Much easier to uproot Perry. Hopefully he realizes that being president doesn't make you 'king'. Bush had the same delusions although Bush's party had more control of the senate and the house at the time. I don't think Perry realizes how little power the president has. Perry's idea is also to remove judges that don't agree with his political leanings. Funny as conservative judges have been shown to be more activist than liberal judges. I always find it amusing when conservatives start trotting out the old 'activist judges' bit when their own group are the biggest offenders:

http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2008/08/04_sunstein.html

I have to wonder if he would be so willing to throw out a judge that happens to rule according to law rather than his party line? Perry's kind of thinking is dangerous in the extreme. I'm from Texas and I've seen Perry do this for many years. He's a very good snake oil salesmen. He will fill your ears with populist messages. All the stuff you want to hear, while at the same time profiting greatly from whatever back room deals he makes. In a way, he's worse than Bush was. Bush was just dumb. Perry is dumb and greedy.

Any man who advocates seceding from the Union as a fix doesn't the office of President. It doesn't get much more Anti-American than that.

Hopefully he can remember what the three branches of government are...

Hey, Gov. Perry....Ever heard of a little thing called the US Constitution???

Did you pass your 7th civics class?

Who is stupid enough to even listen to this clown? Can there be that many voters who have no concept at all of how our government works?

This guy was a C minus student in agriculture at Texas A&M, and now he thinks he has better ideas than the founders who drafted US Constitution. Perry should just grab his hamstring, fake an injury, and get the hell off of the playing field to avoid further embarrassment.

Perry lost MANY POTENTIAL VOTES when he signed into Texas law alllowing Illegal Aliens (Immigrants) receive "in-State tuition and financial aid":

A new report out by the Dallas Morning News says, more than 12,000 illegal immigrants are benefitting from in-state tuition and financial aid at Texas colleges and universities this fall semester.

http://www.ketknbc.com/news/should-illegal-immigrants-get-education-benefits-texas

So, Mr. Petty, you can take your "Government Reform" ideas with you back to Texas when you LOSE the Republican nomination.

bywood....Standby for some rude comments from Fiesty for taking her #1 spot on the posting.

It's sad when a captain disregards people deserting his ship ...

But I'm sure there are still a few drinks to be had with the good ole boys ...

And just think of the jokes "look at the good side ... if you don't win, you can break out your paint thinner"!

article... "Perry said his reform proposal will target "lifetime federal judges who arrogantly rewrite our laws from the bench..." - wow, so much for ending slavery, women's suffrage, Brown vs. the Board of Ed, etc. - those pesky Supreme Court Justices.

The ONLY thing I liked about Perry was the TX Dream Act version, like our CA Dream Act. Everything else he says is pretty much confused - like a case of Cain's "swirling around in there". Lol!

spider-737231 ... "serious rebuttal" ... with these clowns "BE SERIOUS" If you couldn't joke about these folks ... the only other alternative would be to sit down and cry!!!!

Listen everybody.....RUN!!!!!!! Rick Perry is a stark raving LUNATIC! I live in Texas, I know first hand!!! and no, I have never and will never vote for him and neither should anyone!!!!

Spider we can't comment because he wasn't specific enough to give a rebuttal. He only said enough to get the news industry to draw attention to his speech. He has lost ground and needs to do something dramatic to get attention. The conservatives have better canidates than he is, so now its either make a spash or pack it in.

Perry should be tried for treason for advocating secession, then sent to the pen, where he could provide some extremely "serious rebuttal" to the other inmates. That's the only "serious rebuttal" he is worth.

Perry is scary....ok...maybe not as scary as bachman but right up there...just about even. they make herman look better...not good but better. newt is getting to be the lesser of all evils. sigh...

Agreed! This may be the most insipid, inappropriate, misunderstanding of what the US Gov't is and how it works than I've ever heard!
Perry's idea that his plan will "touch each branch of government, because they each have contributed to the demise of America."
My first question is WHAT DEMISE? His premise that America is somehow 'dead' is utter nonsense! We are still the strongest and most powerful country in the world. Compare us to Europe if you'd like to see just how well we're holding up. America is bruised at worst- not in "demise"!

Then Perry said his reform proposal will target "lifetime federal judges who arrogantly rewrite our laws from the bench," as well as the "permanent bureaucracy of the executive branch, which thwarts the will of the American people to advance a big government agenda."
OMG, advance big agenda's!? This is exactly why our forefathers created the most genius aspect of our Government's architecture called 'checks and balances'!! Just so no rash actions, emotional or angry retributions or wholesale destroying could be done of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights or the Declaration of Independence. Checks and balances keep idiotic representatives like Perry from mangling a solid way of governing that's worked pretty damn well for over 200 years. Our Gov't is built upon strength and RESTRAINT!
Lastly do we really want "the people advancing" large changes to our Gov't agenda? America is not run as a popularity contest or a reality show...

Spider
I haven't seen anything intelligent come you. You like the other repubpigs whine and complain more than us hard core lovers of a FREE AMERICA ever have.
Suppression hate and GREED is you and their agenda. You can kiss the GOP goodbye for 2012

So to prove that OUR nations law are applied equal I DEMAND this man be brought up on charges of treason. To act as though he alone as president [which will never happen which is why he is saying this] could do this is hilarious. He is effectively declaring his independence from our great nation. He wants to have war on America trying to destroy us from the inside out. He is in effect a TERRORIST. By definition. So what shall be done? I as a gentlemen and fellow DEMAND satisfaction sir.

What it in fact shows is that his personal items and home need to be raided for illicit drugs and paraphernalia.

Uproot the office he wishes to hold? What? This guy is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo funny I had to add a bunch of o's. ; ]

To truly know ones folly the absurdity of ones ideas must be put fourth. To then acknowledge yourself as a separatists, one who wishes to succeed [which he didn't do either] and a fool believing in your own genius is what? Anybody know the answer? Because there is one. ; ]

Cheers

In the end isn't it Mr. Perry himself who wishes to elude to himself as the savior of Texas? Not acknowledging the money from the bailout or the fact that BIG oil has much to do with it. Is it not Mr. Perry himself acting as though Texas is the last Bastian in Americas economy all because of him. And him alone?

