Secessionist Governor NOW Wants Government Money

[ECW]

Rick Perry. What an ignorant piece of work. When he's catering to the nabobs of the Teabagger Movement, he's all up in the Federal Government's face about being told what to do and even suggests secession as a means to poke a finger in the eye of Uncle Sam. Funny haw the tune changes when reality sets in. What a tool.

In March, Texas Gov. Rick Perry rejected $555 million in federal stimulus money that would have expanded unemployment benefits for Texans. Perry argued at the time that accepting the stimulus dollars would force the state to expand eligibility to include thousands of low-wage workers — including part-time employees like single mothers, college students and senior citizens — which Perry bemoaned would burden tax payers with “higher taxes and expanded obligations.” When explaining the decision, Perry told Fox News, “this was pretty simple for us.” But now Perry is reversing his decision. Texas has asked the federal government for a $170 million loan to ensure the state is able to continue paying out unemployment benefits:

Texas is now asking the federal government for a $170 million loan so that benefits keep getting paid.

“This is nothing out of the ordinary. We’re following protocol that we put in place,” said Governor Rick Perry.

Texas has asked for this loan only one other time, in 2003. This year however, the decision is getting extra attention after Governor Rick Perry rejected federal stimulus money that would have replenished the fund.

Texas is expected to request $650 million, roughly $100 million more than Perry initially rejected. At a “tea party protest” in April, Perry trumpeted his decision to reject stimulus dollars from the Obama administration. “I believe the federal government has become oppressive,” he said, adding that he might even consider seceding from the Union (http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/16/perry-follows-protocol/).

[Zander]

His state citizens and businesses pay federal taxes, regardless of your feelings about him, his state is entitled to its fair share. He is a politician, he grandstanded when it benefited him.

[NIOSA]

His state citizens and businesses pay federal taxes, regardless of your feelings about him, his state is entitled to its fair share. He is a politician, he grandstanded when it benefited him.

BINGO!!!
Plus now that blackmail is being used in Az by the WH, who knows.

[ECW]

His state citizens and businesses pay federal taxes, regardless of your feelings about him, his state is entitled to its fair share. He is a politician, he grandstanded when it benefited him.

He's an asshole who thinks no one is paying attention.

Texas is expected to request $650 million, roughly $100 million more than Perry initially rejected.

So much for those Teabagger principles he stood for. What happened to those clowns anyway? I haven't heard from them in a while.

[NIOSA]

I agree that Perry is a jerk & sneaky too. Most politicians believe that nobody is paying attention.
Hopefully Kinky will run again.
Some news from the TEA PARTY Patriots
http://dallasteaparty.org/2009/07/july-17-protest-at-senator-hutchisons-office/

[ECW]

Meanwhile Perry begs for money he would have already had if he had any brains.

[Zander]

He's an asshole who thinks no one is paying attention.



So much for those Teabagger principles he stood for. What happened to those clowns anyway? I haven't heard from them in a while.

Clowns? You have a nasty habit of disparaging people that disagree with your politics. The clowns are in Washington......

[Shiva]

His state citizens and businesses pay federal taxes, regardless of your feelings about him, his state is entitled to its fair share. He is a politician, he grandstanded when it benefited him.

Fair share? They got 3.5 billion since Perry's been in office from FEMA alone for disaster recovery.

Yeah, that sounds REAAAAL oppressive Perry! Helping out your state when disaster strikes beyond the ability of your state to take care of.

If he wants to go on about such nonsense, including even entertaining talk of succession, how about he pays back the federal funding he's received minus the federal taxes paid by the state.

His citizens will throw him out in a heartbeat! :clapper:

[Zander]

Fair share? They got 3.5 billion since Perry's been in office from FEMA alone for disaster recovery.

Yeah, that sounds REAAAAL oppressive Perry! Helping out your state when disaster strikes beyond the ability of your state to take care of.

If he wants to go on about such nonsense, including even entertaining talk of succession, how about he pays back the federal funding he's received minus the federal taxes paid by the state.

His citizens will throw him out in a heartbeat! :clapper:
That is up to the citizens of Texas.

[Shiva]

He's an asshole who thinks no one is paying attention.



So much for those Teabagger principles he stood for. What happened to those clowns anyway? I haven't heard from them in a while.

Where will the teabaggers be next time they need federal disaster funds?

Begging FEMA for money and bitching that it doesn't come fast enough.

[Zander]

Where will the teabaggers be next time they need federal disaster funds?

Begging FEMA for money and bitching that it doesn't come fast enough.

What about the FEMA money that went to NOLA?? Are they all assholes too?

Should we eliminate FEMA entirely- or just for all the Red States?

[NIOSA]

Where will the teabaggers be next time they need federal disaster funds?

Begging FEMA for money and bitching that it doesn't come fast enough.

