Rick Perry takes on 'lame duck' Bush's lack of fiscal conservatism
DAVE MCNEELY

You've gotta love the guv. If there was any doubt that the Bush Era is moving into lame-duck days, Rick Perry's recent blurt in Iowa that George W. Bush isn't a fiscal conservative was a sign.

In an apparent effort to underscore his own conservatism, and that of his horse in the GOP presidential race, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Perry told a Dec. 6 Iowa gathering that Bush's conservative credentials are hollow.

"George Bush was never a fiscal conservative," Perry said. "When I inherited the place in 2001, the session of 2001, our resources started going down....

"(But) In '95, '97 and '99, George Bush was spending money," Perry told the Iowa group, as recorded by a videotape played on YouTube. "There's a real difference... But George never was a fiscal conservative... I think people thought he was.

"But look," Perry said, waving his arms, "he's better than Al Gore."

Perry was kind enough to note that two Democrats - the late Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock and former House Speaker Pete Laney - were the leaders of their respective bodies in 1995 and 1997.

"The governor of Texas does have veto power," Perry said, "and frankly, my criticism is that he should have told those guys that you're spending too much money."

By contrast, Giuliani has more a Ronald Reagan-style attitude toward government spending, Perry said.

"Rudy is a real fiscal conservative. He really is. He's a supply-sideraised Republican. George Bush is not, and he never was."

It's interesting that Perry, who's always acted like a Bush loyalist, would say stuff like that. Here's a guy who probably wouldn't have been governor but for Bush's coattails in 1998 to first get elected lieutenant governor.

You might recall that Perry barely nosed out Democrat John Sharp, with 50.04 percent of the vote, while Bush was racking up 68.23 percent - outpolling Perry by 691,984 votes.

No matter. In 2000, when Bush was finally declared to have won the presidential election and moved on to the White House, Perry moved from the lieutenant governor's office into the governor's.

Perry also neglected to mention that during Bush's final two years as governor, Perry was the lieutenant governor, and thus presiding officer of the Senate - the person who appointed the Senate Finance Committee and other key committees.

The lieutenant governor also sits on and appoints half the members of the Legislative Budget Board, which draws up the rough draft of the budget. One presumes that had Perry had qualms with the amount of spending at the time, he could have weighed in and made himself felt. Oh, well.

In another few weeks, we'll know who will be the Republican nominee. And if it is Giuliani, we'll find out soon enough whether Perry makes the cut as a running mate - or not.

But in the meantime, even though, in stark contrast to 2002 and 2004, Bush's popularity is in the tank, and GOP politicians fight not to have their picture taken with him, this seems a little - well, unseemly.

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Abbott to Craddick: Dust to Dust.... Texas Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott, after a several-month wait, finally ruled that there are other ways to remove a House speaker than impeachment.

But Abbott, who had been asked whether House Speaker Tom Craddick could refuse to recognize members last May who were trying to remove him from his job, also refused to get into interpreting House rules.

Two one-time Craddick allies who had requested the opinion - Republican Reps. Jim Keffer of Eastland, and Byron Cook of Corsicana - issued a statement saying that "in football terms, the attorney general's advisory opinion has punted this issue to the courts and has fumbled in its attempted summary."

Noting that Craddick is just one of 150 House members, the pair said they disagree strongly with his claim that he has "absolute authority" to decide who will be recognized on the House floor.

"We firmly believe our state constitution did not create the Texas House speaker post as a dictatorial position," the pair's statement said.

Some observers think Abbott, who is presumed to want to seek other statewide office, shaded the opinion to avoid angering Craddick and the Republicans' conservative base.

Don't be surprised if the punt indeed winds up in court.

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Create Creationist College?.... The Institute for Creation Research in Dallas is seeking approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to train science teachers online.

Look for this to be a continuation of the battle over whether evolution is overruled by religion.

Maybe education officials will say science teachers should be like the editorial writer, asked if he thinks the earth is round or square.

"I can," the editorialist replied, "write it either way."

- Contact McNeely at dmcneely@austin.rr.com.