So why is it he is speaking as though he feels anyone's pain? Did he feel the pain of the almost unending fires that plagued his state? Hmm. He in fact himself does not know what the rest of the country is going through economically challenged or otherwise. He in fact brags about it as much every day. Y

Good day you treasonous traitor to our country ; ]

Cheers

Poor old cowboy Rick, another one of the Republican walking dead who doesn't yet realize that the only thing he'll be uprooting is brush at his unfortunately named ranch.

So to prove that OUR nations law are applied equal I DEMAND this man be brought up on charges of treason.

So now you want people brought up on treason for stupid ideas? The Left will be hung in droves......

It's pretty easy to see where the GOP is going with this. We made slavery illegal. Their solution? Get rid of Commerce, so that regulation on business and safety and worker's rights won't be enforced, Education, so that like the slaves, we only know how to run the company's tools, and Energy, so that Oil, Gas and Coal can rip the guts out of the countryside without oversight. The Master's can sit on the porch, drinking sweet tea, while 99% of Americans are forced to work in their fields or factories. Sounds like a pretty picture, right?

Gov. Perry’s on the right track. Washington needs a good dose of “spring cleaning”. Politicians can be changed but the bureaucracy remains the same and what’s worse there is more of them now. Our courts are running their own agendas and government institutions have never been so big, inefficient and out of tune with the rest of the country. So rather than ridiculing Gov. Perry, we should applaud him

Oh Cav....way to throw out that ad hominem, hyperbolic rhetoric!

Perhaps you should look at the stories as of late.....like the farmer complaining he has to give bathroom breaks and water to veggie pickers now that those mean old republicans made it illegal for the mexicans to pickhis crops. Who's advocating slavery again? How DARE he have to give bathroom breaks and water to people picking his crops in the Mississippi sun! They should haveto piss themselves and die of hyperthermia. That's what the liberals want, according to their answers to that story here on the Vine.

Furthermore, who abolished slavery? And before I get the "We were the Republicans then!" stupidity again from you, I'd just like to say "Robert Byrd? Grand Cyclops of the KKK and serving Democrat senator until his death in 2010? Ring a bell?". How bout the OWS movement, admittedly highly Left leaning, and their oh so tolerant signs to "Kill the zionist jew bankers"? Or their endorsement recieved by the White Power Movement? Or David Duke.....a DEMOCRAT until 1983. He left the KKK in 79. Coincidence? I think not.

But you keep telling yourself that the Left is the tolerant, loving people you claim them to be. The rest of us not too stupid to attach our lips to Obama's ass know better.

PS - Perry is a moron. The fact that you all spend so much time tearing him down shows just how afraid you are of Obama losing his luster. If you're afraid ofan idiot like that dethroning President Downgrade, someone like Romney must scare the sh!t out of you, and not for the rhetorical reasons you surely will post after this.

Like many Republican Tea Partiers, Perry's a closet anarchist. He also talks to God and God talks to him, didn't you know?

So he wants to uproot the government? If that's the case, then I expect him to rationalize next, on how we might as well do away with our representative democracy and replace it with a Theocracy ...because he believes that by doing so, it will improve the chances of the Rapture happening, so he and his kind will have an "express ticket to heaven" -- at the expense of everyone else.

redblueamerica.com/blog/2011-08-18/rick-perry-believes-rapture-religious-and-political-and-if-we-dont-believe-texas-model-we-will-be-l-9860

He has a point this government really needs to go, can't fix it if its still broke year after year and no one there seems to really care as long as it does not affect them, seems like the people are the only ones that are called upon to make the sacrifices, I don't see them considering cuts from their entitlements do any of you?

Scott, that's exactly what I thought when I was reading about his 3 branches change thing. They're for checks and balances. And the supreme court can't be constantly overruling themselves every 4 or 8 years as presidents (lib and right) swap back and forth. The idea with the supreme court is that it ensures the law is constitutional and is the final law of the land. Their judgements should last at least a 1/2 a generation, and they cannot be in fear of losing their seat when making judgements hence they have a life time appointment.

This Perry guy is stupider than GW. And I didn't think it was possible.

As for the "demise of America", if he's mentioning the demise of the middle class and increase in poor and poverty levels, well you can thank conservative polices for that, no government no union, just run labor off a cliff. And here we are. Businesses, specifically BIG businesses, never had it any better, while the individual is freaking out about how they're going to pay their downsized rent and utility bills-- they're not spending credit, because they don't have any nor want any more. And fresh graduates from college can't even find a decent paying job, even with an internship. And experienced elderly who cannot retire even those with degrees are struggling to find work they're in, just taking entry level jobs with no real area of growth for advancement.

No, Washington was taking care of the rich bastards. Washington is owned by them now. So when speaking about business (not small business) but big business, you are also talking about our government which is controlled by those folks.

Rick Perry, stay in TX. Its a big state. Go get lost in it. Shouldn't be hard, you're not to bright to begin with. You probably could get lost in Rhode Island for a few decades LOL!

Spider....you silly boy, he hasn't actually put forth any proposals for anyone to comment on....he is just blowing hot air at this point in time. Big deal he is going to fix Washington....which candidate for the last 100 years hasn't said that.....and it's still broke. When he does actually put forth something to discuss I'm sure it will be as incoherent as usual.

Perry said his reform proposal will target "lifetime federal judges who arrogantly rewrite our laws from the bench,"

Will Perry pursue the justices responsible for the Citizens United fiasco?

"I'm going to change the Executive branch, the Judicial branch and the uhnnn... ummm ummm.... the Santa Maria?"

Desperate times call for desperate actions.....and this man is desperate. He refuses to realize that his campaign is DONE. Go back to Texas Governor, finish out your term, write a book and lets all get on with it.

I voted for Obama and sit on the fence now. I probably could have been pushed over to the R's with a strong candidate this election - But this stable of idiots and wimps has me running for the hills. This country is circling the drain and any one of them would flush us!

try as I might I can't see anything in this proposal to get big business the hell out of government which is what we really need to set the ship to rights.

