(Altoona, IA) Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) visited Altoona yesterday on a four day swing through Iowa that ends today with a visit to the Iowa State Fair. Perry stopped by the Altoona HyVee for a business roundtable to stump for Crystal Bruntz, the Republican nominee in the Iowa Senate District 15 race.
Perry pointed out that Republicans winning races, like the race in SD 15, is vital for the party to win the Iowa State Senate so they control both chambers. He noted that changes in Texas business climate – tort reform and tax reform – were only able to take place after Republicans controlled the leadership in both houses and the Governors office.
“I have been Governor long enough that the policies we have put in place are now mature. They are cured, if you will, they have come to fullness of time. We passed the most sweeping tort reform in the nation in 2003,” Perry stated. “The first time since the 1870s since there was a Republican-controlled House, Senate, Governor, Lt. Governor, and Speaker was in 2003.”
Perry pointed out that 35% of all the private sector jobs created in the United States since he has been governor have been created in Texas. He said that with the right policies – tort reform, reigning in onerous regulations and lowering taxes – that type of growth could happen anywhere.
Perry discussed the border crisis on the Texas-Mexico border an issue that Bruntz noted she hears about while doorknocking. “It became apparent to me after meeting with the President. I wanted to give him appropriate time to see if he would work with Congress or unilaterally, and the President could unilaterally have sent the needed security measures – boots on the ground, technology, et cetera… to help us secure the border and stop this amazing wave of individuals that are coming into our country,” Perry said. He said they have done nothing.
“Eventually you get to the point where if the federal government is not going to do its duty to help us secure that border then we have to do it,” Perry asserted. Perry has ordered National Guard troops to the border, as well as, implemented other measures with Texas law enforcement agencies to address the problem.
Perry discussed immigration reform during a media avail after the meeting, something he discussed when he ran for President in 2012. He noted a change. “I believe he American people have now concluded that until Washington secures the border they’re not going trust them to do this all encompassing immigration reform. From my perspective there has been a very clear change in the American people’s trust of Washington, and they do not trust Washington to address a comprehensive immigration policy at the same time what they want to see is the border secure,” Perry said.
He said this problem goes back all the way to the mid-80s with unfilled promises made on border security while amnesty was being granted. “The American people have come to the very clear, and I think, right decision that you secure the border first then we can have a conservation about immigration reform.”
Perry said there have been a number of Governors who have offered their National Guard members to assist, but Texas has not accepted those offers until they get a better handle on deployment and what needs there actually are.
Perry said he has not received any communication from the Federal government on his decision to deploy National Guard troops.
He also said that his focus is on 2014. He did indicate that he’s considering running in 2016. He joked during the meeting that Iowa isn’t the only state he’s visiting. “I am visiting New Hampshire and South Carolina as well.” He also has campaigned in other key races like North Carolina as well.
He discussed the Common Core, and his decision to not apply Race to the Top funds. “It’s a 10th Amendment issue. If you want Washington, if you want to implement their standards, that’s your call. In Texas we had higher standards. We had higher standards than No Child Left Behind. We certainly had higher standards than (Common Core) so it was a very easy decision for Texans, myself and the Legislature included, to basically say we still believe that Texans know how to best run Texas. That the Texas Legislature, that the Texas School Boards, the Texas teachers, we collectively know best how to educate our children rather than some bureaucrat in Washington,” Perry told Caffeinated Thoughts.