 2004 after being convicted of arson and the murder of his three children. Even after evidence emerged showing that arson had not caused the fire, Perry refused to grant a stay of execution. Five years after Willingham was executed, a report from a Texas Forensic Science Commission investigator found that the fire could not have been arson. As the commission prepared to hear testimony from the investigator in October 2009, Perry quickly fired and replaced three of its members, forcing an indefinite delay in the hearing.
Disabled Execution: In 2001, Rick Perry vetoed a bill passed by the Texas legislature banning the execution of the mentally retarded, saying that the state's judicial system already contained adequate protections for such defendants. The Huffington Post has reported that supporters of the bill disagreed, pointing to evidence indicating that at least a half-dozen prisoners with mental deficiencies had been executed since 1990.
Untested Students: "We have more kids take the SAT than any other state in the nation. I mean a high percentage of our kids take the SAT." The non-partisan PolitiFact called that statement by Rick Perry false. As reported by the Houston Chronicle, Texas ranks 45th out of 50 states in combined SAT scores, and only 51% of Texas high school graduates take the SAT. Only New York, Georgia, South Carolina and Maine have lower combined SAT scores.
Failing Schools: Half of Texas school districts and 1 out of 4 campuses failed to reach federal academic targets established by the No Child Left Behind Act. The Austin American-Statesman reported that statewide 605 districts and 2,233 traditional and charter schools failed to make the grade.
Underfunded Schools: Due to draconian cuts in education, to address a $27 billion budget shortfall, thousands of Texas teachers will be losing their jobs this year. The Texas Tribune reports that Perry signed a school finance plan that cut $4 billion from districts statewide. To date 12,000 teachers have already lost their jobs, and up to 100,000 of the state's 330,000 teachers might lose their positions.
College Denied: Because of the deep budget cuts less students will have a chance to go to college. Only 33,100, of the 110,000 incoming low income college students who meet academic and financial eligibility requirements will receive grants for college. The Austin American-Statesman reports that as a result 70% of the students that qualify will not receive much needed college aid.
Climate Changer: Texas is the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the country, and emits more green house gases than the combined emissions of California and Pennsylvania, which are the states with the 2nd and 3rd highest carbon emissions outputs. The Daily Beast reported that in 2005 if Texas was a country it would be the eighth-largest emitter of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide worldwide.
Dry State: Since passage of legislation in 1997 state funding for water projects has dried up. As the Houston Chronicle reported, state leaders still have not found a reliable way to finance water development beyond asking voters for authority to issue debt through bonds. While $53 billion in Texas infrastructure development has been identified, but experts say that without the investment 83% of Texans will not have an adequate supply of water in times of drought.
Best of Texas Media Perry Watch:
Texas Observer: The Perry Trail
Austin Chronicle: The Rick Perry Trap
Texas Monthly: The Perry Trove
Dallas Morning News: Perry Watch
Houston Chronicle: Perry Watch
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