Rick Perry on the Role of the Feds.

Early this morning blurry eyed I took a cheap shot on another forum at Governor Perry.  While my attempt at humor was rather weak.  Governor Good Hair hasn’t had a reputation as a intellectual heavy weight.  A likable guy, and politically we understand he is more often right than not, but not always getting a lot of respect of intellectually, particualary when he is talking to a national audience.  Well I stumbled across an article where our governor just impressed the hell out of me.

Perry says, “I am a true believer that the Tenth Amendment is being disregarded.” He continues, “I’m impassioned about states competing against each other.” He wants the federal government to be “as inconsequential as possible.” He says with admiration that when he met New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, she said, “I’m going to steal your jobs!” Perry exclaims, “Now, you’re talking.” He thinks states are where the action is and says he wants to keep Texas as the “most successful state.” He says he therefore is “going to work on making the federal government as innocuous as possible.”

This includes suing the federal government to repeal ObamaCare and to limit EPA’s regulation of Texas emissions. On education he says, “I’m not only against Race to the Top. I’m against No Child Left Behind.” He doesn’t see how a “one-size fits all” education policy is going to meet each state’s needs. He asks rhetorically how “Washington D.C.,1,500 miles away from us” is going to direct all the Texas schools.

This doesn’t mean he wants the federal government to do nothing. In fact, if the federal government, in his view, would stop “meddling” in the states’ businesses it would be able to fulfill its core responsibilities. “We’d love to have the federal government more involved in defending our borders,” he says. And he likewise reasons that once the federal government stopped “doing too many things” it could focus on “building relations internationally.”

Ironic that he states so well the role of States and the Feds so clearly and well as he claims he isn’t interested in being president. States competing for jobs? Sounds so libertarian!