#1: “WHAT RECESSION?”
October 16th, 2009

Perry FailurePerry Plays Politics and Texans Pay the Price

Joking about the recession may be funny to Rick Perry, but for the 44,700 Texans who lost their jobs last month to failed Republican policies, it’s no laughing matter.

Over the course of our Top Ten Rick Perry Failures countdown, we’ve presented example after example of how Texans have paid the price for Rick Perry’s political pandering. From the economy to education, from health care to transportation, and from consumer issues to purely political issues, the story is the same: when Rick Perry has to choose between doing what’s best for Texas and his own partisan political concerns, he’ll take the low road every time.

At a Houston business group event last month, Perry remarked, “As a matter of fact…someone had put a report out that the first state that’s coming out of the recession’s gonna be the state of Texas.  I said, ‘We’re in one?’” (Source: Austin American-Statesman)

  • Rick Perry can lie about the economic mess, but the numbers don’t: unemployment in Texas hit a 22-year high in August – numbers that came out the very week he uttered his outrageous remark. (Source: San Antonio Express-News)
  • Despite Rick Perry’s reckless bravado, recovery is beginning to take place as a result of Democratic leadership. According to reports today, “Texas companies and local governments say they’ve saved or created about 1,100 jobs with stimulus-funded contracts” and some of the largest projects are just getting underway. (Source: Dallas Morning News)

Just days after his deluded remarks about the recession, Perry backed off his statement, only to twist around the truth of the economic situation in Texas with more soapbox rhetoric about balancing the budget, not tapping the rainy day fund and cutting business taxes. (Source: Think Progress)

  • Ironically, the truth is that Texas only balanced its budget because Texas Democrats, over the relentless objections from Rick Perry, fought to use the federal stimulus funds Perry attacked time and again in his partisan rants earlier this year. Without the stimulus funds, our state’s Rainy Day Fund could have been eliminated in order to balance the budget. (Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
  • In fact, Perry himself admitted the state would have to raise the tax rate on businesses to make up for the shortfall in the Unemployment Insurance Fund that resulted from his rejection of federal funds. (Source: KXAN News – via Burnt Orange Report)

Texas is a great state and Texans are resourceful people, and we are strong despite Rick Perry, because unlike the Governor, we don’t back down from tough challenges. While others were finding solutions to put Texans back to work, Governor Perry was busy attacking the very people – Texas Democrats – who provided the money that bailed him and his fellow Republicans out a state budget crisis they created.

Finger-pointing, failure and pay to play politics are “business as usual” for Rick Perry, but Texans who want real leadership can’t afford it any longer – because when Rick Perry plays politics, Texans become collateral damage.

Previous – #2: Perry: A Bad Prescription for Children’s Health

To read more about how Rick Perry has failed Texas, visit the TDP’s Top Ten Rick Perry Failures page by clicking here.