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Subscribe to RSSGov. Rick Perry may face an old political ghost from his tenure as Texas Agriculture Commisioner -- a complimentary letter he wrote in 1993 to then-First Lady Hillary Clinton to urge her to consider the needs of rural residents as she drafted what would later be derided as "Hillarycare."
In the letter, dated April 6, 1993, Perry wrote to Clinton, “I think your efforts in trying to reform the nation’s health care system are most commendable."
He went on to request that the health-care task force consider the unique needs of "farmers, ranchers, and agriculture workers, and other members of rural communities."
Perry campaign strategist Dave Carney told The Daily Caller, which first reported on the letter yesterday, that Perry would not have known the specifics of the policy at the time. "The letter was at the onset of her efforts before she proposed anything," he said. "No one could have imagined the horrible monstrosity she cooked up, in fact, not to be outdone until 'ObamaCare' years later."
It is true that the precise details of the plan were unclear at the time and the process of hashing out the policy was (now infamously) opaque. But some of the broad goals of the legislation were being reported at the same time Perry was penning praise to Clinton.
According to a Los Angles Times report from April 5, 1993, the plan was designed to, in part:
* Guarantee that a uniform package of basic benefits will be available to everyone, although not all the uninsured will get this coverage right away. Among the basic benefits would be hospital and doctor services, including mental health care, and some prescription drug coverage.
* Create a standardized insurance form and bar insurers from refusing to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions, in order to enable people to change jobs-and insurers-without fear of losing coverage.
* Enact tort reforms to reduce medical malpractice litigation.
* Impose a price freeze on private-sector medical providers while the system of cooperatives is phased in, a process that could take three to five years.
* Phase in a requirement for employers to provide workers with health insurance, with government subsidies to help the smaller businesses.
Several of those objectives, including the mandate that employers provide health care for workers and the guarantee of universal benefits to everyone regardless of pre-existing conditions, are now objectionable to conservatives like Perry, who has said he wants to use an executive order to dismantle "Obamacare."
Asked if Perry would have considered "commendable" those goals, which were public at the time that Perry praised Clinton, Carney told NBC News that while "insiders" were speculating about the details, Perry was simply raising concerns about an important constituency.
"The letter is very clear," Carney wrote via email. "They were trying to reform health care and no one knew how awful the final product would become. Insiders may have speculated on what might come out of the process. Rural voices and concerns deserved to be included."
NBC's Marcie Rickun contributed to this report.
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'Too pretty to do homework' T-shirt all the rage
Are they talkin about Perrywinkle??
I personally think his face looks like an old catcher's mitt ...
Bill Clinton calls Perry a ‘good-looking rascal’ wtf
huh .. er never mind.... try again when you're sober.. wink
Now you are really going to judge Perry on his looks?? Really??? Have you seen Odumbo??? Not a very good looking person at all!!! I'd say he looks alot worse than Perry.
maybe cause O does his homework, dumba$$. Geez this is too easy.....lol
hag....you just don't make any sense sometimes
NBC and liberals are SO desperate to try smearing Rick Perry. But yet another fail. Libs canNOT prove Perry knew ANY of these so-called "known" details of Hillarycare, yet imply that or accuse that he knew, trying to portray him as a flip-flopper. His record speaks for itself and so does his letter. He was simply trying to be sure rural folks don't get left out, no matter what the final product was, which CLEARLY was not yet KNOWN. Try AGAIN, desperate LYING liberals. So pathetic and DISGUSTING this "journalism" by liberals is. REPULISIVE. Can't wait until all these LIARS get held ACCOUNTABLE. Oh, it's COMING. You betcha, LIARS.
Who the hell cares what he did 20 years ago! All I care is what he says now and nothing he says interests many of us.
Perry used 17 Billion of that nasty ole stimulus money - I would have thought he wouldn't have touched it since it was such a BAD idea. He doled out millions to his big corp friends that support him. What a good Christian boy he is. Then he is trying to take credit for all them there government jobs he has aquired in the state of Texas. But you pubtards hate those government jobs don't ya? His state is 47th in education. Yep sounds like the man for me!