Probably because Perry IS big business?

I know that Zombies are a big thing right now but who knew that the "Walking Dead" referred to the republican presidential field? Every time Perry opens his mouth I see gray skinned, deformed, bloodied and re-animated bodies staggering down the street, arms flailing and moaning "brains...brains...brains..we need some brains". Because between Cain, Bachmann and Perry there is not even half a brain. And Santorum? He wouldn't know what to do with it if he had one.

RINO

Republican in Name Only

Nothing more than Obama Act II

I wonder if Perry thought this was a good idea while his buddy Bush was in office.

Perry is speaking right out of the George W. Bush Bible. To Bush's credit, he didn't broadcast his plans to "uproot the government". (What we didn't bargain for was that Bushspeak. "Uproot government became uproot the entire country.)

He also changed "executive privilege" of the executive branch to mean he and his party could do as they damn well pleased. Now, these same hyprocrites are reeling in that line of BS so this administration can't move sideways without their control freak permission.

With dead-eye aim, Bush also tried to polarize and fully Republicanize the Justice Department installing Alberto Gonzalez to do his dirty work for him. Until Gonzalez lost his job for doing that.

Bush was quite successful at watering down EPA regulations so his state wouldn't have to abide by compliance regulations for the pollution his and other crony states were and are spewing into air, water and soil to the tune of a 6% increase in just 4 years in lung related diseases.

Now, here comes another swaggering blowhard thinking he'll make it to the WH. Won't but he can't blow like an oil gusher can't he?

Sounds like Perry wants to be a King instead of 1/3 of government as the Executive Branch Leader.

I'm scared to death he'll get mixed up and uproot the wrong branch.

We know that all he really wants to do is go cut some brush.

DJ-422465-

Funny as conservative judges have been shown to be more activist than liberal judges. I always find it amusing when conservatives start trotting out the old 'activist judges' bit when their own group are the biggest offenders:

http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2008/08/04_sunstein.html

You MUST be kidding, right? You claim (falsely) that the conservative judges are MORE activist in their rulings than the LEFT, and to back up your point, you link a story by CASS SUNSTEIN (Obama's far FAR left nutjob "regulatory Czar")???!!!!!!!!!!. HA!

Jeremy-431970-As for the "demise of America", if he's mentioning the demise of the middle class and increase in poor and poverty levels, well you can thank conservative polices for that, no government no union, just run labor off a cliff.

Wrong. Educate yourself to the facts about why poverty and the numbers of "poor" continue to grow in this country. It's not so much downward income levels as much as mass procreation of the poor, exacerbated by LIBERAL policies like Johnson's "Great Society" programs that resulted in an explosion in the number of single-parent house holds AND THE NUMBER OF POOR BORN TO IMPOVERISHED FAMILIES since its beginning. If you pay the poor for each child they have (and can't afford because of no job skills, education, etc.,) what do you THINK will happen over time? You had poor 20, 30 40 years ago, etc. but after spending BILLIONS of Dollars on anti-poverty programs, we have MILLIONS MORE poor today.

You want to solve poverty? Don't subsidize the poor, promote the following philosophy instead: If you can't feed 'em, DON'T BREED 'EM!!!

Well what's the saying? A blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then?? Well at least half of one here. Mr. Perry is right about needing term limits but lets go farther and expand that to include the legislative branch as well. Don't need lifetime senators and representatives either. But I'm sure that wouldn't make any sense, can't rock the boat too much, or something of the such as either side of this two headed snake party system we have would never agree to that. Sorry, you have a good starting point here but I'm not taking that pill knowing how long the list of side effects will be. Right extremes no thank you. Left extremes, no thank you. An independent or someone who is moderate a little one way or another, I'd like to talk to you. It is time America.

We have term limits, they're called elections. You may want industry calling all of the shots...until you finally realize what that means--some of us already know what 8 years of George Bush did to this country. No thanks. No way. The only uprooting is what is happening with this hapless field of laughable Republican candidates.

I thought this is what OWS wanted! I guess change is good only when a Democrat suggests it.

Machinehead,....let me guess you are Anti-Abortion as well???? You want to have your babies and starve them too.

No problem with your point, it's your solution that seems a bit hard hearted.

Here's a thought. How about BIRTH CONTROL if you can't afford another child, or a first child. Who needs personal responsibility when the government gives you so many outs? It's the Obama way! Nothing will ever be our own faults!

I am all for Birth Control and personal responsibility, unfortunately you can't legislate either. Learning to take responsibility for ones own actions is a greater social problem that will not be resolved easily and it's roots and causes so great and a huge problem the world over. Education, upbringing, unions, the disparity between the meek and the powerful, reality TV, the Oprah WinFREE attitude, the over the top importance applied to Entertainment and Sports personalities, materialism over community, partisan politics involvement in good government, and I could go on and on. You can blame all of that on Obama or whomever you want but unfortunately it's our own fault, hard to wear but it's the truth.

Can you imagine what kind of a country that would be? - truly disturbing.

Because there are a lot of people living here in Texas who don't want to secede and who don't want to live under Perry's rule. He would give anything to be the dictator of some banana republic. I wish he would leave and go find one to ruin.

Vince - I got one, maybe he can buy a piece of the Bush's escape route in Paraguay, next to Rev. Moon

Vince, there are a lot of fine people in Texas, a state that also has turned out some really smart and interesting politicians before Carpetbagger Dubya ruined its reputation. Do not despair. Maybe Perry and the people who support him can secede on their own. A grateful nation would thank them.

Lifted from Young Frankenstein (1974) - and thanks so much for the laughs, Mel Brooks:

(Dr. Frederick Frankenstein and Igor, his assistant, stand beside an operating table and gaze down at the inanimate body of Rick Perry.)

