The Other McCain

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Michele Bachmann Slams Rick Perry: ‘He’s Not a Fiscal Conservative’

Posted on | October 12, 2011 | 15 Comments

Full text of a press release sent by the Bachmann campaign last night:

Perry and the Texas Strategy for the Economy

Rick Perry’s biggest weakness is on the highest priority issue at stake in 2012: he’s not a fiscal conservative.

Rick Perry is not fiscally conservative on spending and debt.

1. During Rick Perry’s tenure as governor, real spending in the state budget increased nearly 50 percent. In the 2000-01 biennium, real spending in the Texas state budget (adjusted to 2009 dollars) was $122.71 billion. In 2010-11 biennium, real spending in the Texas state budget was $182.02 billion, an increase of 48.33 percent. (Texas State Legislature, 76th Legislative Session, Conference Committee Report on H.B. 1 As Modified by S.B. 4 and Governor’s Veto Proclamation and Contingent Appropriations Included in H.B. 3211, Available at: www.lbb.state.tx.us; Texas State Legislature, 81st Legislative Session, Conference Committee Report on S.B.1, Available at: http://www.lbb.state.tx.us/Bill_81/5_Conference/Bill-81-5_Conference_0509.pdf; Governor Rick Perry, S.B. 1 Veto Proclamation, 6/19/09, Available at: www.governor.state.tx.us; U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics Inflation Calculator, Available at: www.bls.gov)

2. During Rick Perry’s tenure as governor, real per capita spending in the state budget increased more than 20 percent. In the 2000-01 biennium, real per capita spending (adjusted to 2009 dollars) in the Texas state budget was $5,800.53. In the 2010-11 biennium, real Per capita spending in the Texas state budget was $7,102.17, an increase of 22.44 percent. (Texas State Legislature, 76th Legislative Session, Conference Committee Report on H.B. 1 As Modified by S.B. 4 and Governor’s Veto Proclamation and Contingent Appropriations Included in H.B. 3211, Available at: www.lbb.state.tx.us; Texas State Legislature, 81st Legislative Session, Conference Committee Report on S.B.1, Available at: http://www.lbb.state.tx.us/Bill_81/5_Conference/Bill-81-5_Conference_0509.pdf; Governor Rick Perry, S.B. 1 Veto Proclamation, 6/19/09, Available at: www.governor.state.tx.us; U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics Inflation Calculator, Available at: www.bls.gov; Texas State Comptroller Of Public Accounts, 2008 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the State of Texas, p. 252, Available at: www.window.state.tx.us; Texas Department of State Health Services Website, Projected Texas Population by Area, Available at: www.dshs.state.tx.us)

3. State government employees grew faster under Perry than federal government employees (U.S. Census Bureau website, www.census.gov, accessed 7/09):
From March 2000 to March 2007, the number of Texas state government employees increased 10.07 percent, from 303,795 to 334,378.
According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, from July 2000 to July 2007, the population of Texas increased 13.83%, from 20,946,049 to 23,843,432.
From March 2000 to March 2007, the number of civilian federal government employees decreased 5.83%, from 2,899,000 to 2,730,000.
According to U.S. Census Bureau Estimates, from July 2000 to July 2007, the population of the U.S. increased 6.78%, from 282,171,936 to 301,290,332.
4. During Rick Perry’s tenure as governor, bonded debt has increased 137 percent. In FY 2000, bonded debt in Texas was $13.2 billion. In FY 2008, bonded debt in Texas was $31.3 billion. (“Debt Affordability Study,” Texas Bond Review Board, 2/09, p.4 Available at: www.brb.state.tx.us)

