Texas Gov. Rick Perry has stumbled during the most recent presidential debates, but that hasn’t soured National Review’s James Lileks on “the Rick Perry approach” to issues such as taxes.
See that tax over there, sittin’ on the fencepost? Okay, I’m going to shoot it with my eyes closed and it’s gonna not be there afterwards. Here, hold my beer.
The Perry approach has two things going for it: simplicity and effectiveness. When Obama ascended to the Oval Office, it was seen as the rise of the Smart People, the cool and credentialed intellects who could tweak and recalibrate the magnificent machinery of government. Inequity: down, somehow. Also sea levels. We would have a green economy; the evening news would run stories on high-school dropouts who now design software for wind farms or invent solar-powered tofu extruders.
The Perry approach: That’s fine, but you see that car there? Runs on gas. Might want to find some. I hear we got a barrel or two ’round these parts.