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: [to Igor] Now that brain that you gave me. Was it Hans Delbruck's?
Igor: [pause, then] No.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Ah! Very good. Would you mind telling me whose brain I DID put in?
Igor: Then you won't be angry?
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: I will NOT be angry.
Igor: Abby someone.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: [pause, then] Abby someone. Abby who?
Igor: Abby... Normal.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: [pause, then] Abby Normal?
Igor: I'm almost sure that was the name.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: [chuckles, then] Are you saying that I put an abnormal brain into the body of a man who is running for the presidency of the UNITED STATES?
[grabs Igor and starts throttling him]

Remember it's FrankenSTEEN---Good shot Adler...

There has always been two divisions in Texas. In actuality, what goes on in Dallas, Austin, Houston and Galveston has little to do with the rest of the people of that state. Unfortunately, they are the ones paying the freight for their McBillionaires on McBillions row in Houston Proper.

Not all Texans want to secede from the rest of the US. These are the most intelligent Texans who know what a secession would mean to the economy of their state. Prediction: A whole lot of these highly intelligent Texans are realizing that the stigma created by those swaggering loons in government does nothing for their own sense of stability. Give them a few years and you'll see the line in the sand between them and those who are most oppressive to their quality of life.

My first thought with Perry uprooting govt, he would be in over his head.

Perry ignores that Fedral judges are appointed for life under theConstitution. Tha t means he can't read.

Perry is late to the game. The anti-Washington campaign was 2010. The economy will be the big issue in 2012.

Pragmatic...For once, we agree. I personally believe that the real reforms can't happen from the top down. Or more appropriately, it "won't" happen. How do we change mindsets that view profit at any cost as the only reason for existence?

The economy will change and if my guess is wrong, it will be a result of a forcible end to stalemates in government. We have more than enough laws and regulations for compliance. They need a trip to the dentist or at the very least a set of teeth.

Middle Class Americans are coming around to the ideas that they and no one else have to make serious changes to their thinking about how they will provide for themselves. The days of womb to tomb jobs are over. Americans now face the prospect of having to brave it out and make work if they can't find work. This is a great opportunity not just for the new entrepreneurs but also for investors fed up with Wall Street playing fast and loose with everyone else's money but their own.

Today's investors are narrowing their scopes to include investment teams who invest locally and in more creative ventures. This is actually a double benefit for their communities and helps keep their local and state taxes low.

This is going to be a very interesting turnabout and in typical American ingenuity, we can't join, so we'll be 'em.

Hilarious. You actually used that dumb hick's name and "ideas" in the same sentence LMAO!

What we've had enough of is Tea Bagger nonsense like what you just posted. Perry is an idiot and he is unAmerican. It would be really scarey if he had a snow ball's chance in Hades of actually getting elected. But since the odds of that happening are about the same as an asteroid hitting Washington D.C. at the same time lightening strikes the White House, the Capitol Building, and the Supreme Court building while an major earthquake is simultaneously hitting Austin, Texas. But those ideas are really frightening and it is frightening that people actually believe in this nonsense. What is frightening is that there are that many stupid people out there who believe this stupid ideology.

You can't be serious.........................

Can't we just dump Bob and all his pals in some remote part of the world, where they can fight endless religious wars, waste ammo, eat junk food, and pollute to their hearts' content, while everyone else gets on with civilization? Hello, Afghanistan, are you listening?

YES! We need to reform the election process limiting candidates to people with a functioning brain.

Ummmmm yeah! :)

Right, Nancy, and that ridiculous House vacation policy is something new instituted by Boehner & Co.

I remember the Republicans whining about Nancy Pelosi's policy of having the House in session 5 days a week.

And I'm sick and tired of "Congressmen and Senators". Senators are also congressmen. The proper term for members of the House is Representative, not Congressman/woman.) Both politicians and the news media have led the general population to make that grammatical/constitutional error. Congress (congressmen/women) is made of TWO bodies....the House and the Senate, so use the correct terms please.

anti-trustproponent ...Those in the House are referred to on voting ballots in my state (NJ) as Congressmen/women. Those in the Senate are always referred to as Senators. I agree both House and Senate comprise the US Congress.

I'm not sure how representatives in the House are referred to in other states. In mine, they are always referred to as Congressman/woman.

most are career politicians ..... I refer to them as well any number of things which I should probably keep to myself. Need to get rid of special interests, big corp, Military Industrial Complex, Unions etc, need to get politics out of government, the only answer is term limits. The theory that elections are a term limit is ideal so long as there are intelligent effective new people running for office, but it hasn't worked to date.

And once we get rid of all regulations, big business will really answer to no one, get rid of the unions, and they can put us back to a feudal system. We are in a bad economy because we spend money stupidly on wars we don't need to be and deregulated the banking system who gambled our economy away. He doesn't make a good point Candice, he is spinning things to get morons to vote for him.

The only point is the one on the top of your head.

He does make a good point. Jan, it was recently reported the top city to increase employment and increase personal wealth is Washington D.C., and while 12 million American unemployed workers struggle to make ends meet and compete for few jobs, the White House added workers and gave current workers increases in pay. The layers of bureaucrats, the layers of czars, members of Congress and the Executive branch are completely out of touch with the rest of the country.

We are in a bad economy not only because money was spent on wars but money is spent consistently stupidly on ineffective, inefficient, wasteful, and special interest programs.

I'm not impressed with Governor Perry. The last thing we need is another Governor from Texas with a drawl and swagger. But he did make a good point.

Candice- Did you know the Bush Adm had more czars, than the Obama Adm does? So where is the good point? Please explain!

Does it matter who had more? Do you think appointing "czars" is really a good idea? (By the way, President Bush appointed 33 and President Obama appointed 38 - but that's irrelevant).

The "War on Drug Czar" didn't stop the drug problems in the country. The "CEO Pay Czar" didn't stop Fannie and Freddie from awarding those nice bonuses. The "Automotive Task Czar" --- shouldn't that position be terminated since GM is doing so well now? The "Economic Recovery Czar" doesn't seem to be doing a very good job.

The good point is: too many in Washington being ineffective, wasting dollars and out of touch with the rest of us. Don't you agree?

Yes but you slim down, you lean down, you don't completely eliminate agencies like the EPA that monitors businesses for the toxins they are disposing of etc.