5. Perry signed the largest state budget into law – $182.3 billion – using his line item veto sparingly:
“With little debate, the Texas House passed its largest budget ever Friday, a day after senators also breezed through the $182.3 billion plan for the next two years.” (Aman Batheja, “Texas House approves $182.3 billion state budget,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5/30/09)
“Gov. Rick Perry, muting his usual criticism, generally praised lawmakers and signed into law a two-year, $182.3 billion budget late Friday after making barely a change. The Republican governor took credit for slashing nearly $290 million of spending, but virtually all of the money wouldn’t have been spent anyway because it was part of bills that died, such as a proposal to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program.” (Robert T. Garrett, “Perry shows restraint — on his own line-item vetoes of budget,” The Dallas Morning News’ “Trail Blazers” Blog, http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com, 6/20/09)
“He used his veto pen to remove from the budget 28 ‘contingency riders’ — 25 of which would have paid for bills that died before the session ended June 1. Three others would have funded bills that Perry vetoed. While he didn’t mention it, there would have been a net savings of some $12 million if all three had become law, the proclamation indicates.” (Robert T. Garrett, “Perry shows restraint — on his own line-item vetoes of budget,” Dallas Morning News’ “Trail Blazers” Blog, http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com, 6/20/09)
6. Despite criticizing President Obama’s stimulus bill (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) as a “bailout,” Perry’s spokeswoman said he would “fight” for Texas’ “fair share” of stimulus if bill passed and lobbied for funds:
“Democratic Rep. James Oberstar of Minnesota recently asked Texas transportation officials if they intended to reject their share of $30 billion in road and bridge funds. Their answer: nope. ‘The governor has been pretty clear that he thinks it is bad policy and does not support it,’ said Allison Castle, a Perry spokeswoman. ‘But he has said that if Washington is going to be sending out taxpayer dollars, a large portion of which is Texas taxpayer dollars, we’ll fight for our fair share.'” (Dave Michaels, “Perry Blasts ‘Bailout Mentality’ But Will Take Texas’ Share,” Dallas Morning News, 1/30/09)
“For months, Gov. Rick Perry has been an outspoken opponent of emergency spending measures that created a record federal deficit. At the same time, his Transportation Department has lobbied to maximize its haul of federal money from an $819 billion stimulus bill.” (Dave Michaels, “Perry Blasts ‘Bailout Mentality’ But Will Take Texas’ Share,” Dallas Morning News, 1/30/09)
7. According to national conference of state legislatures, Perry’s Texas used stimulus money to plug more of its budget gap than any other state. “[National Conference of State Legislatures] asked states to indicate the major actions they took to close FY 2010 budget gaps and the relative share of the total that each action represented. The information provided by the 35 reporting states is as follows: Twenty-five of the reporting states used federal ARRA funds as part of their solution to close FY 2010 budget gaps. … The states depending most heavily on these funds were Texas (ARRA represented 96.7 percent of the total solution) and Nebraska (88 percent of the total solution).” (“State Budget Update: July 2009,” National Conference of State Legislatures, p. 7, www.ncsl.org)

8. Perry claimed he opposed using stimulus funds for ongoing expenditures, but used the funds for permanent public school teacher pay raises:
In a February 2009 letter to President Obama, Perry said he opposed use of stimulus funds for “ongoing expenditures.” “On behalf of the people of Texas, please allow this letter to certify that we will accept the funds in H.R. 1 and use them to
promote economic growth and create jobs in a fiscally responsible manner that is in the best interest of Texas taxpayers. I remain opposed to using these funds to expand existing government programs, burdening the state with ongoing expenditures long after the funding has dried up.” (Gov. Rick Perry, Letter To President Barack Obama, 2/19/09)
Perry rejected federal some stimulus funds, claiming the strings attached would leave Texas paying the bill after the stimulus ran out, but ultimately used stimulus funds for permanent public school teacher pay raises. “That will become apparent in 2011 when legislators have to fill in the budget hole left when the stimulus dollars go away. The teacher pay raises will be a permanent fixture, as will other spending enabled by the stimulus money. … There are no projections about where to find the money, but it will either come from taxpayers or from school budget cuts.” (Editorial, “Strings Attached To Stimulus Money For Schools,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7/28/09)
Raises are expected to cost state $2.8 billion in 2012-13 budget. “The Legislative Budget Board estimates the cost for the 2012-13 budget at $2.8 billion.” (Editorial, “Strings Attached To Stimulus Money For Schools,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7/28/09)
9. Texas received low marks for stimulus spending transparency in the July 2009 Good Jobs First Report. “Texas doesn’t get high marks for transparency on its official Web sites tracking how federal stimulus money is spent here. The Washington, D.C.-based group Good Jobs First gave Texas a 15 (out of 100) for how transparent its main stimulus tracking Web site was; Texas did better with its site tracking transportation stimulus dollars, earning 40 points out of a possible 100 points. State policymakers maybe can take some comfort that they are not alone in getting dinged for the relative openness with which they disclose how stimulus money is being spent.” (John Reynolds, “Texas Scores Low Marks On Stimulus Spending Transparency,” Quorum Report, 7/29/09)

