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| Perry raises possibility of states' rights showdown with White House over healthcare |
| 2009-07-25 |
| Gov. Rick Perry, raising the specter of a showdown with the Obama administration, suggested Thursday that he would consider invoking states' rights protections under the 10th Amendment to resist the president's healthcare plan, which he said would be "disastrous" for Texas. Interviewed by conservative talk show host Mark Davis of Dallas' WBAP/820 AM, Perry said his first hope is that Congress will defeat the plan, which both Perry and Davis described as "Obama Care." But should it pass, Perry predicted that Texas and a "number" of states might resist the federal health mandate. "I think you'll hear states and governors standing up and saying 'no' to this type of encroachment on the states with their healthcare," Perry said. "So my hope is that we never have to have that stand-up. But I'm certainly willing and ready for the fight if this administration continues to try to force their very expansive government philosophy down our collective throats." Perry, the state's longest-serving governor, has made defiance of Washington a hallmark of his state administration as well as his emerging re-election campaign against U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the 2010 Republican primary. Earlier this year, Perry refused $555 million in federal unemployment stimulus money, saying it would subject Texas to long-term costs after the federal dollars ended. Interviewed after returning from a trip to Iraq and Afghanistan, Perry spoke out against President Barack Obama's healthcare package less than 24 hours after the president used a prime-time news conference Wednesday night to try to sell the massive legislative package to Congress and the public. "It really is a state issue, and if there was ever an argument for the 10th Amendment and for letting the states find a solution to their problems, this may be at the top of the class," Perry said. "A government-run healthcare system is financially unstable. It's not the solution." Perry heartily backed an unsuccessful resolution in this year's legislative session that would have affirmed the belief that Texas has sovereignty under the 10th Amendment over all powers not otherwise granted to the federal government. In expressing "unwavering support" for the 10th Amendment resolution by state Rep. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, Perry said "federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens and its interference with the affairs of our state." Returning to the "letter and spirit" of the 10th Amendment, he said in April, "will free our state from undue regulations and ultimately strengthen our union." Perry, in his on-air interview Thursday with Davis, did not specify how he might use the 10th Amendment in opposing the Obama health plan. His spokeswoman, Allison Castle, said that the governor's first goal is to defeat the plan in Congress and that any discussion of options beyond that would be "hypothetical." "I don't think it's surprising that the governor is taking a stand against it," said Anne Dunkelberg, associate director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities, an Austin-based research organization that supports the House version of Obama's plan. "Unfortunately, the national dialogue on health reform has been extraordinarily partisan and polarized." The White House Media Affairs Office, asked to comment on Perry's statements, did not have an immediate response. In his remarks to the nation Wednesday, Obama restated his midsummer deadline for passage of the bill in Congress, saying it is urgently needed to help families "that are being clobbered by healthcare costs." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 I wish I could get a referendum through to have my county seceede from Oregon and join with Texas. They have much better state officials than I do. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2009-07-25 15:08 |
| #2 Good on him. I hope other gov's follow suit. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2009-07-25 13:20 |
| #1 Is the 10th Ammendment not in effect? Why need to re-inforce what's already in place. Pretty sure the Bill of Rights and the Constitution don't mention healthcare. Go for it Rick...and tell the Feds to shove it up their collective asses...after all they have the healthplan now.. |
| Posted by: Warthog 2009-07-25 12:13 |