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Subscribe to RSSTAMPA, FL -- The morning after a sometimes-rocky appearance in front of a Tea Party debate audience, Gov. Rick Perry said he was "taken aback" by cheers from some crowd members on a hypothetical question of whether a young man who decides not to buy health insurance should be refused care if he develops a life-threatening illness and be left to die.
"I was a bit taken aback by that myself," Perry told NBC News and the Miami Herald after appearing at a breakfast fundraiser in Tampa.
"We're the party of life. We ought to be coming up with ways to save lives."
Perry distinguished from that the issue of "justice," reiterating his strong support and "respect" for the death penalty on a state-by-state basis. "But the Republican party ought to be about life and protecting, particularly, innocent life," he added.
Perry also responded to the crowd's negative reaction to his support for allowing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, saying his campaign has "the right message" on opportunities for children who were brought to the United States illegally "by no fault of their own."
"This issue is about education, it's not about immigration," he said.
"These kids showed up in our state by no fault of their own, some 2-3 years of age. And they've been in our schools, they've done their work, they've prepared themselves good, they want to be contributing members of society. So it would be I think the wrong message to say somehow or another that you can't go to our colleges, or we've going to punish you because of the sound of your last name."
"When people really think about it, I think they'll understand what we did in Texas was the right thing for Texas," he said.
Last night's debate also featured shots at Perry from both Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum on the issue of Gardasil, a vaccine that Perry mandated to be given to 12-year-old girls to prevent HPV - a disease linked to cervical cancer.
Bachmann said on NBC's TODAY Show this morning that she was approached by a woman after the debate whose daughter had suffered mental retardation as a result of getting the vaccine.
Perry dismissed that idea as similar to debunked theories linking vaccinations to autism.
"You heard the same arguments about giving our children protections from some of the childhood diseases, and they were, autism was part of that. Now we've subsequently found out that was generated and not true."
"I would suggest to you that this issue about Gardasil and making it available was about saving people's lives," he added.
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The Republicans are currently being lead around by inferior-thinking human beings, at best. Most in the TParty can't think at all, as proven by Palin, Rand Paul, Perry and Bachman. It's embarrassing to see what they said and wrote. Didn't any of these people graduate from high school?
Obviously none of those Tea Party members at the debates have every been in a combat situation and saw men, women and children die. If they had ever been in war they would not be clapping when the question of executions in Texas was asked nor would they be cheering when the health care question was asked about the 30 year old man. If that audience had been composed of military combat veterans there would have been complete silence when those questions were asked because combat veterans respect life and know how precious it is.
Combat vets know what justice is also. In Texas, we have an express lane.
Hey guys, you want the truth about Perry? Go ask Debra Medina in Texas. She'll lay it out for you.
So now Perry the Serial Killing, Mass Murdering execution-happy governor of the late great state of Texas is relabeling himself as Perry the Life Saver?
So in other words, he gave a tyrannical executive medical decision based on a personal anecdote.
Maybe we need some wisdom in office.
Obama is not going to win 2012. Clowns like Romney, Perry, and Paul is what we will be choosing from.
I wouldn't write off Obama so quickly. Things can change and the Republicans have nothing to offer. At least nothing that can convince me to vote for one.
Peace.
I find it amusing that this guy tries to pretend he's surprised by the blood-thirst rednecks that support his kind...he's either a complete idiot or a great actor!
Not that I'm in any way for Rick Perry, but Michelle Bachmann just flat out lied. I don't believe for one minute that any woman came to her and said that. She's known for flat out lying and getting other airheads like herself to believe it. Does she not know that reporters will try to find this woman? Why didn't she have the woman there with her to verify that she told her that?
While Bachman is bat sh!t crazy, the issue is still that what Perry was doing by forcing young women to get this vaccine was unconstitutional. It was also so that he could benefit and profit from it. He is doing something similar with stem cell research. He allowed only one clinic to be open in the state of Texas that does this type of treatment and the only clinic that is allowed happens to be owned by one of his long time college buddies.
Please folks, I've lived in Texas more than 60 years, and I don't know where Ryan in Texas got all that misinformation about Perry? It appears he must either be a relative, in Pharmaceuticals, or an oil man who's made out very well under Perry's skirt. Perry is not very bright, and he has little common sense. He's hurt the most vulnerable in this State, and yes there are more jobs if you like flipping burgers! He hates debating, because it pulls out all of his lies, and shows his hypocrisy!
wait until he has to go one on one with bam-o.
"...they've prepared themselves good..."
Did someone say he speaks well?
To the young man who asked: How much of my earned income do you think I am entitled to? - such a great question - AND no one came close to answering it. All talked about some doubletalk tax percentage changes sometimes 2 or 3 different %'s in the same sentence. They all talked tax solutions they would never have to bother remembering again - only Gingrich rang true with -" WE will then determine what you will get".
