omg, rick was a tax-raisin’, gore-supportin’ commie!

NYT: Gov. Rick Perry, a no-apologies conservative known for slashing government spending and opposing all tax increases, is about as Republican as you can get. But that was not always the case.

Mr. Perry spent his first six years in politics as a Democrat, in a somewhat forgotten history that is sure to be revived and scrutinized by Republican opponents if he decides to run for president.

… Perry cast some votes and took a few stands that seem to be at odds with his fiscal conservatism today. The most vivid example is his support of the $5.7 billion tax hike in 1987, signed by Gov. Bill Clements, a Republican, opposed by most Republican members…..

… Almost a quarter-century later, Mr. Perry, as governor, was faced with a similar budget shortfall. But he took a markedly different tack this session, opposing any new taxes and signing a budget that made the first reduction in overall spending on public education since at least 1949.

…. As a House Democrat, Mr. Perry was also the co-author of legislation aimed at tripling the amount of money state legislators are paid….

… he was a top Texas supporter and organizer in 1988 for Al Gore, who ran as a Southern conservative rather than the populist reformer he eventually became as the 2000 Democratic presidential nominee.

… In 1984, fellow Democrats recruited Mr. Perry to run for a State House seat …. Perry easily won and quickly became known as a rising star in the Texas House.

…. Rumors that Mr. Perry would defect to the Republican Party – and run against Jim Hightower, the populist Democratic agriculture commissioner – picked up steam by late 1989. On Sept. 29, Mr. Perry made it official at a Capitol news conference….

Full article here

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wow!

MSNBC: The best news for Obama: More than 550,000 donors contributed to the campaign with an average of $69 per donation, which means that Obama’s small-money army is there and can give again – and again and again. (In fact, it says that 98% of its donations were $250 or less.)

The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised a combined $86 million between April and June, blowing past the $60 million goal set by both groups at the start of the fundraising quarter.

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina announced the total in a video released before dawn Wednesday, touting the 552,462 donors who contributed and claiming “more grassroots support at this point in the process than any campaign in political history.”

Of the $86 million raised, Messina said over $47 million went into the coffers of Obama for America and more than $38 million went to the DNC. The average donation was $69.

Thanks Rock 😉

impressive! oh…..wait

Read on:

“Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman’s presidential campaign raised $4.1 million in the nine days since he formally entered the race, though about half of the funds came from the millionaire’s own pockets, a campaign official said Thursday night. Huntsman said previously that he threw some of his own fortune into the campaign to “prime the pump” and help get it started.” (link)

So, eh, should the headline not be: “Huntsman fundraising pulls in $2 million in first nine days”?

Thanks Jovie

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WSJ (May 2011): Without any fanfare, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has taken off the table one of the chips that might have made him a formidable Republican White House hopeful right out of the gate: He will not bankroll his presidential campaign with the Huntsman fortune.

“If we were to get in the race – no self-financing,” Mr. Huntsman told reporters over the weekend in South Carolina. “Unless you can raise it legitimately, you’re not going to win.”

Thank you StR – great spot

inconvenient truths

Crooks and Liars: …. House Republicans swaggered into the White House Wednesday for the latest negotiation to end their economic hostage taking. One, Rep. Jeff Landry of Louisiana, refused to attend and be “lectured to by a president whose failed policies have put our children and grandchildren in a huge burden of debt.”

Sadly for Rep. Landry, the nation’s mounting debt is largely attributable to wars, a recession and tax policies President Obama inherited from his predecessor. Worse still, the Ryan 2012 budget proposal backed by almost every Republican in both houses of Congress would not only drain another $4 trillion in tax revenue from the Treasury, but fail all of the spending and balanced budget targets they themselves propose. Nevertheless, Republicans who voted seven times to double the debt ceiling under George W. Bush would risk the national economic suicide they admit would come to pass if their demands are not met.

Here, then, are 10 Inconvenient Truths About the Debt Ceiling:

1. Republican Leaders Agree U.S. Default Would Be a “Financial Disaster”
2. Ronald Reagan Tripled the National Debt
3. George W. Bush Doubled the National Debt
4. Republicans Voted Seven Times to Raise Debt Ceiling for President Bush
5. Federal Taxes Are Now at a 60 Year Low
6. Bush Tax Cuts Didn’t Pay for Themselves or Spur “Job Creators”
7. Ryan Budget Delivers Another Tax Cut Windfall for Wealthy
8. Ryan Budget Will Require Raising Debt Ceiling – Repeatedly
9. Tax Cuts Drive the Next Decade of Debt
10. $3 Trillion Tab for Unfunded Wars Remains Unpaid

More here

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