“America is not broken. Washington
DC is broken” – Rick Perry

CHARLESTON, SC – Today in
Charleston, South Carolina, before an overflowing Red State gathering of
conservatives, and amid numerous interruptions for applause, Texas Governor Rick
Perry made his candidacy for President of the United States official. Perry
began his address by asking for a moment of silence to acknowledge the sacrifice of
the Navy SEALS and Special Forces members who lost their lives in the past few
weeks in Afghanistan.

Perry spoke to America’s
exceptionalism and place on the world stage and his belief that America’s best
days are still to come, “I believe in America. I believe in her purpose and her
promise. I believe her best days have not yet been lived. I believe her greatest deeds are for
generations to come. With the help and
the courage of the American people we will get our country working again.”

Perry, who has a staunch record supporting state’s rights said, “America is not broken. Washington DC is broken.” Perry promised to change that saying, “I’ll promise
you this, I’ll work every day to make Washington DC as inconsequential in your
life as I can.”

“It’s time for America to believe
again. It’s time to believe that the
promise of our future is even better than the best days behind us,” Perry
said. “In America the people are not
subjects of the government, the government is subject to the people.”

The Texas Governor then promised to
end Obamacare, “We will repeal this president’s misguided one-size-fits-all government
healthcare plan immediately.” Perry came
out hitting hard at the policies of Barack Obama saying, “I will not sit back
and accept the path that America is on, because a great country requires a
better direction, because a renewed nation needs a new president.”

Perry spent a few moments at the
onset of his address highlighting his youth growing up on a farm in Paint
Creek, Texas, “a town too small to have a zip code.” Perry noted that at the age of eight he met
his future wife, they had their first date eight years later and sixteen years
after that Anita agreed to marry him.

Perry said when he graduated from
Texas A&M he then spent the next several years flying for the United States
Air Force where he fully came to realize that “The United States of America
really is the last great hope of mankind.”

“As Americans we are not defined by
class and we will never be told our place.
What makes our nation exceptional is that anyone with any background can
climb to the highest of heights.  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,” Perry said.

“There is no taxpayer money that
wasn’t first earned by the sweat and toil of one of our citizens,” Perry said
then he rejected what he characterized as President Obama’s policies as an “unbridled
fixation on taking money out of the wallets and pocketbooks of American
families and employers and giving it to a central government.”

Speaking to what the Administration
is calling a “recovery,” Gov. Perry said “One
in six work eligible people cannot find a job.
That is not a recovery; that is an economic disaster.”

“Those Americans know that this
president with his big spending, big government policies have prolonged our
national misery not alleviated it,” Perry said.

“Mr. President, let us tell you
something. You cannot win the future by
selling America off to foreign creditors.”

“We cannot afford four more years of
this rudderless leadership,” Perry said. “The tax and spend and borrow agenda
of this president led to the first ever downgrade of the credit rating of the
United States of America.”

Perry continued, “In reality though
this is just the most recent downgrade. The fact is for nearly three years
President Obama has been downgrading American jobs, he’s been downgrading our
standing in the world, he’s been downgrading our financial stability, he’s been
downgrading our confidence, and downgrading our hope for a better future for
our children. That’s a fact.”

Perry spoke about national security
noting that current U.S. fiscal policy is endangering the nation’s safety. Perry then noted that Barack Obama’s “incoherent
muddle they call foreign policy” also endangers the United States.

“Our president has insulted our friends
and encouraged our enemies,” Perry noted that President Obama is urging Israel to return to its
indefensible pre-1967 borders while “He is an abject failure in his constitutional duties to
protect our borders in the United States.”

Perry focused on jobs and job
creation as well as citing his record of massive job creation in Texas.

“It’s time to get America working
again,” Perry said. “You know page one
of any economic plan to get America working is to give a pink slip to the
current residents of the White House.”

Perry said, “We’ve got to get back
to the basic truths of economic success.
As governor I’ve had to deal with the consequences of this national
recession; in 2003, again this year, my
state faced billions of dollars of budget shortfall.”

“We worked hard. We made tough decisions. We balanced our budget, not by raising taxes,
but by setting priorities and cutting government spending. It can and it must be done in Washington DC.”

“We have led Texas based on some
really pretty simple, guiding principles.
One is don’t spend all the money.
Two is keeping the taxes low and under control. Three is you have your regulatory climate
fair and predictable. Four is reform the
legal system so frivolous lawsuits don’t paralyze employers that are trying to
create jobs,” Perry said.

“Over the years we followed this recipe to create the
strongest economy in the nation. Since
June of 2009, Texas is responsible for more than 40% of the all of the new jobs
created in America.

“Think about that,” Perry said. “We’re home to less than 10% of the
population of America, but 40% of all the new jobs were created in that state.”

“I was the first governor since World
War II to cut general revenue spending in our state budget,” Perry said. Then
he touted Texas’ new “Losers Pays” lawsuit reform.

“It is time to get America working again.  That’s why with the support of my family and unwavering belief in the goodness of America, I declare to you today as a candidate for the President of the United States.”

The announcement was followed with a standing ovation and chants of “Perry!  Perry!  Perry!”

Perry’s announcement comes on the
same day as the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa, and the announcement is expected to
dilute the attention normally reserved for the straw poll results and its
victor. Michele Bachmann, former
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, and Ron Paul are all looking for a big boost
from the straw poll.

Perry Hitting The Campaign Trail –

Perry will now travel from South
Carolina to New Hampshire, the first-in-the-nation primary state. While this will be Perry’s first visit to New
Hampshire this year, it comes after GOP activists from the Granite State
traveled to Texas to encourage Perry to run for the nomination for
president. Similarly, the Republican
members of the Arkansas state legislature previously wrote a letter to Perry asking
him to enter the race.

On Sunday, Perry will be in Iowa
where the first real head-to-head showdown between primary candidates takes
place in the 2012 statewide caucus.

Some argue that Perry has entered the
race too late, but Fox News reports, that “Perry is a prodigious fundraiser who
has already begun laying the groundwork for a national finance network his supporters say would rival that of President Barack Obama, who is expected to exceed his record-breaking $750 million
haul from 2008.”

Perry has served in the Texas
legislature, as the Texas Agriculture Commissioner, the first Republican Lt.
Governor of Texas since reconstruction, and is now the longest serving governor
in Texas history.

Perry has never lost
an election.

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About John G. Winder

John G. Winder has spent 29 years in the broadcasting industry as an on-air report, General Manager and Executive in both radio & television.

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