They all are horrible candiates - "vote for me and I'll set you free'. The young man sat down with all the audience applauding - he didn't look so happy--me neither.
Illegal immigration is part of the Texas Miracle. That is what makes it a low wage state with few unions and few benefits. One thing you will never see is a fence built on the Texas border even if Perry is President. (I notice it isn't on anyone's infrastructure list.)
Bachmann said she was approached by a woman who said vaccine caused mental retardation in her daughter........wait for he punchline...... That woman was Bachmann's MOTHER!
I would suggest to all those who yelled that "YES", the hypothetical young insured man be left to die if injured in an accident through no fault of his own ... the following. I would suggest that each one of you who thinks the uninsured should not be treated even it if results in death should carry a notarized card or letter on your person that insists yu will sue any medical provider who treats you, no matter the severity of your injuries or illness, if you cannot provide or proof insurance cannot be located on your being.
If you think death to the hypothetical young man is good enough for him, you'd best best be sure you are willing to live with the same edict and go to some lengths to make sure you do.
Wow, if I am reading this right - I think I am supporting this man. First time I feel bad for the republicans having to deal with this nasty infestation of tea partiers. I actually agree with him on every point. He may be our man.
You agree with him on every point? You're obviously not very bright. He's specifically targeting people like you.
It's difficult to take Perry at his word when 1/2 of TX has no health insurance. And while he claims Obamacare is hurting healthcare, he also blamed the federal government on the abysmally low insurance coverage in TX.
Perry flamed
Liberals blamed
Truth was claimed
Dude is lame.
I would have been surprised by such a stupid question. No one gets left to die. Every emergency room is mandated to care for anyone who walks in, insurance or not, that is how the illegal aliens get medical treatment. There have always been charitible agencies to help and still some doctors who take care of people for free in some circumstances.
Our world did not let people without insurance die for the 150 or so years before health insurance existed. With the government getting into the lie of taking care of people and lulling people into thinking that would happen so they didn't watch what insurance companies were doing, we have fallen into an abyss. Our doctors were people who bartered for chickens or whatever in turn for treatment. Government intervention and their allowing medical insurance to become simply a profit making venture with no controls is what got us where we are. They should have either stayed out of it totally or set some regulations on the medical insurance and pharmaceutical companies just like those on the utitlities.
@ shaking - In turn, how many chickens must a doctor pay for a new MRI machine? How many sacks of flour will the biomed companies accept in return for years of research to bring life-saving medicines to market? Perhaps the scientists who work at these companies will feel charitable and work for a donkey and a shoelace. In the past 150 years maybe doctors were more charitable because they did not have state of the art medicine and equipment which nowadays costs a fortune to develop. A free visit to stop by the farm and take someone's temperature is not quite the same. And even if pharmaceutical companies and equipment manufacturers are inflating their prices, let's face it research and development does not come cheap. Suppose our 30-yr. old has a bullet lodged in his head and ends up in the emergency room. Will the hospital be there to take the cat-scan and treat the wound in return for a promise of a nerf football and a pack of smokes?
If you argue that every emergency room is mandated to care for anyone who walks in, THAT'S the point. Those with insurance will ultimately be paying for it. Don't humor yourself that those people without insurance will somehow get taken care of out of the goodness of someone's heart. Perhaps the answer is regulation, I don't know. But the mindset that those who don't have insurance will somehow find a way is ignorant, leaving me shaking my head. Either say and mean "let them die", or offer solutions that are realistic. The incredibly lame non-response of Bachmann to this exact question highlights this problem.
Obama's plan does just that, it puts regulations on insurers to prevent them from canceling your policy when you get sick or change jobs. It provides a way for people to stay enrolled when currently they might get dropped.
I would be lying if I said I fully understand all of Obama's plan. But my God, at least he is taking active steps to try to solve the problem. I expect he would be the first accept suggestions for improvements. But it is so easy for the Tea Party zealots to cast stones but come up with no workable plan themselves, other than "let them die". Sorry, I'm just baffled by the level of ignorance.
You people fail to understand the Insurance companies and the people who are paying premiums are not in the charity business. You have to keep the people drawing massive amounts out down to very few or the entire structure collapses.
Everyone wants to make a minimal contribution to health insurance then blow all their money on other priorities few which are even moderately close as a priority. This is the entire problem of the entire system.
Like anything financially run you can only afford a minimum of dead weight liabilities. When the liabilities get too high everyone has to pay more. That is the entire problem now. Nobody saves a nickel in case they become a victim of medical bills. They pay their minimum they expect everyone else to pay their medical bills.