Jan. Agreed. Slim down - not necessarily eliminate. President Obama, in his State of the Union address talked about reforming the structure of government, eliminating and consolidating and streamlining, and saving tax payer money and trying to be more efficient. Nothing ever became of this idea, and we still have a bloated, expensive and ineffective government.

President Obama talked about reforming the government structure, but as soon as a Republican suggests the same, the left goes into a tizzy.

The right and the left actually agree on this issue, I think. Just wish they would actually act on the idea.

Me too Candice, me too.

Well it is true that we want change and he knows we need change but his tactics are a little rough. It is true that the government in Washington does live in a diffrent state of mind than you and I. We suffer and they are late for their massages. Grrrr!

President Obama talked about reforming the government structure, but as soon as a Republican suggests the same, the left goes into a tizzy.

Not completely accurate Candice. The "tizzy" you perceive is due to the double standard; President Obama attempts "reforming the government structure" and the Republicans stonewall, obstruct, and prevent it - then come forward with the suggestion themselves. THAT is what puts "the left... into a tizzy."

Personally, I am not sure I disagree with Perry's basic premise (which is what I hear you saying in your post); but "up-rooting" our government? If you read the documents, over throwing (or up-rooting, if that is your chosen term) is grounds for charges of treason against America. I would advise caution if he consulted me on this course of action/words. He has already been accused of promoting secession of Texas; now he wants to urge "up-rooting" our government? Better tread lightly!

I also disagree with your "czar" count between the administrations. The statement you posted is inaccurate and reflects something other than the truth I believe. I think Hummingbird was much more accurate in his/her post.

Need more info. Can you give examples of quadruple agencys doing the same function?

Agreed, more data needed, please state your sources.

1. 90% of statistics are made up on the spot.

2. I WISH federal agencies had that much coverage on each other.

WE have a government that still runs on PAPER talk about being out dated and inefficient

3. How about how horrible an idea that we run everything digitally is... oops I just deleted the last environmental law, or there goes the budget! One bad key stroke we lose the whole govt, one hacker could slip in wording to laws constantly... there's a very good reason most things legal and official are still run on paper or at least have paper copies made... Maybe I'm a dinosaur for thinking it but there are quite a few disadvantages and having trolls on the constitution sounds like a bad idea..

Relative to the total population, the percentage of civilian government employees is considerably less than it has ever been.

"The U.S. government has more than 100 programs dealing with surface transportation issues, 82 monitoring teacher quality, 80 for economic development, 47 for job training, 20 offices or programs devoted to homelessness and 17 different grant programs for disaster preparedness. Another 15 agencies or offices handle food safety, and five are working to ensure the federal government uses less gasoline." Washington Post, 03-01-11

Google "Overlap Government Agencies" and you might agree the government could be trimmed down and re-organized a bit.

Very possibly Candace but I would have to know far more about the division of labor in those agencies, as long as they are not overlapping in the area to which they are working...then maybe not.

another person that tries to state facts but can't back them up

Got it!! Let's pare down/make lean/whatever, ALL public/private endeavors, toss most of the people who are employed out on their collective asses. Don't build or buy anything, just have everyone fend for themselves, KOOL!! I have mine, screw the rest of you. (sarc) This would be amusing if it were just musing. Oh, BTW: slow the breeding! Have a great day all.

Candace...I can't help noticing you never for one minute post the tens of thousands of privatized government contractors who are considered "employees of the US government under contract". Is that because you'd rather make decent, honest American government employees not under contract jobless? There are more than 300 million Americans in this country. The number of homeless increased under Bush. Why? Add to that the number of unemployed, uninsured for healthcare and you better come up with some answer to how privatized government contractors can handle this mess without puffing up the bills they hand taxpayers.

Sorry, but you don't bash government employees without bashing the privatized government contractors over whom taxpayers have little or no control. Was there a reason Halliburton and only Halliburton was a major Iraq contractor? Or are we to ignore Cheney's having been VP of Halliburton with the back room pact of getting Halliburton a no-bid contract that would pump billions upon billions into Halliburton profits?

It's easy to try and blame unless you are willing to take a good look at who caused most of this economic mess with their "smaller government" BS. I would rather pay 10,000 government employees who work directly for the government than 100,000 privatized government contractor employees ripping off taxpayers. When was the last time you saw the bills from these feeders at the trough?

No we don't, we need to make what we have work. Its not the size that matters, what matters is does it work.

We need to reduce Federal spending by approx 2-2.4 trillion dollars. I'm looking for the candidate who promises to do the following:

It should be the priority of good govt to repeal the 16^th amendment and end corporate and individual income taxes. They violate the principles of liberty our nation was founded upon

We need to abolish the depts of Education, Energy, Health & Human Services, Labor, OSHA, EPA, Transportation, phase out SS & Medicare, abolish the Federal Minimum Wage, abolish the FCC, return student loan programs back to private lenders, end all Food Stamp programs, Federal welfare, Federal unemployment insurance payments, Obamacare, and a host of other unconstitutional programs. These are all unconstitutional programs that promote a socialist totalitarian state

The supreme court decides what is constitutional, not you and not Rick Perry and how constitutional is it to just go around changing the constitution to suit your extremist views? How constitutional is it to force his religion down our throats, he is being paid by oil companies to deregulate everything so they don't have to answer to anyone. Your a fool Larry if you think Rick Perry or the rest of the tea party leaders care about anyone outside the 1%.

Seriously, get help.

Larry, suggest you try moving to Somolia. They have none of the gov. departments that you object to. It seems to work well for them. Good luck.

They have a stock exchange just for piracy there Capted, sounds like a good thieving country for Larry and Rick to go live happily ever after in.

Larry Robinson-1323081 ! USE OBAMACARE NOW! Until idiots like you may actually blow it.

Why, Larry? Tea Party supporters always rail against "big government," but none have ever really articulated WHY government is so bad. We are a vast country with well over 300 million people encompassing a huge range of ethnicities, beliefs, cultures, and languages. We're also a federal republic made of several layers of government -- from townships to cities to counties and parishes to states to national government.

