Enter The Fray - Rick Perry

So Rick Perry is expected to announce his candidacy for President of the United States of America tomorrow. His foray into the race should see him instantly catapult him to the top of the Republican race. He will probably run on a jobs candidacy, being the only candidate with a strong record of job creation from public office. This should give him a strong leg up over Mitt Romney and John Huntsman, both of whom were successful businessman.

So how does he stack up?

Well, the man can fundraise:

“He is the most successful fund-raiser in the history of Texas politics,” said Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice, a watchdog organization that tracks campaign spending. “He may be the best in the country. He will have no trouble raising the money he needs for his presidential campaign.”

Only Mitt Romney can compete with Perry in terms of money raised. In the last two weeks, he's raised twice as much as every other candidate. Financially, Rick Perry should be one of the toughest candidates to top.

As I said before, he will be the job's candidate:

Over the past year, Texas' job growth was twice the national average. In fact, of all the jobs created since June 2009, 30 percent – about 295,000 jobs – were created in Texas, according to a report from the Dallas Federal Reserve which analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That should make him a favorite in this recession. People want someone who will be business friendly and help the economy grow. Not someone who will continuously mislead the economy and not give a certain outlook over their future actions.

So what's been the secret to his success? Taxes:

Yucel said much of this job growth can be attributed to Texas' low tax rate – the state has no income tax -- few regulations and a law limiting tort litigation. Texas, according to Perry, is the "epicenter of growth."

Low taxes and few regulations are business friendly. Limited tort litigation is doctor friendly. In many ways, Perry is the anti-Obama. From the two and a half years we've seen so far, an anti-Obama is just what we might need to grow as a country.

Or is he? According to Joseph Henchman, while Perry decreased franchise taxes, he increased margin taxes, resulting in increased revenue:

"I think Perry's margin tax in Texas is a destructive type of tax," said Joseph Henchman, the vice president of state projects for the Tax Foundation. "You have taxes being levied on taxes based on how many levels of production a product has. It basically encourages people to form conglomerates purely for tax reasons which is economically destructive. You have these taxes pyramiding on each other so the effective rate is higher."

But what did Perry's opponents do? Unemployment under Pawlenty as Minnesota governor:

Still, 25 states had a lower unemployment rate in June 2011 than Texas, including Pawlenty's state of Minnesota in which 6.7 percent of the population is unemployed.

And the budget:

Pawlenty took office in 2003 when the state's budget was facing a $2 billion shortfall. Within his first year as governor Moody's rating agency downgraded Minnesota from a perfect AAA credit rating to AA1, one step lower, citing short-term fixes to long-term budget woes as the reason for the downgrade.

Despite the unemployment rate, Pawlenty has let his state's debt get down graded. He didn't solve the state's problems, but rather slowed it down by slowing down spending. It sounds very similar to what Boehner's plan appears to be doing.

Romney helped raise Massachusetts's credit rating:

Conversely, during Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's tenure from 2003 to 2007, he petitioned the S&P credit rating agency to increase his state's credit rating from AA- to AA, which they did in 2005, according to a report obtained by Politico.

But did he raise taxes:

But the credit upgrade did not come without a cost. In 2002 Massachusetts raised more than $1 billion in additional tax revenue and in 2004 the state increased fees such as those for drivers' licenses, raising an additional $271 million annually, according to the report.

Actually, no:

Henchman said former Romney is the only GOP candidate who saw income taxes decrease while he was in office, albeit slightly, from 5.6 percent when he took office in 2003 to 5.3 percent by the time he left in 2007.

The article seems a bit misleading about this fact.

Meanwhile, Huntsman went with a flat tax:

"Huntsman's flat tax achievement is an achievement," Henchman said. "It reduced complexity and it made it a much more growth-friendly tax system."

You may ask why I'm focusing on taxes, the credit rating, and job creation. Because it's going to be the most important talking point for debate for the 2012 election. It should have been for the 2008 election, but instead they focused on healthcare, immigration, and the war. As I said then, the economy is always the most important issue whether it's good or bad.

The 2012 election will be about creating jobs, solving the debt crisis, and restoring the credit rating of this country.

However, since people do like to focus on other, relatively minute details, let's look at Perry's social stances. He is staunchly anti-abortion and anti-gay rights:

Governor Perry and the supporters of "the Response" can say all they want that the prayer rally was a non-political event, but the fact is the event was sponsored by the American Family Association, an exclusively Christian group with a narrowly-focused political agenda that revolves mostly around outlawing abortion and curtailing gay rights.

I have a hard time taking these types of people seriously. You know, the ones that not only are intolerant in their private lives, but also feel it is their mission to force their views on your publicly. For me, it's hard to trust someone for this. One of the founding principles of our country is the separation of church and state and when someone's viewpoint is derived from religious beliefs, you are blurring that very sacred line.

Carl Medearis feels similarly about the political implications of Perry's religious rally:

But here's my suggestion for the next politician that feels the need to call the nation to prayer, and wants to do so in a way that honors Jesus. Why not make the event open to people of all faiths and political persuasions? And rather than focusing on a narrow set of political concerns, why not make the focus of prayer something that Jesus actually talked about, like removing the planks from our eyes before we judge others... and loving our neighbor as ourselves?

Regardless, the "Response" may have been a political move to consolidate support of the conservative Christian base:

By leaving politics out of The Response, Perry formed a bond with the evangelical community that no other 2012 Republican presidential candidate has, at least on such a large scale: He earned their respect.

"I think by him not saying anything [political], that shows he kept his word," Stringer said. "I think if he had said something, he would have totally lost any equity with anybody. By not doing anything, even those that don’t ever vote for him, those that don’t agree with his politics, they can say ‘you know what, we can pray for that guy, and he went up a notch in my book.'"
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Yes, but the event was still sponsored by a anti-abortion and anti-gay rights group. So what about that homeboy? It's all politics, right?

Whether or not I'm a fan of Rick Perry, he might be the candidate to beat. Regardless of how annoyed I get with social issues entwined with religion and politics, this election might be about jobs. I think we have a lot to learn about all of these candidates in regards to what they intend to do to help grow our economy. However, on record, Rick Perry appears to be one of the stronger candidates. I can't really knock him for that, and it appears the Obama administration is already taking notice.

The 2012 election is about jobs. When you're voting in the caucuses and primaries as well as the general election, keep this in mind. The economy should outweigh everything else.