Nov. 20, 2010
BOOK REVIEW: 'Fed Up!' Outlines Texas Governor Rick Perry's Prescription for Fixing America
Reviewed By David M. Kinchen
Right after the foreword by Newt Gingrich in Rick Perry's new book "Fed Up!: Our Fight to Save America from Washington" (Little, Brown, 240 pages, notes, index, $21.99) Perry says that being governor of Texas is the "best job in America" and he has no higher political aspirations for 2012.
I don't know if you can take that to the bank, but given his resounding defeat on Nov. 2 of the Democratic candidate, former mayor of Houston Bill White, and Kathie Glass, the Libertarian Party candidate, for an unprecedented third term as governor of the nation's second most populous state, Perry should easily qualify as a potential GOP nominee in 2012.
Perry's message is simple: He wants to return power to the states that was taken from them by movements as varied as the Progressives of a century ago, who instituted a federal income tax with the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, and the New Dealers under President Franklin D. Roosevelt who expanded the federal government far beyond what the Founding Fathers envisioned.
His message is not all that different from that of former Florida congressman Joe Scarborough, whose book "The Last Best Hope" I reviewed last month (link: http://archives.huntingtonnews.net/columns/101005-kinchen-columnsbookreview.html).
Both Perry and Scarborough, host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program, have ample blame for their fellow Republicans, violating the legendary 11th Commandment of the GOP not to "speak ill of fellow Republicans." On page 63 he slams his "friend" and fellow Texan President George W. Bush "who signed into law large education increases and a massive expansion of Medicare to the tune of $500 billion for prescription drugs." He returns to the fray on Page 143, prefacing his remarks by how much he respects and admires Bush 43, and then saying that GWB didn't "fight for fiscal conservatism with the same fervor with which he pursued the freedom agenda in his foreign policy." Being dubbed a "big government conservative" by "Republican-friendly" columnist Fred Barnes in the Weekly Standard doesn't cut it with Perry, either: "There is no such thing as a 'big government conservative.' It is an oxymoron."
Perry who grew up on a cotton farm in Paint Creek, TX, north of Abilene, is also against another innovation of FDR's New Deal, agricultural subsidies (OK, now he's lost the Senior vote and he's going for losing the farm belt vote!). On Pages 67-68 he says the hundreds of billions of dollars of farm subsidies paid out annually mostly go to large commercial farms, not "family farms" (growing up on a Michigan farm myself, I experienced life on a real family farm). On Page 68, Perry cites a Dutch immigrant dairy farmer, Hein Hettinga, who tried to circumvent government price controls on the dairy industry in the 1990s. Hettinga sold milk for 20 cents less than the government-mandated prices and naturally had a booming business -- until the dairy industry and DC bureaucrats got wind of his business and ended up with Congress in 2006 passing a law that crushed his business. Perry may have defeated a Libertarian to win his third term on Nov. 2, but it sounds to me that he's a libertarian at heart!
Coming from a state that deregulated electricity, giving consumers a choice of power companies, Perry is quick to cite a country that deregulated its agriculture, New Zealand (Page 69). New Zealand faced a financial crisis in the early 1980s, Perry writes, and was forced to scale back its government. "They began by deregulating the farming industry and removed agricultural subsidies." The result: A "fantastic success," Perry states, with New Zealand's farmers more productive and more efficient in their land use and a stronger agricultural segment for the largely rural nation. The 60-year-old Perry knows his agriculture, aside from growing up on a farm: He served as Texas agricultural commissioner after serving in the state legislature and serving four years as a C130 pilot in the Air Force. After his term as Ag commissioner, he was elected lieutenant governor in 1998 when Bush 43 was governor. In Texas, the governor and lieutenant governor don't run as a ticket, but rather as individuals, which can result in a governor and lieutenant governor of different parties, as happened when Bush 43 was first elected governor in 1994 when the lieutenant governor was the legendary Bob Bullock, a Democrat.
Perry attacks (on Page 143) another Texan who became president, Lyndon B. Johnson, he of what Perry calls the "inaptly named Great Society", for giving us Medicare and Medicaid in the first place. Perry even touches the political "third rail" by slamming Social Security, citing Texas counties that have opted out of Social Security.
Perry makes it clear that he believes America is great and can overcome what he believes are the shackles that were imposed by previous movements that constrain its greatness. He says -- and the Nov. 2, 2010 voting results seem to confirm his view -- that Americans are fed up with being over-taxed and over-regulated. "We are tired of being told how much salt to put on our food, what kind of cars we can drive, what kinds of guns we can own, what kind of prayers we are allowed to say and where we can say them, what we are allowed to do to elect political candidates, what kind of energy we can use, what doctor we can see. What kind of nation are we becoming? I fear it's the very kind the Colonists fought against."
The Lone Star State's longest serving governor adds that American are "fed up because deep down we know how great America has always been, how many great things the people do in spite of their government, and how great the nation can be in the future if government will just get out of the way."
So despite his disclaimer, I'm guessing that Rick Perry, my governor (full disclosure: I voted for Bill White), will be in the GOP Presidential mix in 2012. His book is a good introduction to his views, many of which are shared by my congressman, Ron Paul (R-TX 14), who also easily defeated his opponent on Nov. 2 (full disclosure, I voted for Ron Paul).
