Health Care/Tort Reform

AUSTIN — 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."

If you want to know where the future is headed, look where the people are going. And if you want to know where the people are going, check with U-Haul. Here's an interesting indicator, first noted by the legendary economist Arthur Laffer: Renting a 26-foot U-Haul truck to go from Austin to San Francisco this July would cost you about $900. Renting the same truck to go from San Francisco to Austin? About $3,000. In the great balance of supply and demand, California has a large supply of people who are demanding to move to Texas. There's a reason for this.

"Did the greater prosperity in low-tax states happen by chance?" asks Laffer, who studied the issue for a detailed economic report, Rich States, Poor States. "What seems obvious to us appears as right-wing science fiction to many California legislators and pundits. They claim that serious reform of the tax code is unrealistic, that a large state has many duties to fulfill, and that it is irresponsible to call for a return to a 19th century view of the role of government. . . . Not only does Texas lack a highly progressive income tax — it doesn't have one at all! We hasten to add that the last time we checked, Texas still had literate kids, navigable roads and functioning hospitals, which one would think impossible given the hysterical rhetoric coming from defenders of California's punitive tax system. In fact, the Texas success story illustrates everything we have been recommending for California all these years. How do they do that?"

How, indeed?

Texas was among the last states to enter the recession. California is expected to be the last state to leave it. Texas has lots of jobs and not much in the way of taxes. California, the other way around. California has Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Hollywood Republican who presided over enormous expansions of spending and debt. Texas has Rick Perry, a classic conservative hard case who just vetoed a pre-kindergarten spending bill, adding to the record number of vetoes he's handed down as governor. And it's not just Perry — the story of Texas politics is full of Democrats who would have been too right-wing to be elected as Republicans in Connecticut or Pennsylvania. Things are a little different down south of the Red River.

Governor Perry sums up the Texas model in five words: "Don't spend all the money." Here's what a good long run of small-government, low-tax conservatism has achieved in Texas: Once a largely agricultural state, Texas today is home to 6 of the 25 largest cities in the country, more than any other state. Texas has a trillion-dollar economy that would make it the 15th-largest national economy in the world if it were, as some of its more spirited partisans sometimes idly suggest it should be, an independent country. By one estimate, 70 percent of the new jobs that were created in the United States in 2008 were created in Texas. Texas is home to America's highest-volume port, the largest medical center in the world, and the headquarters of more Fortune 500 companies than any other state, having surpassed New York in 2008. While the Rust Belt mourns the loss of manufacturing jobs, Texans are building Bell helicopters and Lockheed Martin airplanes, Dell computers and TI semiconductors. Always keeping an eye on California, Texans have started bottling wine and making movies. And there's still an automobile industry in America, but it's not headquartered in Detroit: A couple thousand Texans are employed building Toyotas, and none of them is a UAW member.

For his leadership in reforming Texas' tort system, the American Medical Association honored Gov. Rick Perry with its Dr. Nathan Davis Award for Outstanding Government Service.

Named for the founding father of the AMA, the award recognizes elected and career officials in federal, state or municipal service whose outstanding contributions have promoted the art and science of medicine and improved public health. The award to Perry and other public officials was presented March 10 in Washington, D.C.

SNIPPET FROM ARTICLE-

Another major attraction this year was the participation of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, whose team the Texians ran the course from Gonzales to Houston.

"Huge," said Lawing when talking about the participation of the governor in the race.

"It gave the race recognition," said Burchard. "I think it was a very positive step in that regard."

Perry seemed to enjoy being a part of the Gonzales event.

The governor told The Gonzales Inquirer his team races in various events around the state, including a 10K race in Austin each year.

He said they were "reading on the internet" when the learned about the Texas Independence Relay.

A phone call was made and the governor's team felt it "sounded like fun."

So they decided to give it a shot this year — and it worked out well.

Prior to starting the race, Perry was very affable and visiting with many of the racers along with event organizers and others in the crowd. He was even joking with some of the other teams about just how well his team might do in the event.

Perry also took a lot of time to pose for photos with many people, from the mayor to people who just wanted their picture with the governor of the state of Texas.

He even got in on the drama of the day when he was able to light the cannon as he team prepared to depart the starting line in front of the Historical Museum. As the cannon shot rang through the streets, the team was off, lead by Perry. As he came back from running through downtown Gonzales, Perry gave a thumbs-up to the crowd.

On Tuesday, I delivered my State of the State address to the 81st Legislature outlining priorities that will preserve our state's strength and security while helping Texans weather the effects of the global economic downturn.