Rick Perry's Speech: Town Hall Meeting in Derry, New Hampshire

I listened to Rick Perry on C-SPAN. He was at a Town Hall Meeting at the Adams Memorial Open House in, Derry, New Hampshire. This article contains an overview of his speech and his question and answer session followed by my personal opinion.

Rick Perry signed the 'no new tax' pledge and then addressed the audience. Rick Perry said the 'no new taxes' pledge provides conservative reform. He spoke about reducing the size of government and reducing taxes. He thanked the author of the no new taxes pledge. He thanked those who served our country.

Rick Perry acknowledged 1 in 6 eligible Americans cannot find a job. He said there is nothing ailing America that the rebirth of freedom cannot cure. He said the cure is freedom from too much government, spending, borrowing and regulations.

He said employers, free from regulations, will be able to create new jobs. He stated the key to prosperity is liberty. Larger government means less liberty. He adheres to the following principles: don't spend all the money, lower taxes, less regulations and tort reform. He claimed he cut taxes by one third, cut spending and created more than a million jobs in Texas.

While he is President, he will cut taxes for families and employees, freeze regulations and sign executive order to do away with Obamacare. He will make Washington as inconsequential to the people as possible. He claims that the next generation's future will be better than ours.

During the question and answer session, Rick Perry provided more details about what he would do as President.

He claimed he reduced franchise tax in Texas from 4% to 1%. He claimed Government doesn't create jobs. He said the engine of this country is small business. He said government creates an environment that hinders jobs via higher taxes and more regulations. He spoke of repealing the repatriation tax. He claimed Texas lowered taxes. He wants to pull back regulations that are killing jobs, lower taxes and get rid of Obamacare.

With regard to seniors, he said one of the big costs is the cost of energy. He wants to free up our domestic energy production by removing regulations allowing corporations to create jobs. He claims this will provide relief for our senior citizens and give them an opportunity for part time jobs.

He stated again that over taxation and overregulation hinders job creation. He advocated a right to work state. He said right to work is pro jobs, not anti-union.

Perry does not believe that global warming is caused by air pollution. He said global warming is not man's fault. He said don't jeopardize our future on the theory of global warning being man's fault. He claimed Texas cleaned up their air. He said we don't need Federal government telling us how to run our state.

He talked about the low price of gas 2 1/2 years ago. He criticized current national debt. He talked about unemployment rate. He asked if we are better off today than in 2008. He said we need a candidate who will draw the line between Obama policies and Conservative policies.

He claimed he would veto any new taxes and did veto taxes on internet transactions in Texas. He said raising taxes means more spending. He claimed Texas is a job growing state because taxes are kept low.

He said Social Security is a national commitment. He reassured seniors that their Social Security Payments will be there. He said we must fix Social Security for our children. He said Republicans fix things and lay out the ideas for saving Social security. He wants to let states create their own Social Security programs. Again, he said allow the country to get back to work by lowering taxes and ending regulations.

He said if we don't create jobs, we won't be able to have foreign policy, military, etc. He said the only way is to take tax burden and regulations burden off workers and business.

He said a new social security program will be created for the younger folks.

He blamed reduced payments to nursing homes on Obamacare. He claimed Obama care bill will cost Texas an additional 2.7 billion dollars per year. He said we must repeal Obamacare. He said we cannot deliver health care with Obama care.

He talked about how to deal with health care. He wants waivers on Medicare so state can run their own health care system. He said States must handle Medicaid and Medicare. He said money is taken from Medicaid and Medicare for other purposes. He said Washington will no longer set mandates for health care or education.

He said states should compete against states. He said states should decide tax rates and regulatory climax. He said the states need to decide those issues. He claimed we have highest tax rate and most regulations which impede competitiveness.

He said the State with lowest tax rate gets more businesses. He wants the loser in a tort reform case to pay the bill. He said this type of legislation was passed in Texas (tort reform).

He said we cannot do this from Washington DC. He wants a six month stay on all regulations. He wants to determine whether they create or kill jobs. He claimed companies will come back to the US if we end over regulation and over taxation.

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Now here is my opinion. Perry wants to apply the Reagan cure to our modern economic problems. The problem is we are no longer living in the 1980's. Tax reduction and less regulation is not the cure all for our economy.

Tax reductions in a stubborn recession mean less government funds. In this stubborn recession, any tax reductions will add to our national debt. Unfinanced tax reductions are a good way to repeat this debt crisis during every future recession. Tax reductions starve our government of needed funds. Starving the government of funds will inevitably risk cuts in military spending and cuts in vital programs that guard against terrorist attacks thus endangering our security. Furthermore, the no new tax pledge ensures no tax reform. Any viable tax reform package must include tax increases to finance any tax reductions.

Freezing regulations will put our health and our children's health at risk. Freezing regulations puts more adults and children at risk for cancer and other illnesses that are very expensive to treat. Insurance firms will pay much higher health care costs and consequently the insured will pay much higher premiums. Assuming companies will voluntarily protect the environment is naive. However, reviewing all regulations is an excellent idea.

Ignoring the problems with our free trade agreements will only ensure that more corporations will move overseas. We are not an isolated entity. Our trade agreements must be modified to raise the environmental standards for all nations we trade with. We will continue losing jobs until we address the problems with our trade agreements and our global economic policies.

Eliminating Obamacare will leave millions of Americans uninsured. That will result in higher premiums for the insured.

The economic plans offered by the Republicans will not lead to less big government. Tax reductions are big government meddling in the economy. Less regulations is big government risking jobs, our health and our future.

Obama stated that the Republican policies will cripple government. I do not agree. I think the Republican policies will gravely weaken government.

Rick Perry has not presented a viable solution to our economic problems. His ideas will only create more problems and will not resolve the stubborn economic recovery we are experiencing.

I know the Republican politicians are very intelligent people. Many of them are brilliant. What puzzles me is why these intelligent politicians are making some of the dumbest statements in our political history.