The United States is a spectacularly huge and complex machine 230+ years after its birth. Could it be made more efficient? Almost certainly. Could it reduce wasteful spending? Definitely. But I think the scale of the nation mandates a large and complex government.

The problem I see with people like you, Larry, and Rick Perry, is that you want to do away with all government that doesn't benefit or enrich YOU personally. Every program you want to abolish smacks of class warfare and the typical Tea Party/GOP "I've got mine, so screw everyone else" mentality.

Oh, and to Mr. Perry, I'm afraid President Obama is on target with his comment that Americans are lazy and soft. Sure, it's a wide-reaching generalization, and there are surely many exceptions, but Americans as a whole have been resting on our laurels for for too long (at least 30-40 years now), reaping the rewards of the efforts and sacrifices of previous generations without necessarily contributing to the improvement of those that will follow.

They appoint judges for life for one reason.....political neutrality. If a judge doesn't have to worry about impressing some senator to keep his job, his/her decisions can stick to the letter of the law without fearing they might lose their own income. These judges are already tried by a jury of idiots just to sit on the bench, the last thing the country needs are judges posted every election cycle that pander to the whims of tea baggers or religious nut bags. We have a constitution and three branches to keep this crap from becoming a circus sideshow. If you eliminate the EPA, you might as well grow a third nipple, because if the big companies get that one, they will dump anything they want in the air and in your back yard.

Larry, The government is not evil, WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT! Don't buy into this ridiculous mantra that the government is the source of all that is wrong in your life, its not. The government provides all those services because that's is what Americans have decided they want. And they made those decisions in the full light of day at the time that the decisions were made. The "government is evil" idea is the self same notion that is actually preventing us from finding reasonable and pragmatic solutions to our very real problems. We the People are trying to solve problems with ideology instead of pragmatism.

Isn't Obama re-writing the Constitution by going around Congress and legislating through implementing more regulations? He is unable to pass the bills he wants because of that darn legislative process we put together a couple hundred plus hears ago so he is just makes up his rules as he goes. You liberals have to be proud of that. Funny how your are so quiet about that right now. Just wait until you don't agree with what the next guy does in the Oval office. Then the crying begins...

The Obama admin. recently ELIMINATED over 2000 government regulations. Ranting and raving about regulations is ridiculous. Don't you understand what lobbyist do? They encourage regulations that are advantageous to their clients. Hence alot of regulation either benefits or protects business interests. Some of this 'regulation" has a positive effect on business but a very negative effect on the consumer.

By way of example, alot of people think it would be a good idea to limit salt, sugar, and fried grease in childrens public school lunches since we all know these foods are not good for the human body. Well guess, what the process food industry opposes those regulations, they want carte balnche to poison schools in an unfettered, unrestricted way, and as much as they want. Without limiting restrictions on salt, sugar, and greasey foods how will healthier foods ever get on the menu? Answer, never because healthy foods do not have multi million dollatr lobbyist in Washington representing them!

These process food clowns actually are fighting to have tomato paste on pizza counted as a vegatable, and french fries NOT count as "potatos". Is it any wonder no one knows where the truth lies anymore??

iloveamerica: apparantly you just now learned about executive orders because you woke up to a President you hate?? Come on. Read. Learn something. There's nothing unconstitutional about using constitutional executive powers. (even your hero Bush did it...whenever and wherever he got the chance).

Easily said "reduce the size and scope of federal gov"....point the finger which part other than 'lifetime appointments" do you want to reduce??

I want the federal budget reduced (here in Aust. as well) I want to start with defense, unfunded unwinable wars X2, waste and corruption in defense contracting, Vet Affairs needs to be addressed stop the waste and start getting vets what they deserve, stop making useless obsolete weapons for wars that are not and should not be fought, ...... should I go on. Yes there are alot of other areas of waste and corruption that need to be addressed but lets start at the top with the biggie not penny pinch away at the poor mugs on the streets school lunch program etc etc etc.

SCREAMS - ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH he officially became worse than Cain again.

The reason that the supreme court does not have term limits is so they can exist outside of the playing field of being manipulated for drastic changes in the constitution. The president does not have the powers to do what he is talking about anyway. DOES NO ONE understand the role of the president anymore???!!! He can't repeal Obamacare, only congress and the supreme court can, they will hear it in march. Morons, the tea party are all complete idiots.

Larry, if our President were a Stalinist, you would not be playing computer right now. You would not have access to the Internet, let alone a personal computer.

You and most of us would have been rounded up and sent to die in gulags, because we all have complained about the system from time to time. That, or you would be exhausted from endless labor on a collective farm or a profoundly unsafe factory. If you were lucky, you would be in the army, with badly made arms and uniforms.

This is why no one in the whole wide world, except maybe that creepy little nutball in North Korea, is remotely interested in reviving Communism, which, like all rigid ideologies (religious as well as political), does not wiggle an inch for individual rights and interests. So get off the Communist rant. Accuse the rest of us of something interesting, like being necromancers or Whigs or Damned Papists.

Tea Partiers -- such great big old drama queens!

And Oblahblah has just as much chance at being re-elected as Casey Anthony has at being named Mother of the Year.

Casey Anthony has better morals than most republicans. At least she only killed one innocent person. Republicans have killed hundreds of thousands just during the Bush administration.

the dumb hick is right about the supreme court

No, Perry is NOT right about the Supreme Court. Conservative judges are far more activist than liberal ones, if you read the record of decisions - like the recent one that a corporation qualifies as a "person". The reason that SC justices have lifetime appointments was to remove political pressure from affecting their decisions. In fact, politics should have NO influence on any decision in any court so that justice may be fully and equitably rendered by the courts.

Our government does not need to be uprooted although I will concede that some pruning needs to be done, and Congress can start with its own salaries, perks, and pensions. They should have to pay full cost for their health insurance, and no way in hell should they get lifetime pension for serving a term or two in office...pensions that are equal to their full pay. As far as haircuts, gym/health club memberships... they should be paying for that out of their own pockets as well. They should have to pay their staff out of their own pockets, too, and be subject to the law of the land just as we regular citizens are.

