Call it karma, or just a coincidence that the movie “The Help” was released the same weekend that Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced his campaign for president.
The movie “The Help” about black maids, and the white families who employed them in pre-civil rights era Jackson, Mississippi is at its core, a story about white southern denial – denial of rights, denial of dignity, denial to be acknowledged. It’s a theme that is shared with Perry, who is running a duplicitous campaign. One in which, Perry, is in denial of government assistance (Obama Stimulus) during the day, but by night is asking for the same government assistance he shunned during the day.
Perry, a self-proclaimed evangelical Christian, who often speaks to audiences with the style and cadence of a Southern Baptist preacher, simply hasn’t practiced what he’s been preaching about his own Texas-size dependency on government assistance.
In his campaign kickoff August 13th, Perry said “Washington’s insatiable desire to spend our children’s inheritance on failed stimulus plans and other misguided economic theories have given us record debt and left us with far too many unemployed.”
What has failed isn’t the stimulus, but Perry’s recollection of the truth about stimulus successes in his own backyard.
While Texas was busy losing 178,000 private sector jobs under Perry, it was cushioned by the 125,000 public sector that were created since 2007. Moreover, Perry, who is now the GOP front runner in the race for the White House, fails to tell his tea party supporters that he balanced his budget not by cutting spending, and tax revenue, but accepting a portion of Obama’s $787 billion stimulus, which plugged 97 percent of his states budget shortfall.
In 2009, Perry rejected $555 million in federal stimulus funding that would have expanded unemployment benefits to Texans. This bravado defiance of federal assistance was red meat for Perry and his tea party supporters. “I believe the federal government has become oppressive,” Perry said, adding that he might even consider seceding from the Union.”
However, before those tea party members could digest the meat, Perry was off asking for $650 million ($95 million more than what he first rejected) from the Obama administration. It appears in the daylight Perry condemns federal assistance, but by nightfall he’s seeking a handout.
Perry may have been checking off the boxes that conservative primary voters want to hear- cut spending, cut taxes, and make tough decisions. However, misleading voters right out of the gate is not a good way to launch a presidential campaign.
Perry’s early strategy might best be described as a Texas two-face or as its known in the East – talking out of both sides of your mouth.
Some have referred erroneously to Perry’s Texas as the economic “Miracle” among states. However, the truth is “Perry’s Texas is a clear indictment of failed Republican fiscal policy, which argues cutting taxes and spending will spur job growth.
Perry’s anti-government rhetoric isn’t an ideology, its propaganda. Despite what Perry tell his tea party followers, if he really believed that stimulus spending is a failed policy, and one can balance a budget shortfall while cutting revenue, then his rhetoric would match his actions. Perry has made a calculated decision to construct his campaign on a lie, now he is married to it and has no choice but to deny “The Help.”