Name Calling?

          Recently one critic of my blogpost Still Looking said, “The labels you slapped on Rick Perry and Mitt Romney are really just name calling.”  In that blogpost I called Rick Perry a “crony capitalist-big government Republican” and Mitt Romney a “RINO Republican.”   I have to admit that it sounds like name calling when left that way.  I want this blog to be about ideas, not insults so, since I do have reasons for those labels, I feel compelled to provide them. 

Rick Perry

          Rick Perry says many thing that sound good to me, but then he does things that make me shake my head.  Private sector jobs are growing in Texas, but while Rick Perry has been governor, government employment has grown nearly twice as fast.  Perry has also created the Texas Enterprise Fund, which has awarded over 400 million in tax dollars to 89 private companies with the promise of job creation.  This fund is a corporate welfare program at best and a way for politicians to reward friends at worst.    

          In a blogpost titled My Perry Problem, I explored other policy issues I have with Rick Perry.  In that post I review disagreements on immigration and judicial appointments and one issue that, I believe, goes to the heart of political philosophy.  Back in 2007, Perry mandated that Texas schoolgirls receive the newly approved HPV vaccine Gardasil.  The drug, manufactured by Merck, protects against some forms of sexually transmitted cervical cancer.  Conservatives opposed the requirement because of safety concerns with the new drug, because of the implication that young girls would, or should, be sexually active and because, as a mandate, it infringed on parental rights. 

          Perry was unmoved by these arguments.  As the debate continued, ties between Merck and Perry came to light.  According to press reports at the time, Perry’s former Chief of Staff, Mike Toomey, worked as a Texas Lobbyist for Merck.  It was also revealed that Perry had received campaign contributions from Merck’s political action committee.  The actions of Rick Perry in the Merck case smack of crony capitalism.  Only large intrusive governments can grant favors to multinational corporations. 

          America already has crony capitalism in Washington.  I want real change.  I want smaller, less intrusive, government.  That is why I’m still looking for a candidate.           

Mitt Romney

          In my blogpost Still Looking, I called Mitt Romney a RINO Republican.  I must admit that the label only fits the Romney who was governor of Massachusetts.   

          In 1992 Mitt Romney, a registered independent, voted for Paul Tsongas in the Democratic Party presidential primary.  He changed his registration to Republican only in 1993 when he first decided to enter politics.  During his tenure as governor, Romney was fiscally conservative, cutting budgets and raising fees to eliminate a projected $3 billion deficit.  However, during that same period he supported abortion, gay rights, amnesty for illegal aliens and helped craft the Massachusetts Healthcare Reform law.  Earlier, when running for the senate he expressed support for strong gun laws.   

          Today Romney is a member of the NRA and other positions have changed or evolved as he has moved to the national stage.  Today he is pro-life, supports traditional marriage and stronger immigration enforcement.  The healthcare reform law that he helped craft is similar in many ways to the Obama plan, but the Romney of today says that his plan was right for Massachusetts, but the Obama plan is wrong for the nation.  

          My problem with Romney is I’m not sure who would govern if he were elected, the conservative campaigner of today or the liberal governor of the past?  I suspect in his heart Romney has never flip-flopped.  While campaigning he says what he believes must be said and when elected he will govern as he did in Massachusetts.  He would govern as a fiscally conservative, but otherwise liberal Republican.  That is why I’m still looking for a candidate.