Rick Perry: Saying One Thing And Doing Another When It Comes To State Parks

I seem to recall that, a few weeks ago when the mainstream media was all a twitter about funding for state parks, Governor Rick Perry said he wanted to fund state parks more not less.

If that were really the case, it seems as though we wouldn’t be reading this in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

Dozens of state parks would cut operations and several others would close outright under new spending proposals developed at the request of Gov. Rick Perry.

The proposals, submitted Friday by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, also call for cutting 117 full-time positions and trimming agency spending by $14.2 million.

Perry’s people, of course, are towing the “oh, no, we don’t want to cut state parks” line:

A spokeswoman for Perry agreed and noted that the governor recently called for increased spending on parks. “His goal is to ensure that we have appropriately funded parks in the state,” Kathy Walt said.

I understand that the Office of the Governor called for these agency reports from all state agencies, and that cuts were demanded from each and all.

However, shouldn’t Perry have modified his demands and told TPWD, “hey, go ahead and put in for more; you aren’t going to get cut after all?” rather than have them go ahead and submit a proposal that strips the agency? Certainly, this would have been a better political move for Perry.