Poll Shows Rick Perry Leading In White House Race

I am a native Texan and here are a few things about Rick Perry:
Thanks to Perry the schools here are ranked 47th and there is a multi-billion dollar deficit (approximately $4-billion) in the state's educational system that his policies created. He was warned by the then Republican State Comptroller 5-years ago that his tax cuts were going to cause the problem that Texas schools are going through right now. Most local school districts are facing huge budget deficits some in the multi-million dollar range and are laying off staff and teachers just to cover these shortfalls.
There is a looming $27-billion deficit due next year for the state's budget that is not being talked about nationally but we in Texas are painfully aware of it. Perry took $6.4-billion in stimulus money from the Federal Government to help pay this years state deficit. This and the redirection of the $4-billion from Texas education funds allowed the $9.1-billion State Rainy Day Fund, that Rick Perry controls, to go untouched.
Please take the time to read the article “Perry Mines Texas System to Raise Cash for Campaigns” in the New York Times, published August 20, 2011. It makes for some very interesting reading.
As for job creation here in Texas, take a long look at the types of jobs that Perry claims to have created. For the most part these hare minimum wage or lower jobs and many are part-time. Companies are moving to Texas because of tax breaks and because Texas is a right-to-work state. He is not creating new jobs merely shifting jobs from other states.
Also look at the number of communities appearing on the 100 poorest cities in the USA. Thirty-five of the 100 are located here in Texas.
He tried to take private land here through eminent domain so that a Spanish company, Cintra could build the Trans-Texas Corridor, a super transportation system that has since been canceled when a number if issues arose about the project. More and more of the new highways build here in Texas are toll-roads, one the latest is the State Highway 121 project in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, another controversial tollroad project involving Cintra. Cintra would have the right to collect tolls on the road for 50-years. A lot of questions were raised when it came out that the North Texas Tollway Authority was preventing from bidding on this project. A number of unanswered questions about Perry's relationship with Cintra are surfacing now and I am sure will require answers during the presidential campaign.
He also signed an executive order that would have pushed a program to require 6th grade school girls be vaccinated with a very controversial drug (Gardasil) to protect against Human Papillomavirus or HPV created by Merck which is intended to prevent cervical cancer in sexually active females. A lot of questions were raised about his motives and he dropped his push for the program when those questions became too controversial. Again, a lot of these questions centered on his financial relationship with Merck.
Questions have arisen about Perry’s actions surrounding the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham in 2004. Willingham was convicted of murder but new questions about the evidence collection and methodology used in analyzing this evidence that led to his conviction came out shortly before his execution. Perry could have requested a 30-day stay-of-execution that would have allowed this new evidence be reviewed. Perry went ahead and allowed the execution to take place. When the state forensic science commission began to review the case Perry dismissed the chairman and replaced three members of this commission. As a result, to date, no review has taken place.
These are just a few issues that are being raised during the vetting process and it is doubtful that he will be able to survive the scrutiny of the national press. As we in Texas have found out, Rick Perry is not who he purports to be. Please take the time to really learn about him before you make up your mind.