Rick Perry's entry is no surprise; his skill will be — to some

Corpus Christi Caller ^ | August 16, 2011 | Editiorial Board

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I can understand that in a state and an economy like Texas that perhaps there is greater tolerance for illegal immigration, though I don't jump on that bandwagon. But illegal immigration has become such a huge issue in this country. Among other things, I want a president who at the very least, does not embrace it, as Perry seems to do.

It's not tolerance or embracing, but as a border state having to deal with what is.

The Texas-Mexico International border (1250 miles)

Perry in helicopter with Greta (TX-MX border is over 1250 miles)

2007: [excerpt] “If you show up illegally, without your card or you’re here as a criminal element, I’m for throwing the book at those folks, but the issue of people who want to legally, thoughtfully and appropriately come to America to work and help us build our economy — we should quickly come up with a program and an identification card to do that.” [end excerpt] Source

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"......When Obama continued to refuse even five minutes for the Governor, Perry took matters into this own hands and was standing on the tarmac at Austin’s airport when President Obama stepped off of Air Force One. Obama looked confused, Perry looked determined. Obama still ignored the pleas for help.

Perry again took matters into his own hands, and established an elite unit of Texas Rangers to bolster border security..." Source

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CW: We've been dealt a hand here in Texas (and if you've read my threads you know much of this) where we have a federal government that has not answered the call to protect the 1250 border miles Texas shares with Mexico. Gov. Perry does not believe a fence is the answer to illegals crossing the U.S.-Mexican border. He believes conservative ascendancy will. So we do the best with what we have ($100M/yr of our own state money put up to help secure an international border). We have a lot of crime to combat and pay for because of the illegal activity (drugs, human smuggling and trafficking) generated by an unsecured international border.

We can't refuse to educate or give health care, as everyone in every state is faced with the same situation, but since Perry is a border gov, he's held responsible for illegal aliens, where everyone vents their frustration about the problem using him as a whipping boy (and to make political points and take pot shots). Perry's asked for drones (went to Israel and asked how they protect Gaza Strip), has asked for 3000 people here on the TX border (crickets). Perry has set up an elite Texas Ranger unit to work on the border. Then we find out the Feds have been "running guns" across the border and we've had people killed because of that.

The Texas Dream Act was set up because we have a lot of kids here from the way the feds have allowed this to snowball. Students who have been in Texas for 3 years and graduated from a Texas high school get instate tuition (no benefits -- they pay their way) The entire Texas Senate voted for this in 2001. (The Texas Dream Act does NOT have all the hidden goodies the U.S. Congress "Dream Act" was trying to get into law.)

Perry has said: “If you show up illegally, without your card or you’re here as a criminal element, I’m for throwing the book at those folks, but the issue of people who want to legally, thoughtfully and appropriately come to America to work and help us build our economy — we should quickly come up with a program and an identification card to do that.”

The Texas legislature meets every 2 years for 140 days and the governor is allowed to call Special Sessions. He called a Special Session because he had put "sanctuary cities" on the agenda and the legislature dropped the ball -- but the Senate and then the House left again -- giving Gov. Perry nothing to sign (Texas legislators also have elections they'll be facing and no doubt didn't want a vote on this shadowing their re-election bids).

In this just ended session, after about 3 tries to slip it into a bill, a law that required people to show their birth certificate to get a drivers license got through [The amendment, added by Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, to the education funding bill legislators needed to balance the state budget had originally been included in Senate Bill 9, the so-called "sanctuary cities" bill that failed in the special session. It also had appeared in an omnibus homeland security bill by Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, that died in the regular session......By putting it into law the state potentially undermines an ongoing lawsuit that argues DPS doesn't have authority to check legal status.]. However, the ink on that law was barely dry before it was overturned by a judge – as usual.

In this last Texas Legislative session Gov. Perry signed the Texas Photo ID Voting Law -- it took 6 years to get it through -- Only 6 states have a PHOTO Voter ID requirement.

Texas has a long history with Mexico and being "Mexican" does not mean that you aren't an American, or a Texan. A lot of Texans have Mexican heritage or are married to someone who does. Perry doesn't lead with his chin. He's a thoughtful man.

Rick Perry is as ready to fix this as anyone and understands it probably better than anyone running -- or commenting anonymously on a chat site.

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The 2001 TEXAS Dream Act was passed by 100% of the Texas Senate:

"It’s important to point out that there is a huge difference in the TEXAS Dream Act and the The Dream Act that was pushed in Congress and failed. The Dream Act in Congress was full of all kinds of goodies other than allowing children of illegals to receive in state tuition. The Texas Dream Act was focused only on that. I happen to agree with The Texas Dream Act, and so did everyone in the Senate in Texas. It passed with ZERO “no” votes. Add to that, it has been proven to be successful.