Publisher's website: www.hachettebookgroup.com
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BOOK REVIEW: 'Fed Up!' Outlines Texas Governor Rick Perry's Prescription for Fixing America
Reviewed By David M. Kinchen
Right after the foreword by Newt Gingrich in Rick Perry's new book "Fed Up!: Our Fight to Save America from Washington" (Little, Brown, 240 pages, notes, index, $21.99) Perry says that being governor of Texas is the "best job in America" and he has no higher political aspirations for 2012.
I don't know if you can take that to the bank, but given his resounding defeat on Nov. 2 of the Democratic candidate, former mayor of Houston Bill White, and Kathie Glass, the Libertarian Party candidate, for an unprecedented third term as governor of the nation's second most populous state, Perry should easily qualify as a potential GOP nominee in 2012.
Perry's message is simple: He wants to return power to the states that was taken from them by movements as varied as the Progressives of a century ago, who instituted a federal income tax with the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, and the New Dealers under President Franklin D. Roosevelt who expanded the federal government far beyond what the Founding Fathers envisioned.
His message is not all that different from that of former Florida congressman Joe Scarborough, whose book "The Last Best Hope" I reviewed last month (link: http://archives.huntingtonnews.net/columns/101005-kinchen-columnsbookreview.html).
Both Perry and Scarborough, host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program, have ample blame for their fellow Republicans, violating the legendary 11th Commandment of the GOP not to "speak ill of fellow Republicans." On page 63 he slams his "friend" and fellow Texan President George W. Bush "who signed into law large education increases and a massive expansion of Medicare to the tune of $500 billion for prescription drugs." He returns to the fray on Page 143, prefacing his remarks by how much he respects and admires Bush 43, and then saying that GWB didn't "fight for fiscal conservatism with the same fervor with which he pursued the freedom agenda in his foreign policy." Being dubbed a "big government conservative" by "Republican-friendly" columnist Fred Barnes in the Weekly Standard doesn't cut it with Perry, either: "There is no such thing as a 'big government conservative.' It is an oxymoron."
Perry who grew up on a cotton farm in Paint Creek, TX, north of Abilene, is also against another innovation of FDR's New Deal, agricultural subsidies (OK, now he's lost the Senior vote and he's going for losing the farm belt vote!). On Pages 67-68 he says the hundreds of billions of dollars of farm subsidies paid out annually mostly go to large commercial farms, not "family farms" (growing up on a Michigan farm myself, I experienced life on a real family farm). On Page 68, Perry cites a Dutch immigrant dairy farmer, Hein Hettinga, who tried to circumvent government price controls on the dairy industry in the 1990s. Hettinga sold milk for 20 cents less than the government-mandated prices and naturally had a booming business -- until the dairy industry and DC bureaucrats got wind of his business and ended up with Congress in 2006 passing a law that crushed his business. Perry may have defeated a Libertarian to win his third term on Nov. 2, but it sounds to me that he's a libertarian at heart!
Coming from a state that deregulated electricity, giving consumers a choice of power companies, Perry is quick to cite a country that deregulated its agriculture, New Zealand (Page 69). New Zealand faced a financial crisis in the early 1980s, Perry writes, and was forced to scale back its government. "They began by deregulating the farming industry and removed agricultural subsidies." The result: A "fantastic success," Perry states, with New Zealand's farmers more productive and more efficient in their land use and a stronger agricultural segment for the largely rural nation. The 60-year-old Perry knows his agriculture, aside from growing up on a farm: He served as Texas agricultural commissioner after serving in the state legislature and serving four years as a C130 pilot in the Air Force. After his term as Ag commissioner, he was elected lieutenant governor in 1998 when Bush 43 was governor. In Texas, the governor and lieutenant governor don't run as a ticket, but rather as individuals, which can result in a governor and lieutenant governor of different parties, as happened when Bush 43 was first elected governor in 1994 when the lieutenant governor was the legendary Bob Bullock, a Democrat.
Perry attacks (on Page 143) another Texan who became president, Lyndon B. Johnson, he of what Perry calls the "inaptly named Great Society", for giving us Medicare and Medicaid in the first place. Perry even touches the political "third rail" by slamming Social Security, citing Texas counties that have opted out of Social Security.
Perry makes it clear that he believes America is great and can overcome what he believes are the shackles that were imposed by previous movements that constrain its greatness. He says -- and the Nov. 2, 2010 voting results seem to confirm his view -- that Americans are fed up with being over-taxed and over-regulated. "We are tired of being told how much salt to put on our food, what kind of cars we can drive, what kinds of guns we can own, what kind of prayers we are allowed to say and where we can say them, what we are allowed to do to elect political candidates, what kind of energy we can use, what doctor we can see. What kind of nation are we becoming? I fear it's the very kind the Colonists fought against."
The Lone Star State's longest serving governor adds that American are "fed up because deep down we know how great America has always been, how many great things the people do in spite of their government, and how great the nation can be in the future if government will just get out of the way."
So despite his disclaimer, I'm guessing that Rick Perry, my governor (full disclosure: I voted for Bill White), will be in the GOP Presidential mix in 2012. His book is a good introduction to his views, many of which are shared by my congressman, Ron Paul (R-TX 14), who also easily defeated his opponent on Nov. 2 (full disclosure, I voted for Ron Paul).
Publisher's website: www.hachettebookgroup.com
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