Do you have even the beginning of a clue as to what this cost Tx? Plus we had our own hurricaine later.
http://gotexas.about.com/od/texasvacations/a/HurricaneKatrin.htm

[Shiva]

What about the FEMA money that went to NOLA?? Are they all assholes too?

Should we eliminate FEMA entirely- or just for all the Red States?

YOU were the one who was talking about personal responsibility and the notion that the federal government can only screw things up, thereby leaving these people WITHOUT any disaster recovery.

I've been in the middle of disaster recovery efforts in an area where the population had no means to handle things on their own and recover. It was either remigrate to other areas that also couldn't handle the influx, which many had to do anyway, or stay and die of malaria, typhoid, TB, or any number of other diseases.

I'm also aware that even if such disasters only directly impact specific populations, they have a broader impact on the country as a whole. So it's not just a moral issue but an economic issue to POOL RESOURCES to provide aid in order to address a problem with much broader reverberations.

That of course, requires forward thinking...

[macguy]

His state citizens and businesses pay federal taxes, regardless of your feelings about him, his state is entitled to its fair share. He is a politician, he grandstanded when it benefited him.

Absolutely, there's nothing wrong with Texas getting these funds.

He played a political game of football and lost. Seems to be going around these days.

[Zander]

YOU were the one who was talking about personal responsibility and the notion that the federal government can only screw things up, thereby leaving these people WITHOUT any disaster recovery.

I've been in the middle of disaster recovery efforts in an area where the population had no means to handle things on their own and recover. It was either remigrate to other areas that also couldn't handle the influx, which many had to do anyway, or stay and die of malaria, typhoid, TB, or any number of other diseases.

I'm also aware that even if such disasters only directly impact specific populations, they have a broader impact on the country as a whole. So it's not just a moral issue but an economic issue to POOL RESOURCES to provide aid in order to address a problem with much broader reverberations.

That of course, requires forward thinking...
So you are OK with Texas getting FEMA money? But not stimulus money? What if the governor said he was opposed to FEMA, should the citizens of Texas be punished the next time there is a natural disaster?

[Grizz]

I may be wrong on this, but a loan by the feds would not obligate Texas to change their unemployment laws as to whom benefits are paid which is one of the reasons he rejected the bailout monies. Yes, I think Perry is a jerk, and I hate to defend him, but it looks like a smooth move for the sleazeball.

[macguy]

What if the governor said he was opposed to FEMA, should the citizens of Texas be punished the next time there is a natural disaster?
The Governor can say he's opposed to FEMA all he wants, the Feds are still going to offer it.

The citizens of Texas will only be punished if the Governor refuses FEMA funds.

Again, no different than Senator Kyl's dumb statement about stimulus money.

[Zander]

The Governor can say he's opposed to FEMA all he wants, the Feds are still going to offer it.

The citizens of Texas will only be punished if the Governor refuses FEMA funds.

Again, no different than Senator Kyl's dumb statement about stimulus money.

I agree, but I am interested in hearing SHIVA's perspective.

[Shooterman]

Fair share? They got 3.5 billion since Perry's been in office from FEMA alone for disaster recovery.

Yeah, that sounds REAAAAL oppressive Perry! Helping out your state when disaster strikes beyond the ability of your state to take care of.

If he wants to go on about such nonsense, including even entertaining talk of succession, how about he pays back the federal funding he's received minus the federal taxes paid by the state.

His citizens will throw him out in a heartbeat! :clapper:

Never been through a Rita or an Ike, eh, Shiva? 'Tain't fun and it is expensive.

Never seen a state like Texas open it's arms to people like they did after Katrina? Something to see.

No different than paying for earthquake damage, or tornado damage, ( oh wait, tornados are usually a spin off of hurricanes. ) Or going to foreign countries with aid after earthquakes or tsunamis.

Now, I may dislike Perry very much,( didn't vote for the bum, or for a DIM DEM, either ) but he is doing what the people of Texas expect him to do. So he makes a little political hay? Big deal. Pilesofcrapticians have been making political hay ever since they crawled back into the ooze of the swamps that we all came from.

[BoogyMan]

I live in Texas and am not a Perry fan, but this is simply more ThinkProgress dishonesty. Perry did not take the stimulus money due to the poisonous and unsustainable changes in unemployment regulation that would come with it. I would imagine the folks at ThinkProgress know this, but simply don't care. They tried to frame that very thing with emotional and dishonest commentary such as "Perry argued at the time that accepting the stimulus dollars would force the state to expand eligibility to include thousands of low-wage workers — including part-time employees like single mothers, college students and senior citizens — which Perry bemoaned would burden tax payers with “higher taxes and expanded obligations.”"