These are a few things you need to know about the [2001] Texas Dream Act. The child has to have lived in Texas the three years leading up to high school graduation. These students are given no special treatment in getting into Texas colleges and universities. They must get in on their own merit. They are paying the tuition (with or without financial aid). It’s estimated that these students make up about 1% of those entering college.

[snip]

Most of us agree that border control MUST be dealt with first. The problem with all other efforts on this issue in the past is that the borders were not sealed. If there is anyone who we can trust to do that it is Gov. Perry (if he decides to run for President). He knows what goes on down at the border. He has gone there many times. He knows what needs to be done. There is no doubt in my mind that if he were President, he would seal our borders. But Perry also understands Hispanic outreach." Source

[Eye of Unk]

I have a gut feeling Perry will be the very first to actually start a “pay as you drive” road tax initiative.

Being that Texas is so big (still smaller than Alaska though) and people are buying more fuel efficient vehicles or are just driving much more less the revenues from fuel taxes are nose diving.

So anyway I have a feeling Perry will start this new revenue program, might be a voluntary thing and those that willingly accept an Onstar car nanny to report their daily mileage they will get a discounted price at the pump, but of course they will pay it later when they get the revenue bill.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I can’t help but think of Benedict Arnold when I see these clowns talk a big game about small government conservatism, then fling themselves at the feet of the first big government RINO to come along.

When is Sarah going to fling herself into the race?

[cripplecreek]

I don’t think Sarah Palin is going to run but that’s up to her.

[Liz]

Rick Perry is an opportunist. If he thought the way to win was running as a
Communist, he'd wave the red flag and sing the “Internationale” at the top
of his lungs....

Give the guy a break.....he accomplished every goal he set for himself in college.

Perry's college goals:

No. 1...to graduate.

No. 2... to be Yell Leader (cheerleader).

No. 3....to be in the Ross Volunteers---Texas A&M Corps of Cadets.

[cripplecreek]

He sure does love that heavily subsidized wind power.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

So, who do you want to be president?

[cripplecreek]

I like Bachmann, not that it has anything to do with the issue.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Gosh “Eye of Unk” all those “gut” feelings. You amaze me.

[BobL]

“I can’t help but think of Benedict Arnold when I see these clowns talk a big game about small government conservatism, then fling themselves at the feet of the first big government RINO to come along.”

Perry’s got a decent amount of money, so I’m not all that convinced these people are really grass-roots types...it’s possible they’re staffers. But a lot of others can’t be blamed for initially supporting Perry, after all, he’s the governor of Texas and Texas has done (relatively) well economically so far. These guys, though, tend to come up short when you ask them what has Perry done to improve the Texas economy (other than stay out of the way).

[t2buckeye]

I would love to see Sarah Palin get in....and I know that the conventional wisdom is that she can’t win. Perry is DEFINITELY better than Mitt Romney....Romneycare is his undoing and there’s no way that he will be able to capitalize on the anti-Obamacare feeling in the country. No one is perfect, but Bachman is just not going to do it. We need someone with executive experience since Obama has demonstrated what a lack of experience actually means.

So...Palin (if she gets in AND can overcome the perception that the media has foisted on her. I undestand why she left the governership BUT there’s a lot of false perception out there. Let’s face it...SNL and the rest knew who they had to destroy and Palin has done an exceptional job taking it to them...just don’t know if she’ll be able to pull it off. Perry seems to be the only other person who excites the REpublicans.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

These guys, though, tend to come up short when you ask them what has Perry done to improve the Texas economy (other than stay out of the way).

May 2, 2011 - The Best Cities For Jobs

..........”Once again the best places for jobs tended to be smaller communities where incremental improvements can have a relatively large impact. Eighteen of the top 20 cities on our list were either small (under 150,000 nonfarm jobs) or mid-sized areas (less than 450,000 jobs).

But no place displayed more vibrancy than Texas. The Lone Star State dominated the three size categories, with the No. 1 mid-sized city, El Paso (No. 3 overall, up 22 places from last year) and No.1 large metropolitan area Austin (No. 6 overall), joining Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood (the No. 1 small city) atop their respective lists.

Texas also produced three other of the top 10 smallest regions, including energy-dominated No. 4 Midland, which gained 41 places overall, and No. 10 Odessa, whose economy jumped a remarkable 57 places. It also added two other mid-size cities to its belt: No. 2 Corpus Christi and No. 4 McAllen-Edinburgh-Mission.

