Rick Perry for President Official Political Program - 2012 -

Topics Jobs.................................3 Fiscal Responsability.......4 Security...........................5 Healthcare......................6 Social Issues....................7 Accessory Documents.....8

Jobs
Rick Perry knows government doesn t create jobs the private sector does. Government s role is to create an environment ripe for growth, then get out of the way. Under Perry s leadership, Texas has gained more than one million jobs while the rest of the nation lost over two million jobs. Since June 2009, nearly 40% of all net new American jobs have been created in his home state. As president, Rick Perry will jolt our economy back to life with his Cut, Balance and Grow plan. It cuts taxes and spending, balances our budget by 2020 and grows millions of new jobs. Perry will give every American the option to throw out the current tax code and instead pay a simple 20% flat tax that can be filed on a postcard. He will cut taxes on employers and repeal job-killing regulations such as ObamaCare that are strangling growth. And he will open American energy fields to domestic exploration and development, which will lower energy prices, decrease our reliance on foreign oil and create more than one million new jobs.

Fiscal Responsibility
With millions of Americans out of work, millions more on food stamps and a national debt that has swollen by $4 trillion since Obama became President, America can no longer afford lukewarm half-measures from politicians who shrink from the fight for fear of offending the Washington elites. Establishment politicians got us into this mess, and they cannot get us out of it by tinkering at the margins of a system that is completely and utterly broken. Rick Perry will take a wrecking ball to the Washington establishment so we can rebuild our economy on the solid foundation our founding fathers intended. His Cut, Balance and Grow plan cuts taxes, caps government spending at 18% of the national economy and balances the budget by 2020. Perry will also permanently ban earmarks and taxpayer bailouts, and push for a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Perry will throw out the corporate tax code and replace it with a simpler, lower flat tax that ends the gravy train of lobbyists feeding at the government trough. He will not only freeze federal hiring, but also salaries for every member of Congress and every federal employee, excluding the military and public safety workers, until the budget is balanced. And he will drastically reduce the size of government by eliminating, combining or refocusing bloated federal agencies. No other candidate Republican or Democrat can match Rick Perry s record of fiscal conservatism. He has signed 67 tax cuts, saving taxpayers $14 billion. He is the only Texas governor to cut state spending since World War II. And today, citizens of his state enjoy the second lowest government debt burden per capita in America.

Security
Rick Perry believes that our nation is most secure when we have the strongest economy in the world. His first priority will be to get America s economic engine running at full speed to restore our global economic leadership, and to ensure America has the resources needed to maintain a strong, modern defense. By the same token, we need to maintain our strong presence to defend our interests around the globe while we rebuild our economy at home. Perry believes in American exceptionalism and rejects the notion our president should apologize for our country. He believes allies and adversaries alike must know that America seeks peace from a position of strength. We must strengthen our diplomatic relationships, and stand firm with our allies against our common enemies. While advancing our interests abroad, Perry believes it is equally important to defend our interests at home by securing our border. As president, Perry will substantially increase manpower, technology and fencing along the border to protect the American homeland and stop illegal immigration. This strategy has proven effective in Texas, where Gov. Perry has directed nearly $400 million in state tax dollars to do the federal government s job of securing the border. Perry will deploy thousands of National Guardsmen to the border until a sufficient number of border patrol agents can be hired and trained. He will order federal officials to expedite construction of strategic fencing, especially in high traffic areas where manpower alone is insufficient to do the job. And he will make greater use of unmanned aerial assets to gather reliable, real-time intelligence that law enforcement can immediately act upon.

Healthcare
Rick Perry believes the best way for the federal government to improve healthcare in the near term is to stimulate job creation so more Americans are covered by employer-sponsored health plans. Creating jobs will also reduce the strain on public safety net programs like Medicaid, saving taxpayer dollars. If elected, Perry will repeal Obamacare a misguided, unconstitutional and unsustainable government takeover of our health care that will undermine patient quality, increase red tape and send costs skyrocketing for taxpayers, patients and healthcare providers. Perry s Cut, Balance and Grow plan calls for serious reforms to healthcare safety net programs like Medicaid and Medicare to ensure the wise use of tax dollars and increase quality of care.

Social Issues
Rick Perry is a conservative of conviction, not of convenience. On the bedrock issues of life, marriage and the Second Amendment, Perry s conservative values are clear and consistent, and his record backs up his rhetoric. Rick Perry has always taken an unwavering stand in defense of life and he will continue to do so as president. If elected, Perry would support a ban on tax dollars for abortion and a human life amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He will only appoint judges with a demonstrated commitment to the Constitution and interpreting the law as written, as he has done consistently as governor. Perry has signed more pro-life legislation than any other governor in the history of his state, including: A Parental Consent law for minors The Prenatal Protection Act, which recognizes the personhood of an unborn child The Woman s Right to Know Act, requiring informed consent A ban on late-term abortions A law ensuring pregnant women receive a sonogram prior to an abortion Defunded Planned Parenthood Perry strongly supports traditional marriage. He signed the state Defense of Marriage Act and supported a marriage amendment to the state constitution, and he would do the same as president. As a life-long hunter and a concealed handgun license holder, Perry is an ardent defender of the Second Amendment. As governor, he signed a Castle Doctrine bill to ensure citizens have the right to defend themselves in their homes. He signed agreements allowing licensed residents of 40 other states to carry concealed weapons in Texas, and vice versa. He also stopped local governments from prohibiting legally concealed weapons on public property, cut CHL renewal fees and protected shooting ranges from junk lawsuits.

Accessory Documents
1 - Uproot and Overhaul Washington http://alturl.com/tospq 2 Cut, Balance and Grow http://alturl.com/mvn9m 3 Energizing American Jobs & Security http://alturl.com/douej