I admit that I was caught off guard. Hearing Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, recently invoking secession came as no real surprise. Hearing that he has switched parties was truly unexpected.
It was startling. Little Ricky, a true regressive ideologue, has changed from Texas Republican to, wait for it . . . socialist.
It’s difficult to keep up with Ricky’s position. Along with a handful of other ideological dodo bird governors, he decried the stimulus package. It was wrong for the federal government to go into debt. At least it was wrong to go into debt by pumping money into the economy by government spending. Going into debt for tax cuts is different.
Later, Ricky changed his mind. The stimulus was good, as far as money was being sent to Texas. But, not all of it was good. It would be good if the federal government sent the money to Texas without strings, as it did for Wall Street. Apparently, sending money to Texas was good but telling them how to spend it was unAmerican.
Texas has a lot of experience receiving federal handouts. Almost without exception, the red states, particularly Texas, receive more from Washington than they send. The exact opposite is true for blue states. You just can’t please these people.
Little Ricky had engraved in stone his abhorrence of ‘socialized medicine.’ It was one of the pillars of his brand of conservatism. Now he has asked Washington to send a few million doses of Tamiflu to Texas. It seems that the well-being of his citizens may have come to his attention. I would never believe that it could be that he fears what a pandemic would do to the economy of Texas and the bank accounts of his owners. I also wish to put to rest the idea that he would sell the vaccines from the Governor’s Office.
Asking the federal government to provide healthcare to Texans would, under existing regressive criteria, qualify as an endorsement of ‘socialized medicine.’ His request has put him in the camp of the Socialist Party in Texas (Spit).
Of course there are other aspects of ‘socialized medicine’ Ricky finds acceptable. The largest factor in the increase of life expectancy is public health. This includes sewers, clean water from your kitchen sink and ice maker, garbage collection and a host of other measures we hardly pay any attention. The government proving these health measures is the result of ‘socialized medicine.’
My understanding is that Little Ricky has finally accepted most of these as part of his conversion. I am still trying to determine whether he continues to see flouridation of the water supply as being a leftover from that Communist plot of the 1950s.
The Governor also accepts such socialist programs as the army, navy, air force and marines, police and fire departments, highway construction and a few others. He is still wrestling with the question of public education. Even given that last step, Ricky has come sufficiently far to be welcomed into the Socialist Party.
One additional side note: I just happened by accident to notice that Pennsylvania’s Senator Arlen Specter has also changed parties. I may have some comments on that if I can verify it.
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Don’t feel bad, Cheryl. There are dumb politicians in every state. Texas holds no monopoly.
How humiliating that I reside in Texas.
One of my sisters married a man from Texas and lived there for about 30 years – Marshall and Alvin. She’s now divorced and living in North Carolina. She seems much happier but she’s also embarrassed by some of the politicians there. It may be more common a problem in some states but it is likely universal.
But Texas not only has Gov Rick Perry, we have the fruitcake Congressman Joe Barton. I might have to get outta here! (smile)
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