10. Perry’s “political machine” received an infusion of stimulus money:
“And those grants have become an integral part of Perry’s political machine….While Perry’s office is the conduit for the federal money [for local law enforcement agencies], the governor chooses which agencies receive the money and how it is spent. The political payoff has been great.” (R.G. Ratcliffe, “Perry Making Use of Stimulus Boost,” Houston Chronicle, 9/8/09)
“Every time Perry doles out the federal Byrne grants, he sounds like the money is his. ‘Texas is tough on crime and remains dedicated to equipping our law enforcement with the resources necessary to protect our citizens and ensure the safety of our communities,’ the governor said while handing out $2 million of the federal money to East Texas communities last year.” (R.G. Ratcliffe, “Perry Making Use Of Stimulus Boost,” Houston Chronicle, 9/8/09)
Byrne Grants helped Perry win the endorsement of the Border Sheriff’s Coalition in 2006. “Perry in 2005 gave $6 million in funds to the counties participating in the Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition ‘to deter illegal immigration and prevent border-related crime.’ Days before Perry’s 2006 re-election victory, the sheriffs made a high-profile trip to Washington with the governor to discuss border crime, and most endorsed Perry. ‘I don’t think it was a coincidence that the grants roughly correlated with those endorsements,’ said Democratic political consultant Jason Stanford, who managed the gubernatorial campaign of party nominee Chris Bell.” (R.G. Ratcliffe, “Perry Making Use Of Stimulus Boost,” Houston Chronicle, 9/8/09)
11. Perry was played both sides in the fall 2008 debate over the TARP bailout:
Perry wrote a letter to Congress urging support of “An Economic Recovery Package” in the middle of the TARP debate. “[The Letter] Was Widely Interpreted Wednesday To Mean That Perry And His Democratic Counterpart Supported The Revised Bailout Plan The Senate Passed.” “Perry, who chairs the Republican Governors Association, wrote a letter with West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association , urging members of Congress to ‘leave partisanship at the door and pass an economic recovery package.’ That was widely interpreted Wednesday to mean that Perry and his Democratic counterpart supported the revised bailout plan the Senate passed.” (Jason Embry, “Perry’s Stand On Bailout Could Figure In 2010 Governor’s Race,” Austin American-Statesman, 10/3/2008)
The same day he released the letter with Manchin, Perry sent out a statement condemning the bailout. “In October, Mr. Perry, as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, and his Democratic counterpart, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, issued an urgent appeal for Congress to ‘pass an economic recovery package.’ Congress did. But when Ms. Hutchison said she’d be voting for it, the Texas governor issued another statement: ‘Government should not be in the business of using taxpayer dollars to bail out corporate America.'” (Wayne Slater, “Quick Take: Governor’s Jab At Washington Pokes His Potential Political Rival,” Dallas Morning News, 11/21/08)

Category: Economics, Election 2012, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry

Comments

15 Responses to “Michele Bachmann Slams Rick Perry: ‘He’s Not a Fiscal Conservative’”

  1. Adjoran
    October 12th, 2011 @ 8:06 am

    Should someone tell her that Romney and Cain are sort of waltzing away with this thing, or does she just think Perry is as high as she can reach with an attack?

