We've all read about the devastating wildfires in Texas. They even forced [?] Rick Perry to leave a political forum set up by Jim DeMint here in South Carolina so he could return to his, um, job, and govern his state in this crisis. Though the fires weren't so bad as to keep him from appearing on last night's GOP debate. I guess some things are more important than your state burning to the ground, but I digress.....
Rick Perry. Uh huh. Leaving South Carolina to go back to Texas and focus on the out-of-control wildfires. That's what governors do, right? Especially a governor who, say, cut the budget of Texas' Volunteer Fire department by 75%.
Yup. That's what he did.
It seems that, under Governor Rick "Pray For Rain" Perry, the state of Texas cut funding for the volunteer fire departments that protect most of the state from the very same kinds of wildfires blazing out of control now. In fact, some firefighters have actually been using their own money to pay for fighting those fires.
Perry cut the volunteer fire department funding from $30 million to just $7 million, and the state of Texas is now paying the price. There are nearly 900 volunteer fire departments in Texas, with just 114 paid fire departments, and 187 that are a combination of volunteer and paid.
So, the majority of fire departments in Texas saw their funding cut under Rick Perry, and now Rick Perry--who once threatened that Texas would secede from the United States--is seeking federal disaster relief and said that FEMA would be in the state by Wednesday.
Imagine that.
It seems that, under Governor Rick "Pray For Rain" Perry, the state of Texas cut funding for the volunteer fire departments that protect most of the state from the very same kinds of wildfires blazing out of control now. In fact, some firefighters have actually been using their own money to pay for fighting those fires.
Perry cut the volunteer fire department funding from $30 million to just $7 million, and the state of Texas is now paying the price. There are nearly 900 volunteer fire departments in Texas, with just 114 paid fire departments, and 187 that are a combination of volunteer and paid.
So, the majority of fire departments in Texas saw their funding cut under Rick Perry, and now Rick Perry--who once threatened that Texas would secede from the United States--is seeking federal disaster relief and said that FEMA would be in the state by Wednesday.
Imagine that.
Now, imagine a United Sates under President Rick Perry.
I don't think we can afford that.
We are West Wing fans and he reminds us of the fellow who ran against President Bartlett.
ReplyDeleteIt's all about persona with the Republicans. Reagan... Bush Jr... Palin... Perry... just acting tough to get votes. Anyone can do it, even imbeciles like Bush and Palin.
ReplyDeleteRepub voters care less about the issues than about electing someone who can act tough on the world stage.
Perry, unlike the House Majority leader (from my state) Eric "Cant-hurt" agreed to FEMA aid right off... EC said he would reject any aid unless there was a cost cutting measure enacted... Perry may not care who is murdered on death row, but Cant-hurt obviously is not paying attention to the needs of his constituency here in Virginia... Just Sayin'
ReplyDeleteDon't worry Bob, it ain't gonna happen. BOOK IT!
ReplyDeleteI think Cubby’s on to something when he says “Repub voters care less about the issues than about electing someone who can act tough on the world stage”. I’ll add that they care less about the issues than they do about NOT LOSING … they really just want to win some POWER. Once they get it, they don’t always know how to use it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nod! Ironically, each Republican candidate love to trot out their Christianity but it seems each is trying to see who can be the least Christian of all.
ReplyDeleteit won't happen
ReplyDeleteit can't happen, I just saw Obama on television. He is way to intelligent charming and handsome to be beat by any of these repubbie clowns....it simply can not! no!
ReplyDeleteOK I don’t want to sound alarmist but PLEASE don’t let your guard down just because you believe that Perry, Palin, Bachman, and their ilk are too preposterous to be a threat to Obama, who is so obviously their superior on almost any level. It’s true of course, but speaking as a native, home-grown Texan and apparently the only one on the planet who did not vote for Bush as governor or President or Perry as governor, I have to tell you that this feels so like all those shattering elections over the years when they won. These guys are ridiculous, I laughed. Who could believe these guys, I said. And then they actually won. They won. I couldn’t believe it but I nonetheless have been forced to endure their destructive aftermath for years. Heck, we all are. Most voters as I see it are too busy, lazy, and/or apathetic. They just want to fit in briefly to the current conversation and move on. They watch Fox News. They “hate” Hilary but can’t name a single reason why. They blame Obama for a recession that began in 2007--two years before he took office--and forget or never noticed that Dubya Bush inherited the largest budget surplus ever when he took office in 2001 and turned it into a deficit by 2003. Many watch Glen Beck, for crying out loud, and apparently care about Palin and her bus. I could go on but you get the idea. Be afraid. The most dangerous ones are those—like my mother--who prefer to think in terms of one sentence and 2-3 bullet points, preferably in a mass email with a picture of a cross, a flag, a soldier, and a puppy. Be advised, they probably are surrounding you right now. I can tell you it’s a very dark place here in Texas and I don’t just mean the sky darkened by fires that have blazed here continuously all summer. Engage everyone you see and get the word out. We have long year ahead of us.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read that Perry believes that social security is nothing more than a Ponzi Scheme, I thought, "ah ha! here is his chink in the armour." If the democrats dont take this and run run run with it, im offically done with voting.
ReplyDeletePerry, like so many Republicans is a flim-flam person. These individuals truly believe that if they tell lies long and hard enough that all Americans will believe both the words and the Republicans spewing forth. First, Mr. Perry, the major supporters of GW and his ilk were the bankers and Wall Street firms that bought him into office. When the failures occurred - talk about a political Ponzi scheme - GW and the Republicans bailed out their supporters and forced Obama to enter office accepting their ludicrous "fix." Further, Perry refuses to accept the reality that Social Security has NEVER been an entitlement program - Republicans such as he have used Social Security funds as their own "rainy day" fund and now bewail the impact of their own immoral actions - and want the elderly to bear the impact of such poor fiscal management. Republicans want to hold Obama responsible for their irresponsible actions - that's kind of like a rancher trying to scrape up cow manure of a whole herd with a single shovel and blaming the shovel for the farmer's poor planning. Obama needs to clear out the Republican fiscal cow manure with an indefagible group of very large frontloaders.
ReplyDelete