Rare News Desk
Texas Governor Rick Perry appeared on “State of the Union with Candy Crowley” Sunday to discuss the latest events of Texas happens as well as his current political career.
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“In an editorial that Senator [Wendy] Davis wrote on CNN.com she said that the effect of this, that by putting out more things that clinics have to — more standards for clinics it will close down about 90 percent of women’s clinics in Texas bringing them down to 5 clinics in Texas to serve the needs of women,” Crowley said.
“Do you agree the bill is going to do that and doesn’t that put poor women in particular in a place where they have nowhere to go if they choose to seek an abortion?” Crowley asked of the recent bill passed by the Texas legislature that puts limits on abortion.
“I don’t agree with her premise and I don’t agree with her numbers,” Perry said. “I think history will prove that she is wrong by asserting that. The bottom line here is that in the state of Texas and again, this gets back to the issue of should the states be able to make these decisions or should we allow this big cumbersome federal government to decide for all of us.”
“I happen to be one of the people that believes that the federal government should do a few things and do them well and then allow the states to make the decisions on these types of issues. So in the state of Texas, we put some substantial amount of money into women’s health programs over the course of the last two years. Partly because the Obama administration pulled our funding to the state of Texas because they disagreed with Texas restrictions on these abortions. And most people I think in this country and in Texas certainly believe that six months is too late to be deciding whether or not these babies should be aborted or not and we put the limit at 5 months in this bill.”
Crowley next asked about Perry’s political future. Earlier this week, the governor made the announcement that he will not be seeking reelection in Texas.
“You ran for president once. It was a rough kind of go,” Crowley said. “You’re going to be foot loose and fancy free in 18 months. Why wouldn’t you try again to run for president?
“Well, you’re absolutely correct about the 18 months to go and that’s what my focus is rather than 2016. There’s a lot of work,” Perry responded.
“I hope that it’s not about a resume. I hope it’s about the people of the state of Texas and helping create a climate where folks have the ability to have a job and take care of their families. that’s what we have done here.
“Candy, some one third of all the jobs created in America in the last ten years were created in Texas. That makes for a better living, better quality of life and that’s the competition that, you know…I and other governors across the country have.”
Next, Crowley turned to immigration.
“Governor the immigration bill in the house now looks a little if-y. There’s some Republicans on national footing that say if immigration reform is not passed Republicans cannot put a Republican in the White House. Do you agree with that?”
“I disagree that the idea that there’s one piece of legislation is going to decide whether or not an individual is going to get to the White House is a little bit out of the realm of reality,” Perry retorted.
“Let’s secure the border. We have talked about this for a long time. It’s interesting. I have been the governor over 12 years now. 1200 mile border with Mexico. We have a great deal of experience of dealing with border and border security and Washington in any form has not come to Texas and sat down with us with any focus and said ‘How do we deal with this.’ and I think that’s really interesting. I don’t think the will is in Washington D.C. to secure the border. So unless that happens, I’m not sure the American people are going to trust washington to come up with an immigration bill until they secure the border.
Crowley also took the opportunity to ask Perry about the campaign he has launched to attract businesses and jobs to his state of Texas, particularly in Illinois.
“It’s about the business climate in our respective states and competition is good,” Perry said.
“I will suggest to you the Chicago Bulls come to San Antonio and they’re not poaching wins, they’re about competing. Sometimes we win. Sometimes we lose.
You know, Chicago back in the early 2000s was able to lure Boeing to their city for the headquarters. And it made us really take a look at our economic development, our tax structure and legal system and we have put a very very competitive system into place and we compete with each other. It’s how America will be stronger when these 50 states compete against each other and are allowed to be the laboratories of innovation rather than Washington making all the decisions and micromanaging down into the states.”
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