  2. ThePaganTemple
    October 12th, 2011 @ 8:39 am

    What the hell is wrong with her? Perry is mortally wounded. Why doesn’t she go after Romney? Who the hell is running this woman’s campaign? Whoever it is, I won’t go so far as to say he should be lynched, but he should be-okay, yeah, he should be fucking lynched.

    I shall now regale you with my unbounded wisdom by telling you why she doesn’t go after Romney. Some idiot has told her it doesn’t matter because she can’t hope to win over Romney’s supporters. But that’s not the fucking point, she should still try to take his ass out. Because if she does, then no she won’t win his supporters, but it might impress enough of Cain, Santorum, and Perry voters to give her a second look.

    And I hate to break it to her, but I seriously doubt that Romney would ask her to be his VP. I think that position was decided a while ago.

  3. Anonymous
    October 12th, 2011 @ 8:42 am

    These talking points have been thoroughly refuted here and here.

  4. Anonymous
    October 12th, 2011 @ 8:43 am

    Perhaps Bachmann is making decisions in part with an eye to how she will settle her campaign debts?

  5. Anonymous
    October 12th, 2011 @ 8:44 am

    And I really don’t hold Perry’s taking all the money he can get for TX against him. No state should have the chance to take any; as long as Texans pay any Federal taxes, Perry should be fighting to steal back all he can.

  6. Paul Zummo
    October 12th, 2011 @ 8:44 am

    Is she still in this thing?  Does anyone even care?

  7. Susan Ally
    October 12th, 2011 @ 8:48 am

    Ed Rollins is on a roll-all-over to get Romney elected.  Why does my instinct inform me that Romney will choose Bachmann as VP so he can get that Tea vote?  I want to be wrong however this game is the same as it ever was.

  8. Anonymous
    October 12th, 2011 @ 8:50 am

    I don’t believe that’s from the Bachmann campaign unless it mentions a) her being the mother of twenty-three kids and b) that she just spoke to an economist on Main Street, USA, who said Perry was actually The Barbed Cock of Satan™.

  9. Anonymous
    October 12th, 2011 @ 9:10 am

    YOU GO, girl~

    Encouraging performance last night for the Bachmann faithful- don’t write her off just yet, folks

  10. ThePaganTemple
    October 12th, 2011 @ 9:36 am

    I don’t blame him for that either, or any other governor who does it, but its all a part of the corrupt system. It’s just another form of socialist income redistribution when you get right down to it, only practiced at the federal and state level. If the feds would limit their intake to what they needed to perform their constitutionally mandated duties than the states would have enough to draw on to take care of theirs. And if they didn’t, then they would have to revamp their own states systems to make it more effective. But that would be defeating the purpose of all this graft, payola, and other forms of organized criminal enterprises that amounts to business as usual.

  11. ThePaganTemple
    October 12th, 2011 @ 9:51 am

    Why not? You might as well write her off, and everybody else besides Romney. He’s the anointed savior of the Obama Administration because, you know, we might have riots in the streets of the inner cities if the first “black” president is voted out of office. Why do you think CNN, who co-sponsored this debate, didn’t bother to televise it?

  12. Joe
    October 12th, 2011 @ 10:14 am

    What is Bachmann thinking about?  My guess, not much. 

  13. Joe
    October 12th, 2011 @ 10:15 am

    PGlenn may be right on his theory.  If that is the case then she is not as stupid as I thought, but a lot more craven. 

  14. Joe
    October 12th, 2011 @ 10:18 am

    Romney will never choose Bachman.  She would hurt the ticket in the general.  If he wants TeaPartiers and Conservatives, Cain is the better choice. 

    Cain, sort of like Palin, but without the nice gams. 

  15. Anonymous
    October 12th, 2011 @ 10:41 am

    He wouldn’t get my vote with Sarah Palin as VP. No more RINOs.