Whatever they are drinking in Texas, other states may want to imbibe. California–which boasted zero regions in the top 150–is a prime example. Indeed, a group of California officials, led by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, recently trekked to the Lone Star State to learn possible lessons about what drives job creation. Gov. Jerry Brown and others in California’s hierarchy may not be ready to listen, despite the fact that the city Brown formerly ran, Oakland, ranked absolute last, No. 65, among the big metros in our survey, two places behind perennial also-ran No. 63 Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich.

One lesson that green-centric California may have trouble learning is that, however attractive the long-term promise of alternative energy, fossil fuels pay the bills and create strong economies, at least for now. Even outside of Texas, oil capitals did well across the board, not surprising given the surging price of gas. Our No. 2 small metro, Bismarck, N.D., which also No. 2 overall, is the emerging capital of the expanding Dakota energy belt. Also faring well are Alaska’s two oil-fire cities, Fairbanks (No. 10 on our small list) and Anchorage (No. 3 on the medium-sized list)....

Source

July 6, 2011 - The Next Big Boom Towns In The U.S.

..........”Many of our top performers are not surprising. No. 1 Austin, Texas, and No. 2 Raleigh, N.C., have it all demographically: high rates of immigration and migration of educated workers and healthy increases in population and number of children. They are also economic superstars, with job-creation records among the best in the nation.

Perhaps less expected is the No. 3 ranking for Nashville, Tenn. The country music capital, with its low housing prices and pro-business environment, has experienced rapid growth in educated migrants, where it ranks an impressive fourth in terms of percentage growth. New ethnic groups, such as Latinos and Asians, have doubled in size over the past decade.

Two advantages Nashville and other rising Southern cities like No. 8 Charlotte, N.C., possess are a mild climate and smaller scale. Even with population growth, they do not suffer the persistent transportation bottlenecks that strangle the older growth hubs. At the same time, these cities are building the infrastructure — roads, cultural institutions and airports — critical to future growth. Charlotte’s bustling airport may never be as big as Atlanta’s Hartsfield, but it serves both major national and international routes.

Of course, Texas metropolitan areas feature prominently on our list of future boom towns, including No. 4 San Antonio, No. 5 Houston and No. 7 Dallas, which over the past years boasted the biggest jump in new jobs, over 83,000. Aided by relatively low housing prices and buoyant economies, these Lone Star cities have become major hubs for jobs and families.

And there’s more growth to come. With its strategically located airport, Dallas is emerging as the ideal place for corporate relocations. And Houston, with its burgeoning port and dominance of the world energy business, seems destined to become ever more influential in the coming decade. Both cities have emerged as major immigrant hubs, attracting on newcomers at a rate far higher than old immigrant hubs like Chicago, Boston and Seattle.”........ Source

[Condor51]

Wow. Who'd a thunk it?!?
Perry is the 2nd coming of General Patton!

Well, guess that seals the deal for me!
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[cripplecreek]

I’ve noticed that a lot of the Pro Perry posters are pretty quiet until election time when they run out to support the biggest RINO in the room. I agree about those who run out to support a new candidate.

Rick Perry reminds me of my new governor (Rick Snyder) who I like a lot more than I expected. That doesn’t mean I would want to send Snyder to Washington. Unemployment in my county has dropped by a couple of percentage points since Snyder’s election but he’s still an open borders windmill loving greenie.

[bert]

-——So, who do you want to be president?——

Alas, since pissant is gone....we have no one to tell us who it must be

[hocndoc]

You shouldn’t rely on feelings. Anything other for documentation?

[Eye of Unk]

Wait and see then.

[BobL]

“Rick Perry reminds me of my new governor (Rick Snyder) who I like a lot more than I expected. That doesn’t mean I would want to send Snyder to Washington. Unemployment in my county has dropped by a couple of percentage points since Snyder’s election but he’s still an open borders windmill loving greenie.”

Same for Christie. There are a lot of governors that are best staying parked in their own state. Unfortunately for me, Perry is damaging even at the state level.

[hocndoc]

And, yes, your unsubstantiated statements are meaningless. No sources, no reference?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

This is how you "create" jobs -- you create an environment that is friendly to employers!

Rick Perry:

FIRST: "Don't spend all the money!"

SECOND: "Have a fair and predictable tax and regulatory policy!"

THIRD: "Have a legal system that doesn't allow for over suing and make loser pay!"