Fed Up!: Our Fight to Save America from Washington


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BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

Gov. Rick Perry is not very well-known nationally. But he is considered in the top tier of prospects for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination (or vice-presidential nomination). This book is Perry's statement on why that should be the case. Readers looking for intense partisanship or charismatic leadership won't find that in this book -- there is no evidence here supporting why the pundits declared, breathlessly, in June 2011 that Perry would and should enter the GOP race as the nominee-apparent. Readers looking for straightforward conservative viewpoints WILL find them here -- Perry is a straightforward conservative Governor from a straightforward conservative state.

Readers will NOT find citations to those straightforward conservative viewpoints in the pundits' exclamations about Perry's heir-apparent status. In June 2011, when preparing a Rick Perry presidential page, OnTheIssues.org found that the mainstream media pundits' analysis of Perry was utterly devoid of any issue content whatsoever. The pundits seem not to know, nor care, what Perry's issue stances are. Their argument seems to be, "Perry governs Texas. Bush governed Texas. Bush won. Therefore Perry can win." The first three statements are true, but have neither political connection nor logical connection to the fourth statement. We recommend ignoring the pundits and the mainstream press until they read this website and this book -- by reading this webpage you will know more than they do!

Perry says he wrote this book because he believes "that America is great but also that America is in trouble--and heading for a cliff if we don't take immediate steps to change course." (p. xvii) Perry addresses the presidential speculation too: "Cynics will say that I decided to write this book because I seek higher office. They are wrong: I already have the best job in America." (p. xvii) This book would certainly serve as a presidential plan; but we'll know by the end of the summer, so we'll let readers decide rather than add to the pundits' breathless speculation.

The core of Perry's book is this: America needs change; voters are fed up with the current situation; the solution is to empower states rather than the federal government. (see pp. 5-7 on the "fed up" list from which this book derives its title; see pp. 26-33 on anti-federalism; and the double entendre of the title is "We're fed up with the feds being powered up compared to the states."). Perry addresses a potential problem with running for president on that platform: that slaveholders made the same argument to defend slavery in the Civil War. Somehow (p. 33-34) Perry concludes that, if only states' rights held true, slavery would have ended: it was the federal Fugitive Slave Act that really ignited the Civil War. We'll let the Republican primary process debate Perry's odd view of history on that issue!

-- Jesse Gordon, editor-in-chief, OnTheIssues.org, June 2011

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Abortion     Rick Perry: The right to privacy is fictitious.

Budget & Economy     George W. Bush: OpEd: Intended big government binge to be temporary.     George W. Bush: OpEd: Pursued freedom agenda more than fiscal agenda.

Civil Rights     Anthony Kennedy: Right to define one's own concept of existence, even if gay.     Antonin Scalia: Fear the judicial imposition of homosexual marriage.     Rick Perry: Civil Rights Act was glorious fulfillment of Declaration.     Rick Perry: Gay marriage is not protected, but judges will declare it so.     Rick Perry: We divvy up races using tools invented to fight racism.

Crime     Anthony Kennedy: Death penalty for rape is cruel & unusual punishment.     Rick Perry: Death penalty for aggravated rape.     Rick Perry: States know best on punishment; federalism is arrogance.

Drugs     Clarence Thomas: Let states decide on medical marijuana.     Rick Perry: Drug trade causes soaring violence on southern border.     Rick Perry: Medical marijuana OK for California, but not Texas.

Education     Rick Perry: OpEd: School choice laudable at local level but not federal.     Rick Perry: Public prayer is not establishing a religion.     Rick Perry: Turned down $700M in federal aid due to strings attached.     Rick Perry: Choose from mix of public, charter & private schools.     Ted Kennedy: Shepherded Bush's "No Child Left Behind" through Congress.

Environment     Rick Perry: Flexible permitting: cap emissions for entire facility.     Rick Perry: Katrina: feds impede crucial work; get out of the way.

Foreign Policy     Rick Perry: Iraq: combat terror on their turf, not ours.