Nobody saves for anything anymore. They spend everything they get and expect "the government" to pick up the tab for everything else. When people know there is a safety net they simply stop being responsible and move on to more fun expenditures. The whole problem comes from one person not having enough money to pay their bills and expecting someone else to pay them. Then it turns into tens of millions expecting other people to pay their medical bills.
Medicare was a nice gesture bit it is not solvent and will quickly collapse from too many pulling out and not enough putting in........ same with Obamacare. A child can understand this but it seems to go right over the heads of most liberals.
A child can also understand that the US pays the most of the First Worlds for its healthcare and has the most uninsured. Our uninsured people could populate Canada for God's Sake.
It is easy to throw stones, but hard to come up with solutions. I could save for my medical bills but without an employer picking up 50% or more of my medical the average family policy is 12k a year. At some point you have to realize that there is a middle ground that doesn't involve demonizing the poor and attacking America's saving habits as the sole answer.
This whole mess starts with one person not being able to support their own medical needs and believing it is the responsibility of others. Nobody is "demonizing" the poor beyond this idea they have. This country is not socialistic and does not force people to work so everyone is contributing the same and would thus get the same. In this country you can sit on your ass and collect entitlements based solely on your income filings. You can be "poor" simply because you don't want to work hard or at all. You can make continuous poor life choices that keep you there.
We have a country with tens of millions of people living a victim mentality lifestyle. We as a country have to define "poor" "lazy", "inactive", "moderate effort", "drug user", "poor life choices", "irrisponsible","criminal" and a host of other things associated with the term "poor' in this country.
Until we straighten all that out nobody in this country should be liable for the medical bills of another person. There is no measurement to make sure this person is working 50 hours a week at two crummy jobs or sitting around drinking all day.
Liabilities is what is killing the socialized medicine systems. We have 50 million wage earners who don't pay a dime in federal taxes. This is by choice of the government. Most could pay WAY more into the system. They also get all their SS/MediCare contributions back through Earned Income Tax Credits. Once you start to embrace massive imbalances such as these in paying into the support system you are doomed to failure.
Everyone was responsible for their own medical needs for thousands of years. Insurance is based under the assumption I will eventually take more out than I pay in which is usually right. To believe simply because you throw everyone into one larger insurance pool makes it more affordable is crazy. All that does is add the expense of the insurance provider.
Adams101- Will you marry me?
Anna...You said why don't the liberals just go out and get a job...hey idiot...have you noticed there are no jobs? Get your head out of your behind and after dusting off..get real
Chicken crap!
Perry, the current defacto candidate, knows exactly how his repugnicrite message machine is collecting votes.
He knows he can lie, attack American citizens and flip flop constantly and still be supported by the RW nut jobs and lemmings.
GOP bumper sticker for 2012
GOP-Down with healthcare-UP with death
Actually, we do have jobs. It is just that we also have compassion and a conscience.
Governor Perry claims that children of illegal immigrants "prepared themselves good." Governor, as any educated person knows, correct English is "They prepared themselves well." Your lack of education, Governor, is abysmal.
I live in Texas and I've never thought Perry was "for life". He makes it extremely hard for parents to get their kids re-enrolled for CHIP, and has a very odd lack of concern for all Americans that need affordable health coverage.
He may say he is for life and in the party that is pro life, but actions speak louder than words and people are dying every day for all the wrong reasons and the tea party is congratulating themselves for their ideology.
Perry and Bachman are cut from the same cloth. Fifty years ago both would be pressing their sheets for tonights meeting of the klavern, supporting poll taxes so those nasty minorities cant vote and anything else they have to do to sell out to the rancor of the Tea Party. Hate to say it but Rommney is looking better all the time. The two of them duking it out just makes me laugh. Isnt one bonehead from Texas enough? Surely we wont go back down that path again.
Party of life.....IF the life is currently in utero! Interesting how he was "taken aback" by something that ANY decent human being with an ounce of empathy should have been appalled at the very least, horrified to the core.
Two things about the tea party (I generalize...I am sure there are some decent but misguided people who identify as such).... The Tea Party proves that the modern dunce cap has three points. It IS "grassroots"...if the grass in question is crab grass. It looks desirable from a distance but when you look closely you see it is not really grass at all but a weed that kills real grass and takes over every inch of ground and is hard to eradicate.
This next election will be all about two things...voter turn out and any possible third party candidates. I fear that any non-vote or vote for a third party will result in a President Perry or Bachmann or their clone. God help us all!
Well said Kathleen;
You are 100% correct. Those who stay home to teach the dems another lesson or move to 3rd party spoilers will be responsible for another set of GOP offerings to the 400 families.
The result of those 'conscience' votes will be a GOP wasteland society racing for the bottom.
You either are going to stand at the wall to fight off the barbarians or you are not.