Getting back to our roots

     You've gotta love Southern politicians these days, in particular our own fearless leader. Gearing up for the next election, Governor Perry is in fine form, loudly declaring his disdain for the federal stimulus package, and most recently, throwing in his hat with other conservative leaders in the growing state-sovereignty movement. Texan voters seem to have some sort of fondness for dear Gov. Good Hair, but I'm hoping that this latest shenanigan is the straw that breaks the voters' backs.

     It's not that I have anything against the idea of states' rights; in fact, I think it's a very necessary check of power in our finely-balanced system that seems to be working for the time being. But the merits or shortcomings of federalism aside, it does seem pretty interesting that a search of "Perry" in the Statesman's archives brings up the wire of Perry telling the Feds to mind their own business, immediately followed by a story covering his call for FEMA help with the recent wildfires. Both stories were published on the same day, and the two side by side show Perry's nauseating practice of picking and choosing which parts of the stimulus package suit his and his cronies best interests.

     The endorsement of Rep. Creighton's H.C.R. 50 only highlights his blockheaded-ness and renews my (and my fellow low tax-bracket dwellers') frustration and annoyance, held over from his desire to reject the unemployment aspect of the stimulus package. He is ignoring the fact of rising unemployment in order to seal the deal with far-right-wing voters. Putting politics before people, he is only rejecting assistance for something that we will pay for in the long run anyway. Rep. Jim Dunnam states the problem eloquently: "So the question is, who's gonna have to pay? Is it going to be the federal government helping us pay for it, or are we going to double the tax on employers to pay for it? And that's the choice he's making."

     Furthermore, his insistence that he is protecting voter interest is extremely insulting to our intelligence in light of Texas's dismal social statistics. Refusing stimulus money to avoid future entanglements is one thing; but telling the federal government to stay out of Texas politics because the state knows better is just denying the obvious. Texas has the distinction of ranking among the lowest of the states in areas like money spent on services and percentage of households with checking or savings accounts; yet we hold the top, or near top, spots in categories like percentage of population without health insurance, worst conditions for homeless kids, most teen pregnancies and highest birth rate in general, and highest percentage of population working for minimum wage. If you're thinking that is an overwhelming list, you're exactly right. But Perry chooses to overlook this evidence and actually believes that Texas only has the kind of problems that can "fall through the cracks." (P.S. Pay special attention to the end of the story in that last link. It's a hoot.) If he really thinks that our social problems are that small, he's more deluded than I thought.

     I'd like to think that a majority of Texas voters will agree with me; in reality, I'm not so naive. But we Texans are just as guilty of blissful ignorance as Gov. Perry if we continue to (re)elect politicians of his ilk. If Perry is going to use this recession to play politics and prove how conservative he is while people are struggling, we should put him on the unemployment list in November 2010. Maybe then he'll appreciate the merits of all that stimulus money he so blithely rejected the year before.