Presidential Campaign is Apostolic Prophecy
- According to The Texas Observer, prophets Tom Schlueter and Bob Long from the New Apostolic Reformation called on Rick Perry to run for President as part of a chain of powerful prophecies for Texas to lead the United States into revival and Godly government. And the governor would have a special role. At the end of their meeting, Perry asked them to pray over him. The Lord spoke prophetically as Schlueter laid his hands on Perry and declared over [Perry] that there was a leadership role beyond Texas and that Texas had a role beyond what people understand. They believe God gives them specific instructions and warnings through a direct line. When ignored, the results can be catastrophic, but they believe their God-given decrees have ended mad cow disease in Germany and produced rain in drought-stricken Texas.
- The New Apostolic Reformation are self-proclaimed modern-day apostles and prophets that believe in Christian dominion and call for a Christian takeover of civilian government. According to its leader, "A government can potentially function as a virtual theocracy...The goal is to bring the influence of heaven to bear on whatever political machinery that exists."
- The New Apostolic Reformation was a major organizer and endorser of "The Response", Perry's all-day Christian prayer and fasting rally. According to Perry, the prayer rally was inspired by the Book of Joel. This book of the bible calls for national repentance as the apocalypse nears. Perry said, "Right now, America is in crisis: we have been besieged by financial debt, terrorism, and a multitude of natural disasters. As a nation, we must come together and call upon Jesus to guide us through unprecedented struggles." You can see video of the "Day of Prayer" here. (Perry might want to read Matthew 6:5: And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.")
- Apparently, they think Democrats are causing some of these disasters. Cindy Jacobs, a prominent leader of the New Apostolic Reformation, said that birds were dying in Arkansas because of the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
- According to Business Insider, the New Apostolic Reformation leaders are building an army, known as "Joel's Army" to fight during the End Of Days.
- According to the Southern Law Poverty Center, Joel's Army is a designated hate group that claims they are prophesied to become an Armageddon-ready military force of young people with a divine mandate to physically impose Christian "dominion" on non-believers. They believe that the world should be governed by conservative Christians and a conservative Christian interpretation of biblical law. There is no room in their doctrine for democracy or pluralism.
- New Apostles literally map neighborhoods to locate demons for spiritual warfare.
- They think Oprah is a sign of the Anti-Christ.
- Their top leader said God will transfer money from the wicked to the righteous.
- Along with Perry, Sarah Palin, Scott Brown, Michele Bachmann, Jim Demint, and Sam Brownback have also aligned themselves with the New Apostolic Reformation.
Resume
- Texas is No. 1 in job creation: Texas has created 1.2 million jobs; but its job growth predates Perry, population grew by 4.3 million, government jobs increased 19% (300,000), and most of the rest were minimum wage jobs. Texas is tied with Mississippi for the largest percentage of hourly workers who make minimum wage or less. Because of his budget shortfall, a $15 billion state budget cut will soon cause massive layoffs.
- Texas has highest percentage of residents (in the nation) without health insurance, with 27.8% uninsured, but Perry says everyone in this country has access to health care. Almost 1/3 of children in Texas don't get an annual physical or teeth cleaning. Infant mortality rates have risen in Texas in the last ten years, while they've lowered across the nation.
- Cut funding for volunteer fire department from $30 million to $7 million, and asked Texans to "pray for rain."
- Through the second quarter of 2011, Texas used $17.4 billion in federal stimulus money. Perry balanced Texas' last two budgets with stimulus money; but he turned down education grants and $556 million for unemployment insurance. Meanwhile he rants that "Washington's insatiable desire to spend our children's inheritance on failed stimulus plans and other misguided economic theories have given us record debt and left us with far too many unemployed."
- Budget deficit of as much as $27 billion, a 40% - 63% increase over 2003, but he says it is not that much different than in 2003.
- Cut almost $10 billion from public education with 80,000 new students joining that system every year, rather than raise taxes or dip into Texas' $9 billion Rainy Day fund. Texas ranks 43rd in graduation rates.
- Texas school system revised its curriculum to promote creationism, that the U.S. was founded on Christianity, American exceptionalism, the importance of the right to keep and bear arms, the significant contributions of pro-slavery Confederate leaders during the civil war, the anti-communist witch-hunt by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s may have been justified, and that free enterprise stretched back to medieval times. At the same time they diminished the science of evolution, the civil rights movement, the horrors of slavery, Thomas Jefferson whose writings provide proof for the 1st Amendment meaning "separation of church and state," and dropped references to slave trade. They prefer to call it the "Atlantic triangular trade."