Life as we once new it was a free life that let us choose what way we wanted to go in life but as we see it now we must do as the GOV> tells us to do, WRONG!!!! We as Americans need to stand up and do what is right and tell the GOV> that WE ARE IN CHARGE NOT THEM!!!!!!!!
yes, we gonna do it ourselves, damed goverdmnd!!! lol
Your check is in the mail please dont fret!!!!!!!
People worried about health care need to figure out, no one gets out of here alive.
It is Fuc*k the old and save the young as OLbamacare states... Read the bill people
thank you einstein. oh, i forgot you hate jews too....
haggisbingo-2225582
Race has nothing to do with anything!!! All people are the same in my view... You are so lame bud
JEWS? No Trolls! FOFLMAO!!!
Richard, sure .... wink..........nod..........."I know nothing"........... bud
haggisbingo-2225582
First statement you said that is true. You know NOTHING!!!!
that was in quotes you dumtard. Educated in TX maybe???
haggisbingo-2225582
TX, That is trhe problem.... You need real school!!!!!!
CEO pay rising as tax bills drop, interesting.
No different from the Corporate Welfare Program.
Why are so many people picking apart all the opponents?? We do need a change for the average person to help us in these trying times!!!! Let us compare what each person has done!!! Obama has done NOTHING to help the average person so any person that beat him would be a change that would help us all!!!!!
Well Richard obviously there are MANY that disagree with you. The Tea Party with their big campaign promises of jobs, jobs, jobs, have done NOTHING - name ONE thing they have done except be a roadblock for any kind of forward movement.
Tea Party = Part of the Problem
Democrats = The solution
Perrywinkler could get the gay vote if he wasn't so abusive to gays .........lol
But he'll flip-flop when he thinks he needs them ..... and come out of the closet.........heeheeheehee
haggisbingo-2225582
So you are GAY??/ Now I know what your problem is!!!!!
heeheeheeeheeee How's your gaydar bud?? heeeheeeheee
Poor buddy are you sad??? How is your day bud!!!
wanna hookup darlin?? wink
Have you noticed the latest Democrat platform? They have no plans on how to fix anything so they stoop to personal attacks on their opponents. To those of you who don't agree with me, you must be a racist!!!!
drunkOnyango - your earler description of the President Obama as "the brown clown" tells everyone here where you come from and where you aren't going.
Perry was for it before he was against it. That makes him a flip flopper unless you believe his opinion evolved over time. But he doesn't believe in evolution so he's a flip flopper.
Yes, when I was a Republican I had a lot of dumb beliefs and I learned from my mistakes.
I was GOP for 25 years and I was so excited when in 2001 we finally had the house and presidency, now we could really fix the state. Bush then reversed our surplus and gave it to the super wealthy driving up our debt, lied to America to invade two nations that were no threat to us wasting trillions of dollars and killing thousands of our young men and He looked the other way while the banks ran a pyramid scheme that destroyed the worlds economy causing more pain and suffering for our nation. I'm no longer drunk with the lies and false ideology of the GOP, but like a beaten wife so many return to their husbands thinking this time it will be different.
sparticas
2nd grade student, Go back to class please!!!!!!
Sparticus,
Thank you for an honest opinion!!
testicles, I spelled it right, LOL???? Oh my what a day in the life of an American.......... You are so lost people
testicles, I spelled it right, LOL???? Oh my what a day in the life of an American.......... You are so lost people, he said, as he wandered around the house looking for the refrigerator!
Sparticus, we have something in common. I also WAS a Republican. I had three strikes against me - no testicles, not enough wealth and too educated. All of the bullies on this thread prove what Republican men really are: control freaks. Which wouldn't be all that bad if their elephant sized mouths didn't overload those hummingbird brains.
If there's one thing I learned as a female Republican is that you need to be arm candy, a bottle blond preferably with huge bazongas and dumber than dirt. All that swagger, swagger, boom, boom gets pretty tiresome once you realize most Republican men are mainly in love with themselves. Any day now they'll have a contest to see who has the best swagger.
your testicles go to class??? only in TX (maybe AZ and AK too) ....lol... too funny!
haggis...Yours didn't. And I don't have any. Try a reading comprehension class or is bone idle the new Daycare Generation Twerps mainstay for proving their lack of intelligence?
