Perry’s still the best candidate
Rick Perry has taken some serious punches, but he’s still in the fight and is the best man to lead the country out of its current economic morass, Steve Forbes told the Milford Rotary Club on Wednesday.
Forbes, the chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, who sought the Republican nomination himself in 1996 and 2000, made several stops in New Hampshire on Wednesday stumping for Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Perry is currently campaigning in Iowa in preparation for the caucuses that will be held next Tuesday.
During the Rotary Club lunch, Forbes spoke about Perry’s strengths as governor of Texas, his ability to create a climate that brought jobs into the state while slashing spending and holding the line on taxes.
And Perry’s plans for fixing the country’s current economic crisis are the most reasonable of all the candidates, said Forbes.
Stopping the Federal Reserve from printing massive amounts of money to try and fix problems that can’t be fixed if the dollar becomes weakened in the process is hurting the United States, Forbes said.
“Rick Perry understands the need for a stable dollar,” he said.
Perry’s plan for a 20 percent flat tax, with a few exemptions built in to help average folk, is a much-needed alternative to what Forbes called President Barack Obama’s “Darth Vader” tax policy. The current tax code, all nine million words of it, needs to be killed and a new tax system put in place, said Forbes.
“Rick Perry’s recognized that it’s beyond reform.”
Forbes also said Perry understands the destructive forces of over-regulation are preventing Americans from restoring the economy through innovation.
“Regulation costs the American economy $1.75 trillion a year,” he said. “There’s a lot of entrepreneurial spirit in this country, but it needs the right environment to grow.”
And repealing the so-called “Obamacare” health care reform is necessary in order for the country to find the right solution for out-of-control costs and a broken system.
“This is the most important election since 1980,” said Forbes, and Perry “has proven that he can govern a large state and get things done.”
But Rotarian Dick D’Amato expressed doubt that Perry could lead the nation after stumbling over his own policy proposals during a debate.
“How do you expect this man to be President if he can’t remember the three departments of government he wants to get rid of?” asked D’Amato.
But Forbes responded by saying it wasn’t Perry’s mistakes he looked at, but rather how he handled himself in the aftermath of those mistakes by putting himself out there and taking his lumps.
“What impresses me is what you do after you make a mistake,” he said. “Part of campaigning is that it brings you down to earth. There are going to be days when things don’t go right.”
In an interview following the Rotary luncheon, Forbes said that while Perry has a tough fight ahead of him in Iowa and New Hampshire, the candidate is in it for the long haul and has a chance of turning the tides against Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, his two most serious opponents in the race.
Romney, Forbes said, lacks the policy ideas necessary to make real changes in Washington and is also going to have a difficult time facing off against Obama because the Massachusetts health care policy adopted while he was governor of the Bay State so closely resemble Obamacare.
“It’s hard to go against Obamacare when that plan was based on his plan,” said Forbes.
For Gingrich, while he’s got a strong plan for taxes, the problem is a lack of leadership skills as witnessed by members of Congress who served with him when he was Speaker of the House, said Forbes.
“His executive ability isn’t there,” Forbes said. “He had real problems when he ran the house.”
And though Paul will likely take a solid 15 percent of the vote in the primaries, Forbes said his strong domestic policy ideas are outweighed by the flaws in his foreign policy.
“On foreign policy he’s way off-base and unrealistic in the world we live in,” Forbes said.
Though Perry won’t win Iowa, having a decent showing in the caucuses will help him establish credibility going into the primaries, Forbes said. And though Romney will likely win New Hampshire, Forbes believes there’s plenty of room for Perry to achieve stronger numbers in the coming months.
“Nobody’s going to be able to deliver a knock-out blow in this primary,” Forbes said.
Wild Thing’s comment……….
I agree, Perry IS the best candidate.
If I offended you then I apologize as it was not my attention. The suggestion to read Trumps book before one scoffs was a general suggestion for any and all as too many write him off as a buffoon. That he is not.I will reiterate that the republicans need to get a dog in the fight and he or she had best be ready for the fight of their lives. A large amount of the negative information is being funneled into to the parties to
use comes from 2 of Obamas key hit men, David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel and they play it as dirty as it gets. Two things Obama has going for him is he will say I got Osama and I ended Bush’s war in Iraq and
a large number of people will buy it. You don’t and I sure as hell don’t. Obama can be beat but it will get
down and very dirty.
Gator, all is ok,and thank you for explaining. (((Hug))
Trump imo is no buffoon. I have respect for him and like I said he is the only one I have actually met. I wish he had not caved after all he did make noise about Obama’s birth certificate. It would have been better if he had not said anything about it. He was riding high when he was pursuing it and then it came to a halt when obama showed his fake one that time. But even that I would forgive Trump for . But the thing is there are so many things I really like about Perry, things he has done, his record and his follow through on things to get things done.
I also agree with you that whichever candidate wins this has to be strong enough to take on Obama. Perry has said Obama is a socialist, he spoke out strongly about it. Romney would not even say that and I am not sure if Trump has said it or not.
For me and this is what is a record of what has actually happened with Perry. Perry has been fighting that evil POS Obama since he was elected as President. Just as an example Obama would not respond to Perry’s demands about what he wanted to add to the border to help fight the illegal immigration and since Obama was snubbing him. Perry himself took a letter to the plane to hand to Obama personally. He knew even if Obama ignored it at least it showed everyone what Obama was doing to Texas.
Same with Obamacare, Perry is one of the Gov. that has signed the petition about it and spoken out against obamacare.
Perry led the battle to pass the country’s most sweeping lawsuit reforms, closing the door on junk lawsuits that had been making trial lawyers rich while driving countless doctors either out of the state or the profession all together. Since Texas voters approved these reforms, malpractice claims and premiums have fallen and access to healthcare is increasing across the state as doctors have applied in droves to practice in Texas.Imagine a President who would take on trial lawyers.
In 2005, Perry signed a historic $15.7 billion property tax cut for homeowners and businesses that also included new taxpayer protections against appraisal increases. In 2009, Gov. Perry secured a tax cut for approximately 40,000 small businesses in Texas and protected the Rainy Day Fund for future challenges.
There are a lot of other things Perry has done that I have posted in the past. Honestly Gator, I don’t want to debate, I do understand now what you meant in your scoff’s statement and I appreciate your taking the time to explain and your kind apology.
Let’s keep praying and doing what we can to get a person elected that can take Obama on. I worry about our country every day.
Gator – I, like WT, am a Perry supporter. I could go with Trump. Like some other very wealthy business men Trump is both an entrepaneur and an entertainer. I like the fact that he is not a compromiser. He would make a good Secof Commerce or Sec Treasury.
Tom, thank you. I agree too about Trump.