- Cut at least 10% in what the state pays Medicaid providers such as doctors and hospitals.
- Tried to force 6th grade girls to get HPV vaccine: Perry issued an Executive Order mandating that girls must be vaccinated for the HPV virus before the sixth grade. Merck was the only company producing the vaccine. They paid his former chief of staff, Mike Toomey, $260,000 - $525,000 to lobby conservatives before the mandate. Outraged parents put a stop to it.
- Slush fund scheme: The Texas Enterprise fund, paid for by taxpayers, is suppose to spur job growth. So far it has given over $345 million to large corporations. In return, these companies have donated at least $2.2 million to Perry's campaign or the Republican Governors Association of which Perry is President. And Perry received $1 million from the Governors Association in 2006.
- Toll roads and land seizures scheme: He set a record with over a million acres of eminent domain land seizures for toll road projects. According to the Texas RLC, this has been a massive off-the-books tax program, taking money from Texas drivers and feeding it to foreign financial interests and management groups which lobbied him for special deals which produce much higher tolls and higher profits than are typical in other states.
- Said he lowered taxes: But the revised law that lowered the business franchise tax from 4% to 1% also expanded the tax base, causing businesses to actually pay more business franchise tax than before. And it favors corporations over small businesses. Independently owned auto repair shops are taxed at twice the rate applied to dealership-owned shops or franchise stores.
- EPA: Texas is the only state that refuses to comply with EPA carbon emission rules, despite the fact that in 2007 they were rated #1 nationwide for the most carbon dioxide pollution from power plants. And Perry prays daily that the President will ask the EPA to back down.
- Says he vetoed $3 billion in spending: But only $500 million actually made it up for legislation.
- Said Medicaid waiver proposal that would allow the state to create insurance opportunities for those that are uninsured today has languished in a file cabinet at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for more than two years. But the CMS says it is waiting for a revised proposal from Texas.
Anti-Science:
- Climate change: Despite having been Al Gore's campaign chairman, Perry calls it "all one contrived phony mess that is falling apart under it's own weight."
- Yes, our climate has changed. It has been changing ever since the Earth was formed. But I do not buy into a group of scientists who have, in some cases, have been found to be manipulating data.
- "I do believe that the issue of global warming has been politicized. I think there are a substantial number of scientists who have manipulated data so that they will have dollars rolling into their projects."
- "Evolution - it's a theory that's out there. It's got some gaps in it. In Texas we teach both creationism and evolution...I figure youre smart enough to figure out which one is right." By law, Texas is not suppose to teach creationism and requires that every student "knows evolutionary theory is a scientific explanation for the unity and diversity of life."
Wants to Change or Doesn't Understand the Constitution:
- Does Perry even believe the Constitution should govern the U.S.? He is associated and supported by Christian dominionists (such as the New Apostolic Reformation, International House of Prayer, and Joel's Army) that believe the U.S. (and the world) should be governed by Christian Law, not the constitution.
- 1st Amendment: Doesn't think it should include separation of church and state.
- Perry reduced the state funding for volunteer fire departments from $30 million to $7 million and told everybody to pray for rain, while Texas was suffering from one of the worst wildfire seasons in history. He issued an official Proclamation: "I, RICK PERRY, Governor of Texas, under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes of the State of Texas, do hereby proclaim the three-day period from Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April 24, 2011, as Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas. I urge Texans of all faiths and traditions to offer prayers on those days for the healing of our land, the rebuilding of our communities and the restoration of our normal way of life."
- 10th Amendment: Perry's not sure if it should apply to gay marriage. He said, "New York...passed a statue that said marriage can be between two people of the same sex...That's New York, and that's their business, and that's fine with me...If you believe in the 10th Amendment, stay out of their business." And he later said, To not pass the federal marriage amendment would impinge on Texas and other states right not to have marriage forced on them by these activist judges, these special interest groups. Our constitution was designed to respect states including the amendments process.
- 16th Amendment: He thinks the Federal Government shouldn't be able to tax us. "If you want to know when Washington really got off the track, the 16th Amendment, giving them the opportunity to take your money with a personal income tax."
- 17th Amendment: Perry thinks senators should be elected by state legislatures instead of by popular vote. "The American people mistakenly empowered the federal government during a fit of populist rage in the early twentieth century by...changing the way senators are elected."
