Gov. Rick Perry has much to say about entitlement programs. He wants to partially privatize Social Security and muck up Medicaid and Medicare. Jay Root quotes him from a year-ago interview:
“I do advocate totally rethinking the safety net, personal security programs completely. ... Why is the government collecting your tax money for retirement and health care programs? That’s not a stated constitutional role.”
When it comes to his own retirement account, however, the country's longest-serving governor is already collecting big bucks, even though he's still got three years left in his current term. That's because Perry retired in January. It's perfectly legal for him to do that under Texas law. So, while he complains about other people getting benefits that he claims are on the way to bankrupting the Treasury, he now collects a handsome $92,376 extra each year that is added to the $150,000 he makes as the state's chief executive. He is also still eligible for Social Security benefits as well as state-funded health care for the rest of his life.
"Perry was legally able to begin collecting the employee class annuity under the 'rule of 80.' The combination of his U.S. military service, state service and age exceeded 80 years and qualifies him for the annuity under Texas Government Code 813.503 as amended in 1991," [Perry spokesman Ray] Sullivan said. "Perry continues to pay into the Employees Retirement System with a 6.5 percent withholding from his state salary."
In the first campaign finance report since the beginning of the effort to recall him, Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign says he collected contributions from 46,976 individual donors, with 37,356 of them giving $50 or less.
Walker’s campaign released the cover sheet from his fundraising report Thursday, showing he raised $5.1 million, spent almost $4 million and had $3 million in the bank.
Bolstered by this outpouring of support from the right-wing, Walker is continuing his extremist agenda apace. His latest move to take another shot at Planned Parenthood and potentially leave thousands of low-income women without access to cancer screenings in the process:
First he gutted worker's rights, then slashed state education funding and dumbed-down sex ed. Next on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's hit list? Breast and cervical cancer screenings for women. Come January 1, Wisconsinites who rely on Planned Parenthood to access free cancer screenings may be out of luck.
The Wisconsin Well Woman Program is an 17-year-old state service created to ensure that women ages 45 to 64 who lack health insurance can access preventive health screenings. It is administered by the Department of Health Services and provides referrals and screenings for breast cancer, cervical cancer, and multiple sclerosis at no cost. The state currently uses a number of contractors to coordinate and provide those services, including Planned Parenthood. But now, in a move that could leave many women in the state without access to the program, the Walker government is ending Planned Parenthood's contract.
Scott Walker will have virtually unlimited resources to defeat this recall. He will not slow down his agenda because of the recall, either. The only option we have is to muster whatever possible to remove him from office. Right now, that means donating to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
Governorships Up for Election 2012
Light red: Term-limited Republican
Dark red: Incumbent Republican
Light blue: Term-limited or Retiring Democrat
Dark blue: Incumbent Democrat
Gray: no election
WIKI 2012
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