[Trish]

So - I have a question. What are the differences in terms for this loan as opposed to those for the stimulus money? It seems to me that knowing this is an important issue in evaluating whether the loan is better for Texas than the stimulus funds.

[Shiva]

Never been through a Rita or an Ike, eh, Shiva? 'Tain't fun and it is expensive. Never seen a state like Texas open it's arms to people like they did after Katrina? Something to see. No different than paying for earthquake damage, or tornado damage, ( oh wait, tornados are usually a spin off of hurricanes. ) Or going to foreign countries with aid after earthquakes or tsunamis.

Rita or Ike? Nope.

Ever been through a severe Indian monsoon that wiped out hundreds of villages in your territory and displaced several thousands and killed hundreds? Or had to be part of the temproary resettling and rebuilding effort because the Peace Corps work you were doing couldn't be done because your village had been flooded?

That after spending a week helpslessly just watching the situation because the monsoon affected hundreds of millions of people across the country which not only had to get its act together to get response funding but also had to negotiate with the U.S. for what us volunteers were going to do to help.

Yeah, I've had some experience with both disaster and seeing people come together in response when the authorities are completely overwhelmed.


Now, I may dislike Perry very much,( didn't vote for the bum, or for a DIM DEM, either ) but he is doing what the people of Texas expect him to do. So he makes a little political hay? Big deal. Pilesofcrapticians have been making political hay ever since they crawled back into the ooze of the swamps that we all came from.

Do the people of Texas expect him to reject ALL federal government funds BEYOND those paid in taxes, including FEMA? Because he thinks the federal govt. is just oppressive and only intereferes in state affairs?

The people of Texas want Perry to reject unemployment benefits while unemployment is rising, just so he can make some partisan political point?

Seems like he WANTS the federal govt to be there to cover his ass while all he does is bitch and moan about their relation to the govt.

He's a hypocrite, as are those who depend on access to federal funds but yell the fed govt only leeches from them.

They're the first to complain iof the feds sent no help at all.

[Gracie]

I may be wrong on this, but a loan by the feds would not obligate Texas to change their unemployment laws as to whom benefits are paid which is one of the reasons he rejected the bailout monies. Yes, I think Perry is a jerk, and I hate to defend him, but it looks like a smooth move for the sleazeball.

Congratulations, Grizz, for being the only one so far to state what the issue actually is. Not bad for a leftie. :love:

[Shanty]

His state citizens and businesses pay federal taxes, regardless of your feelings about him, his state is entitled to its fair share. He is a politician, he grandstanded when it benefited him.
I'll play devil's advocate here like a conservative and say that my state pays into FEMA and we don't see any of our fair share. Why should Pennsylvania pay for a bunch of dopes to live in a hurrican prone state?

[Shanty]

Where will the teabaggers be next time they need federal disaster funds?

Begging FEMA for money and bitching that it doesn't come fast enough. I'm going to sneak into the place that processes the FEMA checks for Texas and stamp "WELFARE" on each and every check, just so the tea baggers know that they should not cash those checks to buy moonshine and chawin' tobacky.

[Shiva]

I'm going to sneak into the place that processes the FEMA checks for Texas and stamp "WELFARE" on each and every check, just so the tea baggers know that they should not cash those checks to buy moonshine and chawin' tobacky.

You know, when we give direct foreign aid like food assistance to other countries, we make sure there's a big American flag right there so people know where it's coming from.

http://crs.org/ethiopia/img/eth-feeding-the-hungry2.jpg

Apparently we need to start that practice with Texas.

[Shanty]

You know, when we give direct foreign aid like food assistance to other countries, we make sure there's a big American flag right there so people know where it's coming from.

http://crs.org/ethiopia/img/eth-feeding-the-hungry2.jpg

Apparently we need to start that practice with Texas. Texans shouldn't hate America for the largess my country gives them.

[Zander]

I'll play devil's advocate here like a conservative and say that my state pays into FEMA and we don't see any of our fair share. Why should Pennsylvania pay for a bunch of dopes to live in a hurrican prone state?
Because the Statist philosophy defeated the Federalist. I would have preferred a Federalist government whereby the Feds abide by the constitutionally enumerated powers and everything else fall to the INDIVIDUAL STATES or the PEOPLE. But that's not how it worked out.

So instead of a weak central government we have a strong one. The Statist's have literally created a fourth branch of government - an enormous administrative state - which exists solely to enforce the massive bureaucracy of the Federal government.

There are nearly 2 million civilian employees (not counting the Post office!) and a budget of over $3 trillion/year. The Federal govt churns out a mind numbing number of rules that regulate energy, the environment, business, labor, employment, transportation, housing, agriculture, food, drugs, education, etc.

Even the slightest human activity apparently requires its intervention: clothing labels on dresses, cosmetic ingredients, and labeling. It even reaches into your bathroom!! mandating shower head flow rates, gallons per flush in toilets, and toilet paper thickness!!

