Megan McArdle, who is always interesting and often right, thinks Texas has about the right mix of economic policies, has in fact created a bunch of good jobs, but that it is a mistake to give Gov. Perry all, or even much of, the credit.
In general, Texas has a weak state government, and my understanding is that the power of the executive is further diluted because powers that are normally concentrated in the office of the governor are actually spread out over a handful of elected officials. So even if awesome policy was responsible for how well Texas is doing, you couldn’t give all the credit to Perry.
“There are a lot of reasons for Texan growth,” she concludes,
and very few of them can be laid at the feet of the governor. For which we should really thank God. If states really could be boosted into the stratosphere, or driven into the ground, merely by changing the occupant of the governor’s office, we’d have to live with the constant risk that our fellow voters would elect an idiot, and destroy our lives.
Texas under Perry, in other words, is not at all like the United States under Obama.
I have to say that Megan has got it right. We’re successful in spite of Perry, not because of him. I live in Texas, and as a native Texan I take pride in being independent and self-sufficient as much as possible. I am also in the constituency of Ron Paul, and his Libertarian principles are also quite true to the spirit of our state’s settlers.
Of course, I don’t count places like Austin or most of the other big cities as truly Texan in attitude, as they have been corrupted by the socialist unions and yankee carpetbaggers and tend to hang with Obama and the Daley Chicago mafia in their elitist, ivory-tower beliefs. They’re still clueless that they are making things worse, not better, with handing out our hard-earned tax money like it was candy.
Too bad Perry is spouting all that evangelical christian nonsense; I don’t think I can trust a man, much less a politician, who buys in to all that nonsense, and feels he has the right to dictate morality to others. Most independent, middle of the road types would rather put up with the social idocy of the flaming liberals than give power to the religious self-righteous theocrats. At least you can fill in a lack of morality with your own strong moral sense, instead of those who insist that they have all the answers and that you simply must accept their views on god and morals.
I am a Texan, by god, and no east coast politician is going to make my choices for me, in this life or any other. And Perry can go hang if he tries to go that route!
By the by, in case you didn’t know, Texas generally turns out a great many honest politicians. Of course, in Texas, the definition of an honest politician is one that stays bought! And you’re also supposed to ignore how all the dead people down here always vote Democrat – they are the ones that elected LBJ after all!
Megan M has a good point about judging a governor based on if his state is doing well at the time. Many other factors go into how an economy fares, but a governor sure can tax it into death in just a few years if he wants, or give investors confidence by directing a sane approach to paying back debt. Perry doesn’t have a long record to judge, but at least it shows good points.
As far as Perry being a “religious self-righteous theocrat,” I have to say it’s amazing the fear and hate non-spiritual people harbor. America is one of the most religious, spiritually active nations; most of the people practice a traditional faith and participate in worship services, as well as community support and outreach programs. Being a evangelical Christian, puts Perry squarely in the center of the most common demographic of the country, as well as the most common by far of most of the elected officials and all of the Presidents of the US. Far from being theocratic (enforcing religious rules on all citizens, requiring religious allegiance), evangelical Christians practically invented religious tolerance/freedom, and have never become religious tyrants in office. On the other hand, US presidents from George Washington to W. Bush have often called on citizens to voluntarily pray, give thanks, and even repent, and yes, to hold to a high standard of morals. Such is the fabric of America. So if anyone calls Rick Perry a scary hatemonger, remember so is Lincoln.
So, you think most presidents have been evangelicals? Would you like to name a few and prove that?