Response to Lauren’s Blog, Rick Perry for President?

In response to my class mate Lauren Bowden’s Blog, Rick Perry for president?, I completely agree that Rick Perry is not the best candidate to run for president to replace President Barack Obama. Perry is exactly what the United States economy does not need, an arrogant conservative. Perry is not the right candidate for presidency because he is not humble enough. He boasted about being the one in charge of making Texas a “Land of Opportunity” because he believed that he was keeping Texas in the position of having a positive job market. Well if you look at the times now, more and more people are being laid off. Even teachers, who we thought had the most secure jobs, are being laid off. What happened to this wonderful “Land of Opportunity”? 

Perry is also not a great candidate for president because he is worse than the politicians that say they are going to do something and never do it, Perry causes those who he says he is going to help to be in worse position than they were in before he tried to lend assistance. 

Although I do not believe Rick Perry should have the chance at being a frontrunner for the Republican presidential spot, as Lauren said, he does have a chance. According to National Journal Political Insider’s Poll, Rick Perry has been close behind Mitt Romney as getting the Republican candidate spot. What possibly could voters see in Perry that would make them want to choose him? I think most of his supporters are those that do not live in Texas. I think many of his supporters believe what he is saying that he will do and they haven’t had to experience what it is like being governed by Perry. Hopefully Mitt Romney will stay ahead, for the sake of our country. 

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/08/meet-rick-perry-the-anti-romney/243100/

Who is the Government Really Governing?

With the budget deficits being so large around the country you would think that most people will struggle in the recession due to the fact that it is affecting the entire United States economy, but not politicians. Here in Texas, times have gotten so bad that the Texas government cannot afford to help poor elderly people stay cool during this ongoing heat wave.  According to many news sources, the Texas government has accumulated $130 million in state funds to help those who are financially unstable and cannot pay their electricity bills. Out of that $130 million, only $28 million are being given to those who really need it. A member of the Texas Ratepayer’s Organization to Save Energy said, “When we have such extreme heat, where people’s lives are in danger, it is like legal larceny,” and I completely agree.

How can Texas government leaders allow people’s lives to become endangered and not do anything about it? The government is supposed to be “by the people and for the people,” but when I look around and check the latest news stories, what I see are THE PEOPLE struggling. Those in government and the friends of those in government are resting nicely on their yachts or in their mansions in the refreshing air condition. To me this is ludicrous.

Not only has the budget deficit reduced the amount of help the elderly receive, but it has also created a large decline in available jobs. Teachers, those who we thought would always have a secure job, are now being laid off. What happened to Governor Rick Perry’s “Land of Opportunity” that he boasts about leading? It seems to me that Texas politicians are helping themselves more than their constituents. In that case, let one of us fed up college students run for office, I am sure we can give the people what they need, because we need it too.

Reply to: Still Indifferent

I completely agree with what Paige is saying, in her blog “Still Indifferent, about having Texas political views and Gov. Rick Perry. I am a native Texan, but the way the lawmakers think is completely opposite of anything I believe in. And how can Gov. Perry still be in office if every news article is complaining about the bad decisions he is making and has made?  After he proposed a bill that would force school girls to get the vaccine for the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), his merits should have been reevaluated. 

Although Paige says that she is indifferent about her political views, after what I have been learning, I know that I am definitely not a Republican, and I do not have a conservative mindset. If being Republican means agreeing to help kids become less intelligent, keeping  those that are sick or hurt in their current condition because they cannot afford healthcare, or raising taxes to help fight illegal-immigration, when there are more important issues at stake, then I can definitely say I am not a Republican. I know not all Republicans make horrible decisions, but those at the top level of government do, and that is what matters because they are the ones making laws and creating disasters. 

In an article called,”Perry's Texas has jobs, but also good luck,” Governor Rick Perry states how Texas is going to become “America’s new land of opportunity.” What opportunity is he allowing non-Texans to have, because many of Texans are struggling very badly in his so called land of opportunity? And may I remind you, he is Republican. Like I said, I know all Republicans are not bad, but this kind of statement pushes me away from anything Republican. I am no longer indifferent to politics because I am experiencing the effects of politics, and it has made me take a side. Democrats all the way, or at least until they get crazy too, then I might just become an Independent like the rest of my generation.

Texas's Contradictory Government

Texas Education is on the edge of a great disaster. As I learned in last week’s readings, the governor has the power to create a proposal for the state budget to send to the legislature for approval. Well now Governor Perry has sent his budget proposal to the Legislature and proposed to cut more than $2 billion in state spending on public education and another $2 billion in higher education. Those cuts would come with bigger reductions in federal dollars. I believe the government is working against itself.

Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn set 10 principles for Texas when she took office in 1999. There are three principles she created that were to enhance Texas public education. Strayhorn asserted that Texas develop a better-educated work force, direct more of every education dollar into the classroom, and raise the bar on student performance. She wanted Texas to have the most educated work force in the nation. Well now Texas is firing teachers, which makes it harder for students to learn their basics, increasing tuition, which is making it harder for students to gain a higher education, and lowering government aid. Everything that Strayhorn proposed 12 years ago is now being undone.