Congress needs to be reminded that they work for us - not the other way around. Not for the corporations, banks, and super-wealthy either. We The People are the ones footing the bill and we need to remind ourselves as well as our elected officials of that fact.

Leave the SC judges be, and implement 4-8 year term limits for the members of the House and Senate.

Succinct, CJ, and pithy. You have no future in politics.

What a lot of people don't realize is that the goverment doesn't run these agency's, It's big corperations. Most goverment agency work is contracted out to out outside company's. My uncle and aunt retired from the DOE where where he reveiwed the budget for his field. He told me that only 2 billion out of 80 billion dollar went to pay goverment expences, the rest went to out side contracters

amen

So you're saying Perry has no clue what so ever and can't even communicate the difference between "uproot" and trim.

You are right, he only opens his mouth to change feet.

DJJ: You're right on. The Texas Taliban has lost his way in the 3 ring circus. His handlers are going full circle back to pandering to the teabaggers. Pathetic.

The president, Grover Norquist and the Koch brothers? That seems to be their puppet masters.

He doesn't have to in his mind, since he believes there is only two. Math wasn't his strong suit in school as was civics too.

He can name them, he just doesn't know what they do. In his mind they all answer to corporations.

No kidding TH, I wrote my senator and told him I really wanted a reason to vote a fiscal conservative and you all aren't giving me any! They cut taxes and spend out the ass, that makes the debt worse not better and he made a comment that we have nothing to show for Obamas spending. UM everyone will have healthcare here, what do we have to show for Iraq besides dead soldiers? Seriously we can't afford the healthcare but I would rather spend it on Americans.

Jan - While, I am not generally one to comment (although I do enjoy reading the comments. People making comments they think are incredibly funny. Others building their own equally inane comments off of the original and then the opposition strikes with equally unintelligent blatherskite...) though I feel the need comment on this comment you made. You stated that "everyone will have healthcare". Could you please elucidate? From what I can tell, the citizens of this country (except the poor, military and Congress) will be required to purchase health insurance (or face penalty) under this "healthcare" act. Forgive me, but this does not seem like a move for healthcare but rather a move for health insurance or rather the government giving yet another big company (or group of companies) a way to make even more money than they currently do. I find that quite perplexing as it does not seem like a thing Democrats are big on (or are they only okay with it when someone in their party does it?). Perhaps, I do not understand the issue in the entirety. I am more than happy to take (intelligent) criticism, direction (as long as the direction doesn't just confuse me more), and an explanation of why you feel the way you do. Thank you and have a fantastic day/week/month/year/life.

From what I can gather it isn't going to be up to individuals but the state to pay for uninsured, essentially it seems like mandatory state insurance like medicaid for those not covered. Someone can correct me if I am wrong. There is not an individual mandate for it.

Nate, my point was more on the habit of blaming Obama on all of our financial woes, which isn't the case.

Essentially they are attacking the problem on multiple fronts, and there will be far more regulation on healthcare. I think people under estimate how much they already regulate it honestly, medicare sets the standards and has for years. There will still be private insurance but make no mistake, private insurance makes money on the younger healthy people who work and pay for it but rarely use it. Its a complicated system but the one thing I do know is they are not mandating individuals to have it, just states to offer it.

How can he do anthing when all you IDIOT'S sent a bunch of (tea party do nothing) to congress to block any program that he has tried to get this country rolling again. You say that the auto industry should have been let to fail putting 1.4 million people out of work, Let the banks fail, let start another 1929. The only differance is that we have not seen any banking and wall street CEO'S jumping off roof's. They think they should get a bonus for bring us to this state.

Jan, I am certain your thoughts are based somewhere in reality (at least as far as you know). I am mostly concerned due to what I have found, such as healthcare.gov's website stating the following:

Who is required to purchase insurance under this new reform?

Under the Affordable Care Act, starting in 2014 most individuals who can afford to do so must be enrolled in a health insurance plan. If you aren't, you may be required to pay an assessment. You won't have to pay an assessment if coverage is unaffordable to you, or for other reasons including religious beliefs.

Additional details will be provided before 2014.

In addition, in reading the documentation of the act found here: specifically Section 1501, Chapter 48 (beginning page 145) seems to dictate that failure to comply with the acquisition of health insurance can mean a rather hefty "assessment".

This seems to contradict what you have said. Do you have any further information that supports your thoughts? I am just trying to understand all of this. I am actually all for healthcare reform. I just think the government could actually do some more reforming of the healthcare part and less on making those who already have a hard time paying bills have to pay more "or else".

Essentially that is saying that there isn't an individual mandate, only if you can afford it are you required to be enrolled, but I suppose "afford to" is subjective. I could be very wrong, and I stand corrected if I am.

I saw nothing in there that said there would be a "hefty" assessment fee, only that they won't charge people who can't afford it. Again a very subjective term, and from what I read a point of contention with Obama and Clinton, she felt it should have been individually mandated. Also from what I am reading they are opening up medicaid type that is available to more people. There is a mandate that parents enroll their children in it.

T.H Eagan - The President proposes - the Congress disposes - contrary to what you think it takes two to tango, and ths congress is doing the two step Poor Obama - keep trying to fix the country - we're not playing your game, you might take away our marbles, like K Street, the Koch Brothers, the other lobyists that have made us wealthy beyond our dreams

Eddie Murphy made a great movie - go to Congress to get rich - Mitt's little snapshot of he and his cohorts who were literally eating money, stcking out of there every orifice - was very true

If I hear Boehner say one more time "the American People" - I might commit Hari Kari - better yet Boehner after you

Barbara Adams Jackson..There is one thing that corporations may have gotten into the brainwashed minds of polticians: The people have no voice. They actually believe only their money has voice. Thus far, Americans tolerated this out of fear of loss of jobs. Well? No jobs are forthcoming anyway so what really do we have to lose by taking back our voice?

