Rick Perry - TARP and GM
Summary
Although he initially supported the TARP program, by the time General Motors and other companies came forward, Governor Perry was strongly against further bailouts. He co-wrote a letter with Governor Sanford of South Carolina in opposition to bailouts.
In November of 2010, Governor Perry reasserted that the federal government had no business interfering with private businesses.
Governors Against State Bailouts
On December 2, 2008 Governor Perry co-wrote a letter with Governor Sanford of South Carolina denouncing state bailouts and proposals to bailout General Motors.
Governors Against State Bailouts
Hard to believe, but not everyone in politics wants a free lunch.
By RICK PERRY and MARK SANFORDAs governors and citizens, we've grown increasingly concerned over the past weeks as Washington has thrown bailout after bailout at the national economy with little to show for it.
In the process, the federal government is not only burying future generations under mountains of debt. It is also taking our country in a very dangerous direction -- toward a "bailout mentality" where we look to government rather than ourselves for solutions. We're asking other governors from both sides of the political aisle to join with us in opposing further federal bailout intervention for three reasons.
First, we're crossing the Rubicon with regard to debt.
One fact that's been continually glossed over in the bailout debate is that Washington doesn't have money in hand for any of these proposals. Every penny would be borrowed. Estimates for what the government is willing to spend on bailouts and stimulus efforts for this year reach as much as $7.7 trillion according to Bloomberg.com -- a full half of the United States' yearly economic output.
With all the zeroes in the numbers, it's no wonder Washington politicians have lost track.
That trillion-dollar figure is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to checks written by the federal government that it can't cash. Former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker puts our nation's total debt and unpaid promises, like Social Security, at roughly $52 trillion -- an invisible mortgage of $450,000 on every American household. Borrowing money to "solve" a problem created by too much debt seems odd. And as fiscally conservative Republicans, we take no pleasure in pointing out that many in our own party have been just as complicit in running up the tab as those on the political left.
Second, the bailout mentality threatens Americans' sense of personal responsibility.
In a free-market system, competition and one's own personal stake motivate people to do their best. In this process, the winners create wealth, jobs and new investment, while others go back to the drawing board better prepared to try again.
To an unprecedented degree, government is currently picking winners and losers in the private marketplace, and throwing good money after bad. A prudent investor takes money from low-yield investments and puts them in those that yield better returns. Recent government intervention is doing the opposite -- taking capital generated from productive activities and throwing it at enterprises that in many cases need to reorganize their business model.
Take for example the proposed Big Three auto-maker bailout. We think it's very telling that each of the three CEO's flew on their own private jets to Washington to ask for a taxpayer handout. No amount of taxpayer largess could fix a business culture so fundamentally flawed.
Third, we'd ask the federal government to stop believing it has all the answers.
Our Founding Fathers were clear and deliberate in setting up a system whereby the federal government would only step in for that which states cannot do themselves. An expansionist federal government of the last century has moved us light-years away from that model, but it doesn't mean that Congress can't learn from states that are coming up with solutions that work.
In Texas and South Carolina, we've focused on improving "soil conditions" for businesses by cutting taxes, reforming our legal system and our workers' compensation system. We'd humbly suggest that Congress take a page from those playbooks by focusing on targeted tax relief paid for by cutting spending, not by borrowing.
In the rush to do "something" to help, federal leaders would be wise to take a line from the Hippocratic Oath, and pledge to do no (more) harm to our country's finances. We can weather this storm if we commit to fiscal prudence and hold true to the values of individual freedom and responsibility that made our nation great.
Fox News Appearance
On November 21, 2010 Governor Perry appeared on Fox News with Chris Wallace and spoke about the GM bailout. He stated that the federal government had no business interfering the private market.
WALLACE: Let's go back to the -- one of the other prime targets of yours, which is bailouts. I know that you're very unhappy with them, but the fact is that General Motors just had a big IPO this week which paid back the federal government $13.5 billion of the $50 billion investment, with more to come.
And even a conservative Republican senator like Bob Corker of Tennessee, who was originally against the bailout of General Motors, now says, "You know what? It worked."
PERRY: I don't think government should be getting involved in private -- I mean, just to say that it worked is not -- to back up, I don't know whether it worked or not. And frankly, at the end of the day, I don't think anyone can say definitively today that the government wasn't out any money, or what have you.
Here's what's more important. Sending the message there are people out there or there are entities out there that are too big to fail is just wrong. It is wrong philosophically. It is wrong for a fiscal conservative to say that. And I -- you know, I disagree with the senator.
I think Washington made a serious mistake. The reason we have bankruptcy laws is to restructure, to make businesses more efficient and effective. And government needs to stay out of those things.
WALLACE: But let's look at the real world effect of this, Governor. There was a study that was released this week that says that government aid to General Motors and Chrysler saved 1.1 million jobs last year and 314,000 jobs this year.
You would have just let those people fend for themselves?PERRY: I don't -- I don't think -- I think your study is looking at one thing. The state of Texas, over the course of the decade of the -- of the 2000s -- 850,000 net new jobs created during that period of time.
We have low taxes, low regulatory climate, a legal system that doesn't allow for over-suing and continue to have a great skilled work force because we got accountable skills. And then we get out of the way. The federal government ought to try that.I guarantee you this country's economy would go roaring back to life if they saw a president of the United States and a Congress that understood how the free market actually works and not having government interfere with the free market.
Let it work, and I'll promise you jobs will be created and our economy -- fix the tax system -- all of those things together. Devolve all of that power in Washington, D.C. and let the states become the laboratories of innovation. That's what you're going to hear out of these governors.
And I got to think there are Democrat governors out there that don't want Washington down micro-managing the states.