- He thinks Social Security is unconstitutional and a ponzi scheme, and wants to let states opt out.
- Perry doubts food safety, environmental protection, minimum wage and child labor laws are unconstitutional.
- Voting Rights Act: "I think Section 5 is past its usefulness. I think it costs states huge amounts of money and frankly is way past its usefulness."
- Wants to abolish lifetime tenure for federal judges.
- Thinks Congress should have the power to override Supreme Court decisions with a 2/3 vote.
- Wants the federal government to balance its budget every year.
- Abortion should be made illegal throughout the country.
- Perry said, "Obamacare ignores both the Constitution's limits on the power of our federal government, and its protections of individual liberties." But back in 1993 he wrote a letter to Hillary Clinton praising her more universal health care plan that included an employer mandate. Perry said I think your efforts...are most commendable...I would like to request that the task force give particular consideration to the needs of the...rural communities...[They]...have a high proportion of uninsured people, rising health care costs, and often experience lack of services.
- Signed sonogram "emergency legislation" that forces a doctor to perform a sonogram and fully inform the woman about the life she is about to abort before performing the abortion.
Doesn't Let the Facts Get in the Way of a Good Story
- Blames God for recession: I think in America from time to time we have to go through some difficult times and I think were going through those difficult economic times for a purpose, to bring us back to those Biblical principles of you know, you don't spend all the money. You work hard for those six years and you put up that seventh year in the warehouse to take you through the hard times. And not spending all of our money. Not asking for Pharaoh to give everything to everybody and to take care of folks because at the end of the day, its slavery. We become slaves to government.
- Federal government restricts "how much salt we can put on our food."
- "You've got bombs exploding in El Paso," he said about the violence spreading from Mexico. But, it actually happened on the other side of the Rio Grande.
- "We've got a 1,000 National Guard troop request thats been in front of this president [Obama] for over a year and no response, so we are forced by Washington's inaction to take action ourselves." According to PolitiFact, Obama had repeatedly responded to Perry, he just hasn't said yes.
- "We don't get a lot of calls from this White House I have, frankly, never had a call from them". But according to PolitiFact, both the White Houses information and Perry's own schedule contradict his claim hes never had a call from this White House. In fact, he got such a call two weeks before the Fox interview aired.
- Says if he becomes President, he will sign an executive order to eliminate "ObamaCare" on day one. But an executive order cannot eliminate Health Care Reform.
Anti-gay:
- Perry is in favor of arresting gays under Texas' unconstitutional, anti-sodomy law. His response to the Supreme Court decision was "I think our law is appropriate that we have on the books."
- Compared being gay to being an alcoholic. "Even if an alcoholic is powerless over alcohol once it enters his body, he still makes a choice to drink. And even if someone is attracted to a person of the same sex, he or she still makes a choice to engage in sexual activity with someone of the same gender."
- He sent out a robocall against the hates crime bill, "With the president making homosexuality a protected class by signing the hate crimes bill, and Congress poised to vote on socialized health care, do you feel it is critical for more people to earnestly pray for our leaders? If yes, press 1. If no, press 2."
- Signed pledge to back a federal constitutional amendment against gay marriage.
- He said "Gay marriage is not fine with me." And at a political BBQ, Perry asked the crowd, "Would you rather live in a state like this, or in a state where a man can marry a man?"
- One of the major contributors of Perry's prayer rally, International House of Prayer, pushes for death penalty for gays in Uganda. They are a designated hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
- Another one of the major contributors of Perry's prayer rally, American Family Association, preaches that gays are responsible for the holocaust and gays threaten the lives of the general population. They are a designated hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Other Controversies:
- Said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would be committing treason if he printed more money and, "We would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas."
- Called the British Petroleum oil well spill was an "act of God."
- Executed an innocent man and blocked investigation into the validity of scientific evidence that convicted him, just as he was preparing for a primary election.
- Koch Brothers: Perry secretly flew to a meeting with the Koch Bros., while wildfires raged in Texas. They gave him $50,000 the year before.
- Pornography: Perry privately invested in Movie Gallery, the largest distributor of porn in the U.S. One of Perry's major backers of his 2012 prayer rally, American Family Association, filed two lawsuits against Movie Gallery in 2006.
- Secession: According to CNN, Perry isn't ruling out the possibility his state may one day secede from the nation if the federal government doesn't change its fiscal policies. Scroll down to see the videos.