Perry has some "splaining" to do alright. He's got a $23 billion state shortfall he doesn't like to talk about or be reminded of. Sound familiar? Is that the Texas way? Ignore, have a talk with God and hope it all magically disappears?
As for healthcare, stand by...two very large northeast HMOs are hoping to increase their rates 56% by the end of this year. Just in time for the 2012 enactment of the HCA. How is that not outright extortion? This proves that even with the Republicans poking holes in HCA that HMOs have been price gouging for years. Anyone who says we don't need serious investigations into the funds of HMOs needs their heads examined.
Shame on any business making money!!!! They need to pay YOU right!!!!!LMFAO
Rickie
It's not that they are making money, it's that they are making tooooo much money and paying no taxes to support the system that allows them to exist. Get it?
Richard...No...shame on business who exploit illegals so they can get rich while they pay zip in taxes. Reread your post...Are you suggesting that businesses can hire people who should have zero expectation of getting paid for the work they do? I believe the Civil War is ove and that slavery ended with the bashing to ribbons of the Stars and Bars. It figures a right winger expects Americans to work and not get a paycheck. Why not just start up the company stores so the hotshots of business can get all the money they have to pay their workers right back? Oh...that's right. That's what they do already when the price gouge consumers, beg for taxpayer bailouts and then juice their employees by sticking the costs of pensions and healthcare on them.
Richard-1923090
shame on any consumer purchasing products/services from businesses. The consumer just inconveniences the business by purchasing their product/service because this money-making business does not need the consumer to make the profit. They are 100% self-sufficient, right Richard?
ewent
those who make profit off hiring illegals are called Entrepreneur. The illegals working 15 hrs/day for peanuts to put food on the table are called criminals.
Just like the social security and medicare. The GOP wants to just change it, right. Change it my ass, they want to do away with it period, and the tea party indorses the same. Want to do away with entitlements, start with entitlements (especially the free ones) start with the dam corporations, and rich. Leave the elderly, veterans, and disabled alone. Oh, and one more thing, stop calling yourselves christian. Personally I think Jesus would be ashamed of some you people.
They do not want to do away with it but make it sustainable you fool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Richard...How is sending it to a private Wall Street high risk fund going to make Social Security sustainable? I believe that was GWB's idea in 2003 wasn't it? The GOP bright idea is all of that money that comes from payroll deductions just going into Social Security when it could become high risk investment play money for high rollers on Wall Street. No thanks. One 17 year Madoffing is enough.
Why is it that most people here dont think a business needs to make MONEY??????? How do they stay in business??? By making MONEY!!!! But as I see it so many here think that Business owes them not the other way around....... What a Fuc*king JOKE!!!!!!
Rickie, you are starting to sound desperate. IT'S NOT THAT THEY MAKE MONEY, IT'S THAT THEY MAKE TOO MUCH MONEY AND PAY ZERO IN TAXES. And they don't just want to make the social safety net sustainable, they want to ELIMINATE it! Read Perry's book! OK, have someone else read it to you. It is great bedtime stories, LOL.
Richard..Come off it. Businesses make more than enough money. When they gamble it on high risk investments and then expect consumers, taxpayers and employees to plug up the gaps in their profits, that's usually called extortion.
Are businesses only in business to make the owner rich? Or are they in business because it's lifelong enterprise that actually benefits not just the owner but the entire country? Your point of view is linear. If businesses today cannot survive without reliance on taxpayer bailouts and help from the government in the form of a glut of taxes credits and breaks, maybe they don't belong in business.
I thought the whole idea of being a business owner was to be self-reliant. How self-reliant are they when they take more out of the government revenues and call 80% of their revenues "profit". That's gaming the system big time.
Richard-1923090
all businesses are here to make money -that is the purpose. but there is a reason why a business fails - and it's not the taxpayers' responsibility to bail them out - whatever the reason is.
look at it as a cycle. in order for a new tree to have a place to grow in a forrest, the old one must die first. same with businesses - one fails - a new one opens the doors.