There are nearly one thousand Federal departments, agencies, and divisions that make laws and enforce them.

The Federal Register is 75,000 pages long. It is written in a dense, confusing fashion to boot. You want to know why FEMA exists? Look it up, it's all there in that 75,000 page book. Good luck!!

[Shanty]

Because the Statist philosophy defeated the Federalist. I would have preferred a Federalist government whereby the Feds abide by the constitutionally enumerated powers and everything else fall to the INDIVIDUAL STATES or the PEOPLE. But that's not how it worked out. The CSA showed us during the 1860s what a weak central government gets you: a seat at the loser's table with the little kids at Thanksgiving.

So instead of a weak central government we have a strong one. The Statist's have literally created a fourth branch of government - an enormous administrative state - which exists solely to enforce the massive bureaucracy of the Federal government. What's the largest part of that bureaucracy? The military, right?

There are nearly 2 million civilian employees (not counting the Post office!) and a budget of over $3 trillion/year. The Federal govt churns out a mind numbing number of rules that regulate energy, the environment, business, labor, employment, transportation, housing, agriculture, food, drugs, education, etc. By the conservative viewpoint, that's a success because we have one of the lowest tax rates in the industrialized world.

Even the slightest human activity apparently requires its intervention: clothing labels on dresses, cosmetic ingredients, and labeling. It even reaches into your bathroom!! mandating shower head flow rates, gallons per flush in toilets, and toilet paper thickness!! I like the labels on the clothing. I don't want to be like every conservative I know and support communists by buying crap at WalMart that's made in China. I like to have my dollars support the U.S.A.

There are nearly one thousand Federal departments, agencies, and divisions that make laws and enforce them. Obviously, not all of them are perfect or correct, but overall, we've done pretty well for 222 years.

The Federal Register is 75,000 pages long. It is written in a dense, confusing fashion to boot. You want to know why FEMA exists? Look it up, it's all there in that 75,000 page book. Good luck!! Or, I can use common sense and know that FEMA's benefit to my state is that when even some backwater like Texas gets inundated in a flood, that if they can't get their act together as a state and get business running again, the economic impacts can be felt in Pennsylvania, so us Pennsylvanians pay out for people in Texas to get back on their feet. And Pennsylvania knows that we can also have access to that bit of insurance called FEMA if we ever need to ask for it.

[Berggeist]

Shanty,

Your words from supra:

The CSA showed us during the 1860s what a weak central government gets you: a seat at the loser's table with the little kids at Thanksgiving.

Much older and more meaningful words:

Victrix causa diis placuit, sed victa Catoni!

The Confederacy did not lose because it had a weak central government. It lost because of its small population and lack of industrial capacity. It actually did an excellent job of staying on the battlefield and killing a chance of Yankees.

[Grizz]

Congratulations, Grizz, for being the only one so far to state what the issue actually is. Not bad for a leftie. :love:

Thanks, Gracie. I calls 'em the way I sees 'em. And, if someone uses the rulebook to get a leg up on the competition, then I congratulate them, even if I don't like it.

The CSA showed us during the 1860s what a weak central government gets you: a seat at the loser's table with the little kids at Thanksgiving.

Good call, Shanty. I was going to make a similar comment, but expand on it. That is, with the weak central government in the South, while the North standardized railroad track sizes across states, most southern states went their own way so that when it came to transporting men and materiel across state lines, the trains had to stop, unload and reload on the other side. Let Zaner fuss as much as he wants - a strong federal government benefits us all, including him tho he'd be loathe to admit it.

[ECW]

Even the slightest human activity apparently requires its intervention: clothing labels on dresses, cosmetic ingredients, and labeling. It even reaches into your bathroom!! mandating shower head flow rates, gallons per flush in toilets, and toilet paper thickness!! I like the labels on the clothing. I don't want to be like every conservative I know and support communists by buying crap at WalMart that's made in China. I like to have my dollars support the U.S.A.

I knew there was a reason I gave you a pos rep. You just reconfirmed it.

Rick Perry is a certified idiot. I'm happy to show people what a converted Democrat looks like when he joins the opposition. He looks like Rick Perry.

[Shanty]

Shanty,

Your words from supra:

The CSA showed us during the 1860s what a weak central government gets you: a seat at the loser's table with the little kids at Thanksgiving.

Much older and more meaningful words:

Victrix causa diis placuit, sed victa Catoni!

The Confederacy did not lose because it had a weak central government. It lost because of its small population and lack of industrial capacity. It actually did an excellent job of staying on the battlefield and killing a chance of Yankees. Jefferson Davis was complaining during the war that he couldn't herd cats.

Granted, the South had the Generals, and some help from England, and were able to stay in the war overlong, but in the end they lost and lost badly.