Texas Gov. Rick Perry uses bailout talk to blast Kay Bailey Hutchison
09:32 AM CST on Monday, February 9, 2009
By WAYNE SLATER / The Dallas Morning News
wslater@dallasnews.com
AUSTIN – For Gov. Rick Perry, federal bailouts make bad policy but good politics.
With the GOP primary a year away, the politics of government intervention in the economy have emerged as the first clear flashpoint between Perry and Republican rival Kay Bailey Hutchison, who wants to unseat him as governor.
Perry has declared his independence from Washington by opposing stimulus packages in virtually any form – and chiding Hutchison for voting for the initial $700 billion bailout pushed by the Bush administration. Hutchison aides fire back that Perry has been hypocritical on the issue.
Hutchison has rejected a pair of stimulus packages, including the compromise tentatively approved Friday, amid growing GOP opposition. But Perry aides are pounding her with criticism that she's flip-flopped on the issue as they head into next year's Republican gubernatorial primary.
"Kay Bailout Hutchison has to explain that," Perry pollster Mike Baselice said. "Seven hundred billion dollars in more government spending is not the type of thing that most Republican primary voters are going to find favorable."
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