At this very moment in time, we have a Republican party that insists upon speaking for us through their own ideological agenda. Most of the oldest Republicans knew the dangers of insulting the intelligence of Americans in that way. These neocon Republicans ignore those dangers. As a reult they are viewed only as a wealth protectionist cartel. This is who Republican neoconservatives represent.

So what have we got to lose by turning our backs on them when they no longer represent the sum total of the voice of the people? If they are not going to do what we, the people, want, we have the option of removing them from office. This is what the people of Wisconsin are going through right now with Walker.

He's pushing his will on people whose voices he wants totally muted. How dare he or any politician try that in a democracy? I think Americans as a body united know best what we need most. We don't need to have puppet strings attached and have our only voices come from politicians with a back room agenda of wealth protection.

"Americans aren't lazy, and they aren't soft"...this from the same guy who complains about all the "lazy" people on welfare and unemployment benefits who won't get out in the fields and pick vegetables for 12 hours a day in the broiling sun, with no breaks or water (unless they buy it), getting paid a dollar or two a bushel or flat, and being exposed to all sorts of toxic pesticides and herbicides. You know, to replace all the illegal aliens who've been working those jobs.

Allison Shaw ..Slick Rick isn't the only one with a plantation mentality. The entire cause of the Civil War was over free labor. Which in those days meant slavery. How soon do you think more deregulation of industries would mean a return to slavery for all Americans regardless of race?

The proof of the plantation mentalities lies in what happened to all of those tobacco, sugar cane and cotton plantations once slavery was abolished. They couldn't continue to operate. That tells us that they never were fully sustainable in the first place if their profits were based upon free labor.

Americans need to be enormously watchful of where labor is going in this country. If those with the plantation mentalities insist they cannot operate a business without the cheapest labor possible, without constant funding from taxpayers they are paying on the cheap, without constantly price gouging consumers, shut them down. They don't belong in business.

What lack of substantial labor opportunities causes is massive hopelessness and more dependency on the government, not less.

I told ya...he thought stay free mini pads were free government housing for dwarfs.....

Larryrobinson....

phunny cowboy !!!

i didn't think anything could embarass texas

Maybe Britney Spears will be his running mate and they can dance.....

Yes,dancing with thestars goverment...

He better hope Herman doesn't notice.....

The BEST posts on the Newsvine so far and I literally LOL'd! Indeed, I think I'll call it a night on a high note. Why worry about Perry when he's a walking, talking billboard for the dangers of inbreeding. Man ain't right, Y'all! YIKES!

I think he does, but I bet he's hoping his constituents don't...

And, therein, lies the rub.......sigh

Sure, it's in his book: Fed Up!

— 10. Social Security Is Evil: According to Perry Social Security is “by far the best example” of a program “violently tossing aside any respect for our founding principles.” (page 48)

— 9. Private Enterprise Blossomed Under Conscription and Wartime Price Controls: Not only does he argue that the New Deal failed to end the Great Depression, but he asserts “recovery did not come until World War II, when FDR was finally persuaded to unleash private enterprise.” (page 48)

— 8. Medicare Is Too Expensive But Must Never Be Cut: Both establishing Medicare in 1965 and expanding it to include prescription drugs in 2003 are examples of “an irresponsible culture of spending in Washington” (page 63), but establishing “‘councils of experts’ and panels of various sorts” to assess the cost effectiveness of different Medicare-eligible treatments is a “frightening” “scheme” that “undermines freedom” and can be fairly labeled “death panels” (page 81).

— 7. All Bank Regulation Is Unconstitutional: Criticizing the Security and Exchange Commission’s rulemaking process under the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill, Perry asserts that “if the Constitution were shown the appropriate respect, Washington regulation writers wouldn’t have to worry about underrepresented views, because they wouldn’t have control over them in the first place” (page 94).

— 6. Consumer Financial Protection Is Unconstitutional: Further reiterates his view that all federal financial regulation is illegitimate, listing the SEC on page 44 as part of a “federal alphabet soup” in which “undemocratic unelected Washington bureaucrats” are “now (dubiously) empowered to dictate their own preferences to the American people.”

— 5. Almost Everything Is Unconstitutional: Regrets the existence of jurisprudence construing the Commerce Clause to permit “federal laws regulating the environment, regulating guns, protecting civil rights, establishing the massive programs and Medicare and Medicaid, creating national minimum wage laws, [and] establishing national labor laws.” Perry makes a partial exception for laws barring racial discrimination which he says fulfill “the intent behind the passage of the Reconstruction Era amendments.” (page 51)

— 4. Federal Education Policy Is Unconstitutional: Cites the willingness of Republicans to vote for reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as a “perfect example” of “losing sight of the fact that perfectly laudable policy choices at the local level are not appropriate (much less constitutional) at the federal level.” (page 87)

— 3. Al Gore Is Part Of A Conspiracy To Deny The Existence Of Global Cooling: Jokes that the Social Security Trust Fund “must be somewhere in Al Gore’s lockbox, right next to his notes from inventing the Internet and that global cooling data he doesn’t want anyone to see” (page 60). Argues that moderates oppose curbing greenhouse gas emissions because “they know that we have been experiencing a cooling trend” (page 92).

— 2. Not Only Is Everything Unconstitutional, Activist Judges Are A Problem: Having called the majority of the duly enacted modern welfare state and federal regulatory apparatus unconstitutional, Perry pivots to the complaint that “the [Supreme] court too often chooses to take it upon itself to govern and to develop policy” (page 114).

— 1. The Civil War Was Caused By Slaveowners Trampling On Northern States’ Rights: Rather than simply citing chattel slavery as an exemption to his “states’ rights are good” principle, Perry argues that slaveholder activism in the 1850s was an example of big government federal overreach. “In many ways it was was the northern states whose sovereignty was violated in the run-up to the Civil War,” he argues, citing the Fugitive Slave Act and completely ignoring the human rights of the enslaved African-Americans of the south. He says “we can never know what would have happened in the absence of federal involvement,” ignoring again the fact that federalism would have bought peace at the price of continued slavery.

By Matthew Yglesias on Aug 15, 2011 at 10:00 am