For some reason, Texas loves Rick Perry. He has proved it three times in the past ten years making it harder to argue with. Governor Rick Perry is now running to be the President of the United States.

When asked last May if he would make a run for the office, Perry said, “I’m going to think about it.” He then added, “But I think about a lot of things.” I would hope that he thinks about a lot of things. After all, what good would it do us if our country was led by a man who did not think about a lot of things? We would hope that he was thinking about a lot of things when he decided to cut millions of dollars in education. We would hope that he was thinking when he caused thousands of men and women to lose their jobs across Texas, and we would definitely hope he was thinking when he indicated that the state government was not to blame for the cuts.

When Texas experienced the budget shortfall last spring, funding for public education was cut by approximately $5 billion. Students who were here during the protests last year remember what it was like to see their teachers walk out with stricken faces not knowing what they had done to deserve being laid off. Some may remember the teachers who stood up for other teachers, or the hallways jammed with shouting kids refusing to believe that their favorite teachers would lose their jobs. Most students lost two days of learning during the protests. If the budget cut hasn’t affected our ability to learn, then those two days might have very well done the job.

Public education did take a major blow from the budget shortfall. Class size is now bigger and when they are bigger, classrooms get noisier. Whether we like to admit it or not, having classes with a ton of friends can be distracting. Teachers have more periods to teach and more papers to grade. Clubs have lost funding or cannot find sponsors and tutorials have become even more difficult to attend.

Perry has chosen not to elaborate on the specifics of the shortfall, but instead continues to focus on his political future. When schools blame the state for the cuts, he quickly pushes accusatory fingers out of the way by saying the state is not to blame, and that he does not control who gets hired and fired.   

Along with the education cuts, grants for firefighters were cut down by more than $15 million. While wildfires are rage across Texas, firefighters have to pay for their own gear and tools. But Perry asked for federal emergency funding to help make things even out again. Perry is trying to make things better in his new campaign like creating new jobs and paying off debts. He believes in the importance of national security but does not support Obama’s Healthcare movement. 

If Rick Perry was the president, would he give the whole country a budget cut? Would he blame a recession on citizens and not the government? Remember the famous Bush saying, “There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee– that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me– you can’t get fooled again?” Perry has already shown he is more than capable of continuing this particular legacy of fumbling over his own words.

Is Perry really the best choice for the next Republican candidate? I guess that the public will just have to vote and find out. Just don’t forget to follow him on “Tweeter.”