What to do about Rick Perry? - Part 2

In my previous post about Rick Perry, I looked into his record as a Democrat in the Texas House of Representatives during the 1980's, as well as noted the fact that he was a prominent activist for the Democrats in the 1988 Presidential Election. The next logical step in inquiring as to whether Gov. Perry is a "true-blue" Conservative or an opportunist is to examine his tenure in statewide office as a Republican during the 1990's, as well as the conditions which may or may not have led to his decision to jump ship. Since the latter predates the former, I will start by examining the changing political environment in Texas at the time.

Texas has not always been the GOP bulwark that it is today. In fact, even as recently as 1980, Republicans held only four of the US House of Representatives seats, and had virtually no say in state and local politics. How could this occur in, of all places, Texas? Up until the 1970's, the Texas Democratic Party was a conservative, rural party. During the 70's, the Democratic Party in Texas, like Democratic organizations elsewhere, got hijacked by the moonbat left. These nutcases were so convinced that their candidates and ideas could win general elections - even in Texas - that they started "primarying"more moderate or conservative incumbent Democrats for the sake of maintaining ideological purity.

An ideological shift alone, however, is not enough to produce a massive shift in a state's voting behavior.  A more likely factor, and the one that Rove* argues is most significant, is a massive shift in Texas' demographics. As an examination of census data shows, Texas' population skyrocketed between 1960 and now (1960-1990 data available here, 2000-present available here.) As can be seen by examining Presidential election returns (available through the Texas Sec. of State here), as the state's population grew, the Republican candidate generally did better and better, until, starting in the 1980's, the state became a Republican stronghold.

Both trends - voting more Republican and a boom in the population - accelerated throughout the 1980's and into the 1990's. This is around the time that the subject of this post, Perry, switched parties.

Is it a possibility that this was all a coincidence? Yes, it certainly is. As was noted above, the Democratic Party had started to be hijacked by the loony left back in the 1970's. With a bunch of old-line Democrats retiring, space was made for new blood, which would have been batsh*t crazy progressives. So yes, it is entirely possibly that Perry took a look around, saw that this wasn't his daddy's Democratic Party, and, with a little persuasion, started sitting on the right side of the aisle since his party had left him.

It's also possible that he took a look around, saw the changing demographics, and decided that he could pass a Republican. Without knowing what exactly drove his decision to change parties, nor the conversations he had, it is impossible to determine the exact reason why he decided to switch parties. However, a look at his record while in statewide office should provide a useful look into whether or not he is actually a conservative.

In 1990, Rick Perry was elected to the post of Texas Agriculture Commissioner. The Texas Department of Agriculture, of which Perry was the commissioner between 1990 and 1998, oversees several aspects of the economy, providing services such as the regulation of commercial weights and scales, and providing farmers and ranchers with financial assistance. In addition, it helps to promote nutrition and Texas' agricultural products. As such, Perry's background in ranching made him an ideal candidate for the job.

Like most Ag commissioners in Texas, and probably across the country as well, not much happened under his watch. However, it is interesting (and revealing) to note his farm related finances.

According to an article in the Austin Statesman, Perry has received quite a bit of farm subsidy money, despite is railing against it. Between 1987 and 1989, Perry received around $72,700 in farm subsidies from the Federal government. In addition, he received about $9,600 from the Federal government to not farm while he was Ag Commissioner, which is kind of like how a welfare queen receives money from the Federal government to not work. In addition, he wrote off ~$17,700 on his 1998 income tax returns when he sold his farm at a loss. In all, Perry has personally benefited to the tune of about $100,000 as a result of Federal policies and spending.

His statements regarding agricultural policy paint the perfect portrait of a political paradox. On the one hand, he has advocated for ethanol subsidies. In December of 1993, he, acting in his official capacity as Ag Commissioner, supported EPA requirements that Ethanol be used in gasoline, claiming that such a requirement would be beneficial to Texas. In 2007, however, as Governor, he reversed his position, arguing that ethanol subsidies were driving up the price of livestock feed.

Why does a certain Senator come to mind on this one?

In addition, Perry, as Ag Commissioner, campaigned for the 1995 farm bill, all whilst saying that we "...must carefully but thoughtfully move our farmers and ranchers away from a subsidized system to a market-driven system..."

Why am I reminded of a certain kind of shoe?

In 1998, Perry ran as (then) Gov. George W. Bush's Lieutenant Governor. As Lt. Gov., Perry didn't do much, at least that I can find. There is, however, one incident I find to be troubling.

In 2000, Perry's state vehicle was pulled over for doing 20 miles over the limit. Based on footage from the citing officer's dashcam, it appears that he attempted to use the influence of his title to talk the trooper out of writing his driver a ticket, claiming that he was late for a meeting.

Let's think about this a little. A prominent elected official attempts to use his public post to avoid having to take responsibility (albeit, indirectly) for violating state law and possibly endangering other motorists.

What kind of a person does something like that? Moreover, from the audio, it appears that the trooper was going to let his driver off with a warning, which is basically a slap on the wrist compared to the alternative (trust me on this, I know from firsthand experience how expensive traffic tickets can be).

You can bet that Obama (of all people to do so) will be replaying this incident all throughout the general election if Perry is the nominee.

Based on my examination so far, Rick Perry is a man who says one thing, and does another. He rails against Federal spending, but gladly takes it when it is beneficial. He talks about free markets, but has supported subsiding industry in the past. He talks about law and order, but tries to influence those enforce the law when he's broken it. His record as Governor, which shall be the subject of my next post should provide further evidence of this trend.