Enron was in business to make money. Do you you think we should have bailed out Enron when the Enron filed for bankrupcy?
Will you help out the Mom & Shop businesses as well or are you in favor of only the Big Business?
why do I owe a business anything? I buy a product - I pay for it. That's the end of what I owe them. And guess what - they need us as much as we need them.
Your post is one of the most ridiculous post I've read so far.
FLASH FLASH FLASH FLASH say it isn't true?????
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The former [Republican] speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a public corruption probe Wednesday, making him the highest-ranking state politician to admit guilt in a four-and-a-half-year probe.
Ex-Rep. John Perzel entered the plea Wednesday to two counts of conflict of interest, two counts of theft and four counts of conspiracy. He left the courthouse without commenting, but said in an e-mailed statement that he bore responsibility for improprieties in the spending of money he oversaw.
Prosecutors say Perzel was at the center of a scheme to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on computer technology for the benefit of GOP political campaigns.
"It was up to me to see that taxpayer funds were spent only for the betterment of the people of Pennsylvania, and not for my political benefit of that of my party," Perzel said in the statement.
He apologized to the people of Pennsylvania, his family and friends, saying he wanted to "express my profound regret for my actions. You had a right to expect better from me, and I am sorry that I let you down."
In his appearance before a Dauphin County judge, he also agreed to cooperate with state prosecutors.
BuddyThis~
Sounds like Perry actually had a conscience and sense of social concern before selling out to big $$'s. Oh well, water under the bridge now.
Richard go to your room, name calling is not allowed, and no beer while you are in there. Calling someone a fool is very childish, did the republican/tea party teach you your manners.
When you act as one I will call you as one
So what are we supposed to call you?
If the Company you work for does not make money what happens to that company?????? Hello, good-Bye. Companies are in business to make money and when they dont they are gone!!! HELLO
1. Are you saying we should shore up companies that lose money to keep jobs?
2. Did you agree with the loans to GM and Chrysler?
Can you walk this tightrope without falling?
Richard....I'll tell you what. Let's let business make all the money it wants. Without tax exemptions, government subsidies and tax credits. That way, these business men can show us they can really run a business without a single shred of help from the government, consumers, taxpayers or employees. I'm for this one. In fact, the withdrawal of all of those tax breaks, credits and subsidies is a great way to put back what these businesses take from the rest of us.
I can not believe their are so many smart people on this board!!! So smart that why are they not running for public office like Bruce and SPOT????? They seem to think they know it all, WRONG,,, Just because you post here means nothing..... Points of view mean nothing..... What matters is what is best for the AVERAGE PERSON and that means what is best for us all... Libs are dead wrong,,,, Reps are dead wrong... What is best for the average person is LESS GOV,...................
Rickie, do you drive? Do you rely on an ambulance when you fall down? Do you expect the military to keep foreign invaders from your doorstep? Do you want to be able to call the cops to come bail you out if a bunch of white sheeted rednecks drag you from your car? If any of these things is true, you are a SOCIALIST! Grow up and act like you want to be part of the human race.
You are living with a third grade education trying to understand a 18th Century philosophy of society. Try to catch up and keep up.
tex2c2
God forbid we have public schools, public roads, LICENSED drivers, building codes, air traffic controllers, animal shelters, labor laws, etc. Damn socialist and their high standards of living!!!! Why can we be more like China - no labor laws, you don't have to worry about poluting the water that millions of Chinese drink. Life could be so much easier....sigh...
This is another trick by the mainstream media to try to make the public think that Rick Perry really cares about Americans and has a softer side to him. The GOP libertarian governors sold the same bill of goods to their people to win their respective elections and then once elected enacted far right legislation with the help of ALEC. Hopefully people learned their lessons and are not fooled. Otherwise, we are for a very very bumpy ride.
Same bill of goods when Obama ran for President!!!! Change,Change,change, but he changed NOTHING!!!!!!! Can we all laugh now????????
Richard is an example of the typical businessman, it's all about the money. Look real close in a mirror and you will see why your comments and actions turn people away from the political party you are for, just by your example. I am sure it's Republican/Tea-Party. Your actions only hurt and insults are only hurting your party.
