Why Rick Perry is a questionable Conservative

The name Rick Perry conjures up an image of an old-school conservative politician.And why wouldn't it? After all, the Governor of Texas has been attempting to market himself as a traditional GOP politician who believes in small government, lower taxes for all as well as promoting his traditional Christian beliefs in order to gain kudos with the Party's right wing.

Many people therefore feel a natural affinity towards him. He is seen as the traditional conservative who will take action against America's growing debt crisis and his aversion to any form of government interference be that via healthcare or through any increase in taxes makes him look like the ideal GOP Presidential Candidate.

However is this really the case? Has Governor Perry really acted so conservatively and would he be the ideal Presidential candidate for the Republicans? His record as Governor surely makes for some interesting reading...

• Perry is no small government politician, when he took office in 2000, the Texas State debt lay at $49billion...Ten years later, it is $90billion. 
• Texas has a deeper debt crisis than even California. It averages out at $10,645 per person if compared with California's $9,932. This means Texas has a debt-GDP ratio of 22.9% whereas California is only a paltry 18.7% in comparison.
• Today, Texans pay more taxes than before Perry took office in 2000. This suggests that he really is all talk when it comes to the whole fiscal conservative attitude. 
• Perry is soft on immigration. Despite all the talk, Perry does not believe an Arizona immigration type law is necessary in a State where illegal immigration is a major issue. Instead he believes that there should be a path for illegal immigrants to gain entry into mainstream US society.  Gov. Perry, if they are illegal, shouldn't they be treated just like everybody else committing an illegal act?
• Perry is arguably a RINO...After all, he did support Al Gore for the Presidency in 1988...Even serving as Gore's campaign Chairman in Texas that year. 

There you have it, 5 clear reasons why Perry should not be the GOP nominee. If looked at closely, Perry does not really offer much more than President Barack Obama or even his predecessor George W. Bush. 

A Perry Presidency would increase the national debt, do nothing to alleviate illegal immigration, sneakily raise taxes and in essence make the American way of life that little bit harder for the average citizen. 

Violence in London...Justified?

Over the past two days, there has been rioting in London. Most of the areas hit have been in the North of the city, most notably Tottenham, Enfield and Islingston, with Brixton in the South and Oxford Circus in the West also hit. So what has led to this?

On August 4 in Tottenham, Mark Duggan 29, was shot dead by police. It occured during the middle of a police operation which included specialist firearms officers from Operation Trident-The body within the Metropolitan Police that deals with violent crime within the Afro-Caribbean Community of which Mr Duggan was a member.

In Britain, there has always been tension between minorities and the police. Therefore when word got out about Mr Duggan's ethnic origin, naturally people had a right to think there was an element of rascism involved with the decision to shoot. Would a white man have been given the same treatment? An illegal firearm was recovered from the scene as well as a bullet lodged within a police radio.

Two days later in the early evening of August 6, 300 people held a peaceful protest in the area demanding Justice for Mr Duggan and his family. However a few hours later, violence erupted when people started throwing bottles at patrol cars. Since then, there have been a number of clashes within the city all claiming to be in support of Mr Duggan, whose family incidentally have publicly condemned the violence.

One has to wonder how the continuing violence can be justified, considering it has now spread to areas which are no where near the original area of Tottenham, most notably Brixton in South London and Oxford Circus in the West. Mr Duggan's shooting has been used as an excuse to cause havoc.

There have been claims that this is a 'cry of rage' from the 16-25 age group who face the highest levels of unemployment in the UK. The fact that the rioters were also inner-city dwellers makes this doubly worse as living conditions are not always the best for this socio-economic group.

However, rioting is not going to make a difference. In fact, it will make the government and public more apathetic to the needs of this group. To use the killing of one individual as an excuse to destroy other peoples livelihoods and steal is inexcusable. If you want to improve your standard of living, go out and do it. Do not destroy the lives of law abiding citizens whose only aim in life is to have a peaceful existence.

 Government help cannot be relied on always, especially in a time where they are cutting back in order to balance their budget. This means there will be less money flowing around to help the deprived youth of not just London, but the UK as a whole. A hard fact to accept for some, but that is the reality.

Therefore isn't it time, people started taking responsibility for themselves, since the powers that be are not only reluctant to take that responsibility, but out of money to?

Finger pointing follows debt downgrade

Finger pointing follows debt downgrade

Wall Street set to drop as world stocks fall after US downgrade

Wall Street set to drop as world stocks fall after US downgrade

Downgraded to AA+...Oops, Congress we have a problem!

Friday night saw the Standard and Poor's  downgraded America's credit rating from the prestigious AAA rating down to AA+. This decision has caused an element of shock within the United States considering that US government debt was considered to be the safest of the safe. If this holds true, why has the US been downgraded?

One reason can be the political wrangling in Washington, a major factor in this decision. So, what is it about the political situation that has led to this downgrade? The answer is political ideology over how to resolve America's debt. The Democrats on one hand seem to feel that raising an already high debt ceiling was the answer and that debt would be reduced through a mixture of tax increases for the wealthy coupled with Budget cuts.Republicans however disagreed believing that tax rises were not the answer and that major spending cuts only would be a perfect solution.

Both sides have their own reasons and both solution's actually are very credible. However, the fact that no compromise was made till a few hours before America reached her debt limit suggests that there is a long way to go before that coveted 'AAA' rating is restored.

The political situation in Washington is the major problem affecting the American economy today, if these two political parties do not learn to adapt to the situation at hand instead of pursuing their own political agenda's, the US as a whole will suffer, especially with the rise of the BRIC's.

 Congress needs to start working towards restoring America, forget about their own political skins and actually get the country into as strong a position as possible so as to continue her competitiveness with the rest of the world. Otherwise, the future looks bleak, for not just the average American, but also their esteemed elected officials.