How does the government expect to run a state when laws and provisions they create do not work toward the enhancement of the majority of the state? Instead, the government is weakening the economy by over-spending and then trying to fill the deficit with a quick fix, cutting education spending. In all, the government is doing more of a disservice for our economy and our education. Hopefully these budget cuts will not be too drastic when it comes to students maintaining a solid education.

Caught in the Zipper

Caught In the Zipper, a blog Post by Vince Leibowitz, discusses how Republicans in the Texas Legislature are either oblivious or just do not care about the people they are affecting while trying to create a so-called balanced budget. Leibowitz uses many metaphors and analogies to depict his view of the republicans in charge. He describes them as “dumb drunk freshman standing off the porch of the frat house urinating on those more vulnerable and less fortunate than themselves (as usual).” This blog was quite interesting because of the analogy of the Legislature acting like a drunk freshman boy that gets his genitals caught in his zipper while trying to urinate off a frat house balcony. He uses this analogy to get the readers to understand what the Republicans in office are really doing, urinating on evertone that depends on government services. Leibowitz’s audience is anyone who will read it, especially if they are a Republican in the Texas Legislature.

Leibowitz is a credible source because he was a journalist in 2000 that covered Texas politics. He worked full-time in the political arena building his company, Free State Communications, in 2003 that consulted for district, county, and city-level candidates throughout East Texas. And he worked as an investigator in 2004 for a criminal defense attorney in East Texas. So if it comes to Leibowitz finding accurate information, he will.

I mostly agreed with his argument that the government has succeeded in making everyone’s lives worse, except for the large corporations and constituents that donate to their campaigns and their own. They are depleting any and every budget to create a quick fix, rather than doing it the right way and closing the tax loopholes for their donors. Leibowitz says that when they have completed and implemented their new budget, the grand prize will be, “dumber kids. Sick kids who won't get the medical care they need. Teachers out of work. Old folks who will not have a nursing home to go to when they can no longer care for themselves. Fifty students in a kindergarten class. Pregnant women who won't get the prenatal care they need.” I completely agree with that statement. It’s like the government is saying, we are here to help. Now sacrifice everything you have, including your children’s intelligence, so we can make our budget plan work and show that the Texas economy is not in jeopardy because the wealthy still have their wealth.

I really liked the way Leibowitz stated his opinions. It made politics fun to read about.

Legislature’s health care proposal could harm too many

This editorial called Legislature’s health care proposal could harm too many found in the Dallas Morning News discusses the health care proposal that the Texas Legislature is trying to pass.  The source of this editorial seems very credible because the evidence being used to support the claim being stated is coming from the Center for Public Policy Priorities. The Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit policy institute committed to improving public policies in order to better the economic and social conditions of the majority of Texans, which consists of those with low- and moderate-incomes. By using a well known organization that has defined itself around this issue of healthcare assistance, the editorial has credibility.

The author’s audience is the Texas citizen, and the purpose is to inform us of the Legislature’s plan to reform our healthcare system in Texas. The author thinks part of the SB 7 plan is a good idea because it would allow doctors to get paid for the results they produced rather than on the amount of work they do.  I agree that this is a great plan because then patients will not be paying for unnecessary tests to be performed just so the doctor can make more money. Instead the doctors will be getting paid on how well they help the patient. This changes the entire structure of the health care system and puts the consumer in mind before the doctor’s profits. But then we have to read the other half of the bill that states the United States government will give a set amount of funding and the states would be in control of Medicaid, Medicare, and CHIP coverage. I also agree that the other half of the bill is not a good plan. If the United States government turns over a specific amount of money to the Texas Legislature to match and disperse the funds to those in need, the Texas government would give it to those who are funding their re-election campaigns. The Texas Legislature is not worried about us students, the poor, or the elderly in Texas. Texas has a horrible track record when it comes to dealing with social services. If there is anything that could be done to stop this bill from passing, it should be done. Passing this bill is not in the best interest of the majority of the state of Texas, just the wealthy minority.  It is a good idea to make health care more affordable, but not with this plan. Under a healthcare plan like this, assistance will not exist for many.

Published 17 June 2011, Source: The Center for Public Policy Priorities

Texas Lawmakers and School Finances...

This article, found at http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/06/09/3141703/texas-lawmakers-still-working.html, discusses the education cuts that are being made in Texas. Texas House Members created a measure that would cause a $4 billion budget cut in state education. I am from Tarrant County and they are discussing how they will cut $260 million from that county alone in the next two years. This article made a good point that, “cutting funding fails to account the steady growth in enrollment and could erode the quality of education.” Out of all the budgets to cut, why does it seem education is taking the hardest hit? This article is worth reading because it shows how the government can be hypocritical and people should be aware of how government spending is affecting our educational well-being. They force us to go to school, but they expect us to go to a school that is under-funded, over-crowded, and lacking of resources to learn effectively. And what is even more appalling is that in order to balance these budget cuts they are raising sales taxes during bad economic times. I thought Governor Perry said that Texas was in such a great shape that they would not need to raise taxes in order to manage a deficit? Is the Texas government trying to make Texans dumb and broke?

(Montgomery, Dave. Star-Telegram. June 9, 2011.)