I am an Independent and vote for who I think is best for our GOV, you damn Idiot!!!!!!!!Push all you can SPOT for I and many others know you as LIBS and will tie you to the tree you need to be hung from!!!!!
Shhhhhhhhhhhh Spot - don't let them in on the secret! Let them keep making folls out of themselves!
Richard, thank you for proving the violent undertones in all business men. The days of the "Boss" are over. Americans are far too educated to tolerate a bully employer or put up with the exploitation that comes from employers mentalities that they are kings in their own their kingdoms. No. They are not. This is a democracy and no matter how hard employers try, they cannot destroy our freedoms. Not even all their greedheaded skankage can take that away. And certainly never their big money they think they can use to control the entire government and therefore the rest of us. Dream on...not going to happen.
Spot-1951183
You need to hide for all have seen your hatred of Bush and all he did, and see that you are a LIB to the left who thinks the working people OWE you>>>>> I as many know we owe you nothing for as an American you need to work for what you have as I see you dont!!!! Entitlements are your life line and I hope with all my heart you are cut off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Looks like your working real hard today Richard.
Richard calm down and admit you are Tea Party. Nothing less, nothing more.
These guys are such a hypocrite. They won't own up to nothing, they try to blame everything on everybody else, How can you trust somebody like that? I'll bet if you ask perry about it he'll say he dont remember.
Tony: your assignment from a fellow liberal (also a teacher) is this: there' a plural 's' missing above; substitute 'anything' for one of the words above; substitute 'doesn't' for one of the words above. Let's leave the poor grammar and spelling to those on the RabidRight.
Now calm down Richard your true colors are showing. Tea Party maybe, Independent, no way.
Spot-1951183
Oh so you know me???? You are a lost soul in this life bud...... God help you, if you believe in that!!!!!!!
You assh*le are just a fly on a gnats A**
Richard
I love how you Teabaggers pray to God in one breath, and in the next go off on a cussing rant that would embarrass a sailor. Then, you accuse others of being confused! Very entertaining bunch.
Idaho Spud-1126196
Did I say??? I believe in God????? No.... Are you confused?????? The Libs in our life jump to conclusions dont they.......
"You are a lost soul in this life bud...... God help you"
As I said, Richard, you are a confused little teabagger.
Rich, don't..........not dont, slow down.
Less Government solves nothing ... but it sounds great to most people. Reducing the regulations on business for the sake of smaller government is not the same as reducing wasteful, flawed, and outdated regulations.
Reducing regulations of business often results in higher company profits, lower wages, longer hours, more worker job stress, increased toxic exposure, and increased employee health risks.
Painting businesses as our employment "saviors" come with strings attached(see previous sentence).
I disagree zhovti! A smaller Federal Government would require less money to operate, hence the deficit would be more easily addressed while lessening the tax burden on the middle class. Also, I am on the side of the argument which says: less taxes on businesses (such as the export tax) and fewer Federally mandated regulations would entice manufacturers to come back to the US and employ more people. More businesses in the USA increases competition which means that salaries should go up and privatized benefits should get better over time.
Now, obviously there needs to be some controls in place to govern these businesses, because big businesses will try and get away with all sorts of evil things in the name of profits... so we can't just strike out certain government initiatives. However, I strongly believe that we need to review every Federal department, reduce redundancies, and get serious about efficiency.
For example: I work for a life insurance company and while I don't know the exact amount of money we spent on complying with Sarbanes Oxley, it was a lot of money. I guarantee our end customers ultimately paid for it in rate increases. SOX didn't stop Lehman or Madoff from screwing around and I don't think it would have stopped Enron if it had been in place then. It's not going to stop the next money grabbing fiduciary who comes along. Seems to me that SOX is just knee-jerk legislation which gives the appearance of a solution while not providing any of the protections it promised.
So yeah, less government (to me) is a good thing.
Actually, you didn't disagree with me at all. I wrote:
"Reducing the regulations on business for the sake of smaller government is not the same as reducing wasteful, flawed, and outdated regulations."
Yes, smaller government costs always less, but the how the trimming is done is the key. Every butcher knows that.