Press "Enter" to skip to content

Perry Vilifies Government, Misses Point of Democracy

Mr. Wiken notes that Rick Perry is campaigning to make Washington "as inconsequential in your lives as I can." That, friends, is the Grover Norquist philosophy in a nutshell. Fill government with people who either don't believe we constitute governments to make our lives better or who aren't capable of managing a government that does those things. Convince people that they'll be better off if we remove government from the equation and let the free market and the church do everything.

I'll leave the church alone this morning, but Adam Smith recognized the free market does not solve everything. Make government inconsequential, and wealth (also known as power) accumulates in the hands of a few. Make government inconsequential, and you and your partner take turns staying up all night guarding your own property. (I know some of you think that's fun, but try it for a week: you'll realize it's not.) Make government inconsequential, and you are paving your own street, damming your own river, quitting work to home-school your kids, and building your own wastewater systems and libraries.

But Americans won't be fooled. They'll see that Rick Perry doesn't really mean he'll make government go away. He'll still use the Patriot Act to violate the Fourth Amendment. He'll still have sex police shutting down abortion clinics and keeping homosexuals from enjoying the same rights with their life partners as heterosexuals. He'll still have agents asking for your papers on the street corner to prove you're an American. He'll still make government consequential in the lives of his corporate cronies with his redistribution of wealth to the rich.

Perry and his fellow faux-minarchists will still advocate inserting government into our lives when it suits their ideology. Democrats at least are honest: yes, we believe in government. The government is us. If we pay attention, if we engage the process, we can make government work.

Perry doesn't want us to remember Lincoln's words that our government is of the people, by the people, and for the people. Perry wants to vilify government even as he seeks its levers of power. Fall for the Perry propaganda, and you are sure to find government increasingly something done to you, rather than something you do.

13 Comments

  1. Troy Jones 2011.08.15

    I sense fear in the liberal extremist wing and they are lashing out.

    Look, there are conservatives who are as you describe hyperbolicly above but Rick Perry isn't one of them. And, there might be legitimate "attacks" against Perry you can make from your liberal perspective.

    But, what you are doing is attacking a caricature you have created to embody those you most disagree with little accurate description of Perry.

  2. Eve Fisher 2011.08.15

    Leaving caricature alone, I would never vote for Governor Perry simply because (1) he has threatened to secede from the Union - repeatedly - and then bitched because the feds didn't cough up the money fast enough when the wildfires broke out; and (2) he says government is the problem and yet his entire career has been in government. He talks out of both sides of his mouth. There's also the fact that Texas, in case you haven't noticed, has an abysmal record when it comes to education, taking care of their poor, and women's health issues.

  3. Steve Sibson 2011.08.15

    "Democrats at least are honest: yes, we believe in government."

    And it is through Big Government that the GOP Establishment and their cronies are making fheir fortunes. If you want to understand how the GOP and the Democrats work together, Google Rick Perry and Bilderbergers.

  4. Roger Elgersma 2011.08.15

    Texas already had a bad school system. Last winter I was in Houston visiting my daughter and the proposal Perry had for balancing the budget was to cut education 23%.

  5. Ted Fonda 2011.08.15

    re, "Make government inconsequential," was not the quote. He actually said, "..make Washington, DC inconsequential in your daily life...."
    If you were a small, or a big, business owner and watching 50% of your gross go to Federal taxes, rules and regulations compliance, and federally mandated employee expenses this would sound great. By the way, I have laid off 2 full time workers in the past year because I could no longer afford the State and Federal costs. They were replaced with one part time worker at 20% of the cost of the full time worker she replaced. Of course this is all moot to to someone who wouldn't have anything if it weren't for DC handouts....

  6. Douglas Wiken 2011.08.15

    Texas accepted $17 BILLION in stimulus aid.

    Perry attacks DC for giving his state money? Or does he take credit for what the stimulus money did?

    Perry is a bad joke.

  7. caheidelberger Post author | 2011.08.16

    Hey, Ted, nice straw man. Who here is the supposed recipient of DC handouts? Are you referring to all the South Dakotans who receive $1.50 for every $1 they pay in taxes to pave all their rural roads, fund lunches and special ed in their schools, subsidize their crops and ethanol and airports, build libraries and wastewater systems, and maintain a big airbase to provide jobs in the Rapid City area?

    Perry's "DC" in that phrase is code for government. Perry is trying to undermine our faith in our ability to act as a nation through our federal government to improve the quality of life for all citizens. Perry wants to cripple DC so multinational corporations can rule. We know better than to let that happen, Ted.

  8. Troy Jones 2011.08.16

    LOL. Every now and then I read something that makes me want to say:

    "the problem with the liberal mind is there is no liberal mind."

  9. Steve Sibson 2011.08.16

    "South Dakotans who receive $1.50 for every $1 they pay in taxes to pave all their rural roads"

    The extra 50 cents is borrowed money fron future generations Cory. Government does way more than pave roads. Consuming wealth not yet created by future generations is not only immoral, but a recipe for financial destruction. And...BOTH parties are responsible!!

  10. Mike Quinlivan 2011.08.16

    Troy,

    I must say, as such a "respected" member of the SD Blogosphere, you engage in an awful lot of drive-by shit talking. But keep it up; I thoroughly enjoy hearing the same tired bromides about "Youth for Reagan" groups, and being an intern in Pierre, etc. If only my life were so fulfilling. Maybe I should switch parties; the Young Republican's accept up to age 48, right?

  11. Wayne B. 2011.08.16

    Eve wrote: "(2) he says government is the problem and yet his entire career has been in government."

    This baffles me somewhat... are people who want government to remain small supposed to just go about their daily lives and leave government to its wiles? Won't that mean only those who want government to grow bigger will seek office and work there, thus perpetuating the problem?

    I was always told if you don't like something, change it... so it seems logical to have to participate in the functions of government to effect the changes desired.

    It's why folks always recommend if someone doesn't like something, then leave - that way the person gets discouraged and won't try to change anything.

    I'd prefer we ditch the party system altogether. It's done little to help us this past decade, and it looks like it's only going to get worse.

  12. Eve Fisher 2011.08.16

    Wayne, I wish you'd been around when all the Vietnam/Gulf I/Iraq War protesters heard was "America, love it or leave it!" I'm just saying, for someone who hates government, Perry has made a very nice living off of it and hasn't managed - or tried - to kill it yet. My bet is, elect Perry, and you'll find federal government accumulating and accelerating at the same rate it did under George W. Bush.

Comments are closed.