By Ed Sterling.
Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst posted similar takes on President Obama’s annual state of the union address, televised live on Jan. 28.
Perry said, “… Texas has shown that the way to economic prosperity and significant job growth is through individual freedoms and the free market. Tonight, we saw a president with the same old agenda and no real idea on how to govern.”
Dewhurst suggested the president “should take a page out of the playbook for the Texas Miracle and cut taxes, slash spending, and reduce the regulations that kill jobs.”
In contrast, freshman U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, on Jan. 29 posted his reaction, referring to the president’s speech “a call to action” that “requires us to take steps forward, and we must do so together. Though trust is lacking, our courage must not fail us. If we fail today to grow the bipartisan momentum developed over recent weeks, we will miss a critical opportunity. To move the ball down the field, we all have to play on the same team. I will continue to play on the right team – America’s team.”
In other news, on Jan. 31, Perry reacted to the State Department’s environmental impact study on the Keystone XL pipeline, a conduit being built to move petroleum-bearing tar sands from western Canada to terminals in Nederland, Texas, near Port Arthur.
“If, as the president said in his state of the union speech, he truly wants this to be a year of action, there would be no better way to kick it off than authorizing construction of this important project.”
Ed Sterling works for the Texas Press Association and follows the Legislature for the organization.
