GOP 2016 Hopefuls: Rick Perry

GOP HOPEFULS HEADER

The Republican National Committee recently conducted an?online straw poll?identifying 32 candidates who could get its nomination in the 2016 presidential race. Each of the 32 has quite a questionable history, though, that contrasts with the GOP’s consistent claim of it being the ?moral? option for voters.

Philander, racism, thievery, bribery, and combinations of these and other?sins?are?found across the slate, in fact.?In this series on the 32 potential candidates (updated every other day), Liberal America will offer a quick rundown on the hypocrisy clouding each one’s ?holier than thou? claims.

Rick Perry

Governor of Texas

(Image Credit: Gage Skidmore via Wikipedia)
(Image Credit: Gage Skidmore via Wikipedia)

There are three things everyone needs to know about Rick Perry: 1) he’s a self-serving party switcher, 2), his three and a half terms as Texas governor have been littered with a long string of scandals, and 3) ? um ? well, we can’t remember the third.


But rather than harp on that infamous incident that brought about the end of his 2012 bid for the White House, let’s stick to the two basic premises; first, the party switch. He had long been a Democrat, learning politics from his father, who was an elected county official in Texas. Perry was elected from the Democratic Party ticket to the state house in 1984, representing rural Haskell County, and in 1988 supported Al Gore’s presidential campaign. He also had a spree of what most Republicans would stay far from, supporting a $5.7 billion tax increase needed to accommodate budget shortfall, an improved workers? compensation bill, and even a tripling of state legislators? pay.

It seems Perry thought he should join the more popular party in his state in 1990, though, when he ran for the statewide office of Sec. of Agriculture. Even after the party switch, however, he was still an open supporter of Democratic ideals, made evident by his personal letter to Hillary Clinton in 1993, calling her promotion of universal healthcare ?most commendable.?

Moving his aspirations up to the Lt. Governor’s office in 1998 was probably the best decision Perry ever made. Less than two years after assuming that office (which he won with only a 0.04 percent majority), Gov. George W. Bush resigned to pursue a presidential campaign. That’s when Perry was planted in the governor’s mansion, where he’s been since Dec. 2000.

And that’s when the first news of scandals started to flow. Shady ?insider? real estate deals, for example, which helped Perry reach his millionaire status. Abuse of funds, too, such as his spending almost $600,000 ?to accommodate ?living expenses? while the governor’s mansion was being renovated (and while his state was short $11 billion in budget funding). Don’t forget the Merck scandal, either. Perry took big campaign donations from the pharmaceutical company’s PAC; he then called for a state-funded and mandatory HPV vaccine, made by that same company, on all female youth in the state. (State legislature vetoed that measure before it could be enacted.) He even threatened to secede?Texas from the union.

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has kept a close eye on Perry, including his campaign donation tricks. After donors hit their maximum contribution amounts, they’d send donations to the state party; the state party would then forward the exact same dollar amount to Perry’s campaign, attempting to bypass state election laws. In fact, his campaigns received over $100 million in donations from only 204 people ? that’s an average of about half a million from each.

He’s also criticized for maintaining a ?revolving door? between lobbyists and his personal staff. Perry directly hired lobbyists to work in his administration, for example, and about of a score of his other appointed staff later resigned to work as lobbyists for the industries they once oversaw for the state government.

There could be other scandals, but right now the public is limited in what it can learn about them. You see, Perry defunded Texas? Public Integrity Unit, a state office that keeps an eye out for government corruption, and which the governor himself can’t control. When it opened investigation of claims that involved Perry in 2013, he tried to remove PIU’s director, a Democrat, from her elected office (a county DA). When that failed, Perry publicly threatened to cut the office from state budgeting if they continued the case. And when that threat didn’t work, Perry followed through; he used a line-item veto to completely defund PIU.

The Unit is fighting back, though, and this time pursuing claims against Perry directly for these authoritarian measures. A grand jury is investigating charges of abuse of power. (PIU is relying on leftover budget to continue operating, though, and had to layoff and early-retire many staff.)

If these charges don’t get anywhere, though, then voters may have to forget to remember to forget how Perry blew his 2012 presidential campaign when he couldn’t remember his own platform. When detailing the three federal agencies he wanted to close, he stammered for 54 seconds before his ?oops? concession that he couldn’t remember them all (see that in the video below).

Many voters already appear to be forgetting that Perry forgot, too. A recent Fox News poll shows him tied with Rand Paul for most favored Republican presidential candidate in 2016.


Visit Liberal America for information?on?the other?GOP 2016 hopefuls.

What’s your take on these?hypocritical Republicans? State your case on?Liberal America’s Facebook?page.

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See previous posts on GOP 2016 hopefuls:

Kelly Ayotte??|?Haley Barbour?|??John Bolton?| ?Jeb Bush?|?Hermain Cain? |?Ben Carson?|??Chris Christie??| ?Ted Cruz??|?Mitch Daniels??| ?Newt Gingrich??| ?Nikki Haley?|?Mike Huckabee?|??Bobby Jindal?|?John Kasich?|?Peter King?|?Susana Martinez?|?Sarah Palin?|?Rand Paul?| ?Ron Paul??|?Tim Pawlenty?| Mike Pence |

I had a successful career actively working with at-risk youth, people struggling with poverty and unemployment, and disadvantaged and oppressed populations. In 2011, I made the decision to pursue my dreams and become a full-time writer. Connect with me on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.