My thoughts exactly, Dan. Bush’s qualifier for Conservatisim always rubbed me the wrong way. We don’t need “Conservatism Lite.” Could you imagine a democrat speaking about “intelligent” liberalisim?
Nice to hear someone speaking un-apologetically about our values.

To echo the comments above by Perry: the quote above is from Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels describing himself in reference to the average Hoosiers at the state fair concert, who immediately jumped into action when a storm caused a stage to collapse on top of people.

Nobody waited for “someone in charge” to tell them what to do. As Americans they can take charge themselves and do what needs to be done.

I remember some years ago watching similar stories on American TV with some visiting Germans, who commented – ruefully and with admiration of the American spirit – that such actions would not have occurred in Germany. As European pacifism and passivity from socialism have wormed their way into people’s psyches, many problems wait until “an official” addresses them. “Grassroots action” rarely happens, whether political or non-political.

I am happy to see Perry emphasizing this positive trait in his speech.

The concept as always expressed is a contradiction. Governments don’t have compassion, they have bureaus or departments, they have people who count minutes towards their two hour lunches, who have their retirement numbers memorized & and are always underpaid{?}.
George had the same gooey, aimless & free floating mess of uncoordinated attempts at ideas as his father, the sort of thoughtless mush you would expect at the breakfast table.
Democrats are focused, part parasite, part predator, a bit of cannibal, and all aimless blind hate. George never knew what he was up against, and if he did he wouldn’t have cared.

He gets the blame for explosions in spending, particularly in education, that were well underway before he got to the job.

The budget history available at http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/history/index.html is instructive; the comparison of what the administration requested in the President’s budget, versus what was appropriated, shows two remarkable things: from 1996 to 2001, budgets that had no input from the Bush administration but were passed when Republicans led the House, federal spending on elementary education nearly doubled — before the infamous No Child Left Behind act. After NCLB was instituted, there was an inevitable bulge, but the last 4 years of the Bush administration requested essentially “flat” funding.

I also think his compassionate conservatism was not necessarily tied to the growth of government; in fact, his early comments were that faith based organizations often did better than government, and the government should try to stay out of the way.

with unbridled free market capitalism, I think Bush was entirely accurate in his attempt to address a very real weakness in how our movement is perceived outside our own circle. Anyone with even the faintest grasp of American history can see how the excesses of American capitalism circa 1890 resulted in the expansion of state authority.

In my view, his attempt to allow faith communities a larger role in administering charity was, by and large, a good thing and was much more that the lip service that we social conservatives typically get from candidates and office holders.

I think his domestic agenda was brought to a screeching halt by 9/11 and the burden of fighting two wars and so we really don’t know what policies he had in mind when he was inaugurated or how those might have turned out.

But I’m anxious to find out more. Did state gov’t spending really double under Perry? If so, why? Did state debt grow? I think, I hope, he understands the difference between state and federal government objectives and priorities.

The campaign is young. We’ll learn.

What I particularly liked about Perry’s address was the hint — albeit, only a hint — towards establishing the moral component of conservatism.

“As Americans, we don’t see the role of government as guaranteeing outcomes, but allowing free men and women to flourish based on their own vision, their hard work and their personal responsibility.”

Mark Steyn often hammers this point: big government isn’t simply a fiscal matter, but a moral one. Infantilizing citizens into permanent adolescents debauches not just the economy, but the people themselves. Transforming grown men and women, independent actors, into dependents of the elite is immoral. It is tyranny.

And the end of that road is London Burning.

I hope that Perry — and the Conservative Movement — keeps bringing this point out and expanding on it. We need to educate our fellow citizens that they are freeborn citizens first and foremost, and the issue of government entitlements is way beyond just dollars and cents.

The field is set, Romney is the ‘backup’ choice for a lot of people and maybe a moderate favorite in a few ‘independent’ leading states but Perry appeals to a lot of voting blocks within the Republican party. I would say maybe there’s some vote splitting between Bachmann & Perry that could cause issues for Perry perhaps – that is something that could drag the fight out. It will be interesting to see if Bachmann could hold on early by winning Iowa and picking up some steam. If she can’t win Iowa this thing is over. I think the debates are probably pretty important, if Perry does well in the debates this thing could be over quick. Last time around there was not a Republican candidate that everyone knew was ‘the guy’ and so we went with the ‘backup’ option in McCain. This time around that would have been Mitt I think but then Rick Perry jumped in. I see him as the ‘Bush’-type of guy this time around that will pick up steam very quickly if he doesn’t mess it up. I will readily admit I don’t know the specifics of his resume but the highlights are very attractive for debates:
+Southern governor of a big state (executive experience in style)
+Big-time southern christian
+Texas jobs resume is very good, stealing jobs
+Texas is big on energy, so nice energy resume
+Tea Party-friendly (for now)
+Good attack dog, good speaker (we’ll see how he fares in national debates)
+Not Romney
+Establishment-friendly, the so-called talking heads (who I like btw) in your Steve Hayes, Bill Krystol’s, Krauthammers, will all sing his praises
+Electable-looking – the same presidential vibe Romney has without all the hangups

this sums up the past 10 years like no other. We are now paying for compassionate conservatisim.

Tell me, exactly how is Perry’s $200 million slush fund any different from Obama’s stimulus slush fund? Just because it went to CEO’s instead of labor unions? And what about the TTC and the vaccines? Perry is as big government as they come. If RedState jumps on this bandwagon, it better stop claiming to be pro small government and free markets. The only difference between Perry and Obama is that he would spend taxpayer money on Republican priorities (CEO’s, wars) instead of Dem priorities. And I don’t think the country is ready for more Bush-era statism.

The sound of his voice anyway, when your in the kitchen and the TV is in the living room, my goodness I had to come out to take a look at the TV…. brought me down a bit actually.

Perry is somewhere to the right of GHWB regarding taxes and somewhere to the left of GWB on illegal immigration issues.

I will grant that people make mistakes. This doesnt seem to be an insignificant mistake. This all sounds to me like a mini version of the disaster that we all know and love known as the DREAM Act.

Bush signed the federal light bulb ban, but Perry signed a state bill into law that will allow their manufacture and sale within the state.

So far the only one who has raised some of the concerns I have with Perry is phenry, and you guys attacked him for it.

Look, I get it that there is not a perfect candidate. But does the country really need another big government, Bilderberger globalist? I have not made up my mind who to support, but please, let this be a forum for discussion – good, bad, beautiful, ugly, on ALL the candidates.

Like many here, I will vote for a dead slug over Obama in the general election. No questions there. But there is a lot about Perry that concerns me at this time – his Bilderberg ties, his re-start of the “NAFTA superhighway” (to connect Mexico, the USA, and Canada in to one nice big North American Union?), his requirement that all 12 and older girls to be vaccinated against HPV (although I understand he’s backing off that now…).

All the candidates have a few warts – and these are discussed openly and honestly on Redstate. Which is how it should be. And why I love this site – it gives me the information I need to make my own well informed decision. So lets have an honest discussion about Perry. Are we so used to these big government globalists (like the Bushes – don’t forget, George H. W. gave us Agenda 21 and all that is coming to fruition now, as my inlaws who have a small family farm can attest) that alarm bells aren’t going off???

And no, I am NOT a Paulbot – Ron Paul has some good ideas about domestic issues (like doing away with the Fed) but his foreign policy ideas are idiotic, to say the least. OK, thanks. Glad I got that off my chest. Redstate was starting to sound like a teenage girl’s diary entries about her latest guy crush.

Thanks, and keep up the good work.