Fawning Over Rick Perry’s “Legacy”

If there is one thing the Main Stream Media loves, it’s talking about the “legacies” of politicians.

And, as Rick Perry will become the state’s third-longest-serving governor on Thursday, The Chron is fawning all over Perry’s “legacy:”

On Thursday, Gov. Rick Perry becomes the third-longest-serving governor in Texas history with 2,198 days in office — enough of a benchmark to contemplate what his legacy might be.

Perry turned down a request for an interview on the topic, saying legacies are something you have when you’re finished, and he’s not done.

But his spokesman, Robert Black, was willing to fill in. A couple of others had something to say about it as well.

Black said one of the most visible legacies of Perry’s administration will be innovative financing to build highways and the Trans-Texas Corridor system.

“Texas is pouring more concrete than any other state in the nation,” Black said. “That is the most tangible thing that Texans will see for generations.”

Black said Perry also oversaw lawsuit reform and an overhaul of the public school finance system. He also noted that Perry got a balanced budget without raising taxes in the face of a $10 billion deficit and won passage of a new business tax this year to pay for property tax cuts.

Oh, Robert! How you gloss over the real impact and consequences of these would-be legacy building blocks.

First off, Perry didn’t so much “oversee” lawsuit reform as he was a ringmaster for Houston homebuilder Bob Perry and millionaire voucher advocate and hospital bed manufacturer James Leininger to help groups like the Texas Association of business hijack the Texas House.

The real reason tort reform passed was not because Perry pushed for it or because he made it a key issue of his 2002 election campaign. The real reason, rather, is that the well-moneyed financiers of the Republicans’ 2002 election campaign simply picked up the phone and called in their chits.

As for that “pouring more concrete” than any of the other 50 states, regardless of whether you are for or against the actual concept of the Trans Texas Corridor, the fact is that this was perhaps the least transparent business deal in Texas history—and that all happened under Rick Perry’s nose.

And that, [o]verhaul of the public school finance system?” It remains to be seen whether or not the alteration of the state’s tax system is a positive. That it barely took place under the wire of a court order doesn’t speak too well either.
The worst of all, though, is that Perry, “got a balanced budget without raising taxes in the face of a $10 billion deficit.” Evidently Mr. Black forgets that this budget was “balanced” on the backs of the children, the poor, the needy and the handicapped.

Perry’s “legacy” isn’t exactly as positive as his staff would like for you to believe.

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