Free Trade     Rick Perry: Milk price controls are egregiously interventionist.     Rick Perry: Welcome market of united Europe & ever-growing China & India.

Government Reform     Chris Christie: Refused to reappoint activist judge to NJ Supreme Court.     John Roberts: 2006: TX redistricting didn't violate Voting Rights Act.     Rick Perry: Reverse trend of federal power back to state & local level.     Rick Perry: Strong union requires limited federal government.     Rick Perry: States are liberty's friend.     Rick Perry: Earmarks corrupt the governing process.     Rick Perry: Campaign contributions are political free speech.     Tea Party: Invoke Boston Tea Party's anger against establishment.     Tea Party: Pressure Congress for moratorium on pork.     Tom Coburn: Earmarks are unconstitutional perversion of Congress' duties.

Gun Control     Rick Perry: Individual right to keep and bear arms.     Sonia Sotomayor: 2009: supported individual right; 2010: opposed it.

Health Care     Barack Obama: OpEd: Obama's public responsibility for health is socialism.     Jim DeMint: ObamaCare: a byzantine network of 159 federal programs.     Rick Perry: Total repeal and dismantling of ObamaCare.     Rick Perry: The future of America depends on repealing ObamaCare.

Homeland Security     Rick Perry: Invest in defense to prepare for unpredictable threats.     Rick Perry: Unsettled policy on Guantanamo signals weakness to enemies.     Rick Perry: US should be strongest nation by insurmountable magnitude.

Immigration     Barack Obama: Send 1,200 National Guard troops to southern border.     Rick Perry: Illegal immigration cost TX $928M in one year.     Ronald Reagan: 1986 reform legalized 3 million undocumented immigrants.

Principles & Values     Rick Perry: America is great; Washington is broken.     Rick Perry: Route to success is lower taxes & smaller government.     Rick Perry: Some GOP not on right page; but Dems can't find the library.     Rick Perry: Prohibiting school prayer is federal overreach.     Rick Perry: Modern liberals shifting back to term "Progressive".     Rick Perry: Supreme Court shouldn't choose how & where we may pray.     Rick Perry: Take back America: Stand up and lead.

Social Security     Rick Perry: We are fed up with system teetering on bankruptcy.     Rick Perry: New Deal inventions violently toss aside federalism.     Rick Perry: Trust Fund is an unsustainable Ponzi scheme.

Technology     Tea Party: Ordinary folks, dismissed by MSNBC and establishment pundits.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Anthony Kennedy Antonin Scalia Barack Obama Chris Christie Clarence Thomas George W. Bush Jim DeMint John Roberts Rick Perry Ronald Reagan Sonia Sotomayor Tea Party Ted Kennedy Tom Coburn

The above quotations are from Fed Up!: Our Fight to Save America from Washington.

Autobiographies for 2012 GOP primary candidates: No Apology, by Gov. Mitt Romney, Mar 2, 2010 Real Change, by Speaker Newt Gingrich, Dec 18, 2007 Biographies: CEO of SELF, by Herman Cain, 2001 Joe Biden: A Life of Trial and Redemption, by Jules Witcover, 2010 Rick Santorum: A Senator Speaks Out on Life, Freedom, and Responsibility, 2005 Michele Bachmann: Why She Will Win, by Ron Paul Jones, 2011 A Mormon in the White House? 10 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney, by Hugh Hewitt Mitt Romney: The Man, His Values and His Vision, by Lisa Ray Turner and Kimberly Field Deliver Us from Evil, by Sean Hannity

Policy books: Confidence Men, by Ron Suskind, 2011 Core of Conviction, by Rep. Michele Bachmann, 2011 It Takes a Family, by Sen. Rick Santorum, 2005 On My Honor, by Gov. Rick Perry, 2008 End The Fed, by Rep. Ron Paul, Sep 16, 2009 Gold, Peace, and Prosperity: The Birth of a New Currency, by Ron Paul, 2007 My Journey to the White House, by Herman Cain, 2011

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