This week I have had visions of Marie Antoinette, powdered wigs, posh surroundings, starving peasants and so forth in my head, for some reason.
Headlines this week included one about Ick Perry handing the Feds a bill for $350 million for incarcerating illegal aliens. This is the same guy that once called the idea of a border fence “nonsense” and resisted efforts to emulate Arizona’s strict approach to illegal immigration, positions that helped him attract 38 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2010.
This is the same government that he says is too big and shouldn’t interfere in our lives, the same government that he says has no right to interfere in State business, oh, and the same government for which he is now stumping for POTUS.
In June 2001, Ick Perry signed legislation allowing undocumented immigrants to attend Texas colleges and universities at in-state tuition rates instead of paying international fees. Supporters of the legislation called it the Texas DREAM Act. (Tea Party heads must still be spinning over THAT one!) The story then was: “The governor signed this legislation … believing that, if a young individual who was brought here through no fault of his or her own is willing to rely on a good education instead of government services, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to pay for a good college education so they can contribute to society,” spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said. Interestingly enough, Perry opposes any federal DREAM Act.
On a June morning 10 years later, that same governor convened a special session of the Texas Legislature and urged lawmakers to pass a bill that would outlaw so-called “sanctuary cities,” places where police aren’t allowed to ask the immigration status of people they detain.
When Perry signed the DREAM Act, he said, illegal immigration was not a crisis issue, but now “times are radically different.” Yep, he’s now running for POTUS.
He wants the FEDS to do a better job of protecting our international border, but where is that DMZ-type area that is fed/state neutral, and the FEDS can’t actually cross the line into the state and interfere with whatever else he wants to do? He’ll take FED money no matter what, even though he ‘says’ he doesn’t want it.
This week, he also signed a pledge to support a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage nationwide, reversing course after he came under fire from conservatives for telling a gathering of GOP donors in Colorado that the issue should be left up to the states. He is apparently not familiar with Amendment 9 – Construction of Constitution which states: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. I would translate that to mean that you can’t give certain rights to only some people. You gays, this isn’t for you; you Christians get these things, the rest of you, not so much … you get the idea.
The pledge also included a statement about establishing a presidential commission, which I’m guessing would have federal jurisdiction, on religious liberty to investigate and document reports on people harassed or threatened for exercising key civil rights to organize, speak, donate or vote for marriage and to propose new protections, if needed. If you’re going to establish a commission, shouldn’t it also investigate those harassed for exercising their rights to speak etc on GAY marriage? Aren’t both still an example of … OMG … the FEDS trying to tell us how to live our lives?
Here’s another good one: On a Sunday in June 2001, the first-year governor of Texas signed legislation allowing undocumented immigrants to attend Texas colleges and universities at in-state tuition rates instead of paying international fees. Supporters of the legislation called it the Texas DREAM Act. On a June morning 10 years later, that same governor convened a special session of the Texas Legislature and urged lawmakers to pass a bill that would outlaw so-called “sanctuary cities,” places where police aren’t allowed to ask the immigration status of people they detain. Perry has now stated he is opposed to any federal DREAM Act.
Did you know about the role Perry’s Governor’s Office played in attempting to convince the Teacher Retirement System to allow UBS to take out life insurance policies on teachers and then sell them to the market with a significant commission? Former Texas Senator Phil Gramm – a longtime friend, political mentor and campaign donor to Rick Perry, as well as an executive at UBS – was the driving force behind plan. I wonder how much they made off of those teachers, many of which have probably lost their jobs now since education funding isn’t terribly important to Ick Perry.
To hear him tell it now that he’s running for POTUS, Ick Perry has never met a tax increase he liked. But over a political career that reaches back to the 1980s, he has embraced billions of dollars worth of them — including a $528 million tax increase approved in 1990, after he defected to the Republican Party. And just a few weeks ago, Mr. Perry also signed into law an online sales tax measure that the state says will raise $60 million over the next five years. Perry opposed it as a stand-alone measure, but this summer it was tucked into a must-pass, kitchen-sink bill that included multiple items, from new driver’s license requirements to a complicated rewriting of school finance formulas and, of course, Perry signed the bill on July 19.
And THAT, my friends, is Perry Cake.
Ick.
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