Rick Perry demands more flexibility from Obama.

From the Houston Chronicle:

“I’m almost positive we have said publicly that we would take 80 percent less of the money if they’d give us 100 percent flexibility. We could cover more people and do it cheaper, but the federal government refuses to allow states the flexibility. They just don’t want to cede control of that almighty free money that they have up there,” Perry said Tuesday after a speech to a National Federation of Independent Business/Texas conference.

I would like to remind the good people about the budget choices and prioritization of funds that Rick Perry and the Republican party made for Texas the last few years.

In Education:
5 Billion in funds cut to public schools.
This has led to the cutting of bus routes, school districts requiring payment for buses, the firing of custodians and asking teachers to do the work, the closing of schools, the congestion of classrooms and the loss of 10,000 teaching jobs among tens of thousands of other positions in the state. All while schools are being asked to perform at a higher level, and when the state is adding 80,000 new students per year.
But don't assume this only affects the lower grades. Higher education institutions, many tier one classed, are complaining as well as their budgets are reduced by 9%. This will force even higher tuition at a time when getting a college education is already at record highs. But hey, if you're a Republican, Mitt Romney's answer is to "shop around".
(This has, by the way,led to 600 school districts suing the state.)

In Health Care:
Thedefunding of Planned Parenthood leaving at least 50,000 impoverished women without reproductive services, while the current rejection of federal funds willleave the larger 130,000 women requiring services out in the cold.
And in a mixed topic, the budget also leads to the elimination of Texas' primary care residency program, reduces funding for family practice residency and eliminates 220 million from health science centers and their research. This during a time when researches in San Antonio, at the highly esteemed Biomedical Research Institue, are trying to fund a new breakthrough HIV vaccine patent. Not a cure, but an even more effective way of fighting the virus.

In.... Everything Else:
Well there's a lot. The Children's Health Insurance Program was cut, the Texas Historical Commission lost its ability to preserve landmarks (this drives me crazy considering how much Texas claims to love its past), 2 year colleges lost funds.
So hey great product Rick, only 22% of 8th graders go onto get a college degree within six years of high school graduation, we've got the fourth highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation, we lead the country in minimum wage jobs and we don't have many college graduates.  Oh, and your elevated high school dropout rates? You probably lied about that.

But hey gub'ner. You sure know how to run a lean, mean, effective state. I trust you to put the money where it needs to go.

Oh wait. 

Republicans Officials Are Defenders of the Constitution - Except When Disregarding It Entirely

I'm not sure how long I've heard Republicans claim to be defenders of the Constitution. This isn't a claim limited to officials, to law enforcers or creators. On my Facebook page, among friends, I heard vigorous defenses of the Constitution. I hear the defense of the Second Amendment, and the misplaced defense of the First Amendment that really boils down to a defense of Christianity as a government propped religious institution, rather than allowing all religious bodies to stand equally. However, at least among my friends I can have a discussion, a debate about the role of government. 

There's no persuading officials, however, that are members of what I have begun to call "The Crazy".

What are "The Crazy"? The Crazy are people that fall within the realm of those with whom there is no discussion. There is no latitude for movement, no ability to have a sensible, rational debate. They are so badly propped by misinterpretations of the Constitution that they feel that any law they pass must be upheld, even when these laws are in flagrant violation of other portions of the Constitution. These are the people so interested in defending the Second Amendment that they threaten the First Amendment rights of people speaking out against uncontrolled gun laws. They are Tenthers, those who feel states can nullify federal laws, even though this is a debate that was settled by a devastating Civil War over a century ago, and that goes directly against the Constitution's stipulation that it is the supreme law of the United States.

The Crazy introduce insane ballot initiatives, laws and make decrees that are simply not supported by the Constitutional structure of our country. Like Arizona, which attempted a ballot initiative last summer to reject parts of Obamacare it might not like, something the state simply cannot run a ballot initiative to implement.

They're men like Steve King, who recently proposed a bill to curtail birthright citizenship that is justified by the Fourteenth Amendment. This wasn't his first time trying to do so, and he was joined by legislators from five different states all trying to introduce local legislation that would violate the Fourteenth Amendment.

Meanwhile, the rage over gun control, which shouldn't be so complicated, has created a number of Constitution defying pieces of legislation and decrees. Lawmakers in Wyoming tried to introduce laws that would deny federal gun control laws, making them unenforceable within the state. They were joined by Texas, who mirrored that legislation with some of its own, and also made it a criminal act for federal officials to enforce gun control laws. And just this morning? Word out of Oregon comes that once local sheriff has written a letter to Joe Biden proclaiming that he will refuse to enforce any federal gun control laws that come out of Washington.

These are The Crazy. They are the ones who hide behind the Constitution while spitting on it. They're rattle their sabers and declare their patriotism while tearing to shreds the document that binds the nation's framework and legal authority. So yeah, next time I hear Republicans arguing about how devoted they are to the Constitution, I've got a long list of evidence I'm going to bring against them.