Melder's Musings

Thursday, April 27, 2006

"Larry the Cable Guy" is Rick Perry's new Education Adviser. (Publicity photo)

Texas Governor Rick Perry watches too much television. As reported by the Austin American-Statesman, Perry chose to answer questions about the current special legislative session on education funding with a familiar one-liner.

Perry was expressing his optimism that the Senate would pass his proposed business tax plan recently passed by the House. "There is a renewed spirit of optimism in this building as this plan gathers momentum. I am confident the Senate will seize the opportunity before us and pass this bipartisan plan. As ol' Larry the Cable Guy says on a regular basis, it's time to 'get 'er done.'"

I'm not sure what this actually tells us about Perry. Knowing the Governor, it could be a vain attempt to appeal to certain Texas voters. After all, he will probably face Kindy Friedman on the November ballot.

The Senate is expected to hold hearings on Perry's business tax plan this weekend. Perry said the plan could allow $15 billion in cuts in local school property taxes by replacing the corporate franchise tax with a broader business tax tied to gross receipts.

This isn't Perry's first time to quote a fictional character. Last week, Perry copied hamburconnoisseurseur "Wimpy" (of Popeye fame) by saying he'd pay Tuesday for a hamburger delivered today.

# posted by Daniel Melder @ 5:55 PM