Perry touts ‘Texas model’ after historic term, eyes 2016

 

Governors come and governors go, but Rick Perry is leaving a mark on Texas that won't soon be forgotten. 
With the new year, Texas' longest-serving governor will leave the office he's held for more than three consecutive terms. Handing the reins to Attorney General Greg Abbott, his transition marks the end of an era in Texas politics. 
And yet, Perry doesn't sound like a man hanging up his spurs. 
Already, he's stoking chatter of another White House run, reportedly courting donors and taking heed to brush up on his policy to avoid the stumbles of 2012 should he run again. The governor formed a political action committee, in support of fellow Republicans, earlier this year. And he recently confirmed he'll attend a high-profile conservative forum, the Iowa Freedom Summit hosted by Rep. Steve King, in politically important Iowa next month. 
Meanwhile, he's been spending his final days in the Governor's Mansion burnishing his legacy: what his supporters call the "Texas miracle." In an extensive interview with FoxNews.com, the outgoing governor said he has no regrets. 
"If I had any regrets I'd stick around for another four years," Perry said. "I'm ready to go." 
The "Texas miracle" refers to his state's steady job growth and sturdy economy. But Perry tamps down the buzz phrase just a little. 
"Miracles I can't explain, I'll leave those to the good Lord," he said. "This is not a miracle. We know how this happened." 
To hear Perry tell it, the "Texas model" is a proven blueprint that can work across the country. (Yet another Texas-sized hint he's seriously considering a White House run.) 
It's a mark even his critics can't ignore. 
"Governor Perry established in the national mind that Texas is the place for jobs and freedom where entrepreneurship thrives and the American dream is alive," said Cal Jillson, SMU political science professor and author of "Lone Star Tarnished." 
Indeed, Texas under Perry has outpaced any other state on the employment front, creating three out of 10 of all U.S. jobs. Forbes magazine recently named Texas as the leading state for economic climate and future job growth while Chief Executive Magazine readers have named Texas as the number one state to do business for 10 years running. Over 100 of America's top companies -- including AT&T, Fluor, Dell and ExxonMobil -- are based in Texas. Toyota, Apple, Charles Schwab and SpaceX are expanding operations in the state. Perry has crisscrossed the globe with missionary zeal, from Beijing to London, touting a flourishing Texas brand that looks a shade brighter against the national economy. Texas, in turn, is America's top exporting state averaging more than $1 billion in exports every working day. 
"I was always intrigued with economic development and an economic climate that frees people," Perry said. "It was innate, something I derived from watching people I admired like my father, and it wasn't something I read or studied in school." 
But Perry still has plenty of critics, who would no doubt pipe up should he try and bring the "Texas model" to the rest of the country in a 2016 presidential campaign. Plus, he continues to face an indictment for alleged abuse of power, after allegedly pressuring a Democratic prosecutor to resign after a drunk-driving conviction. Perry and his supporters blast the case as baseless and describe his own actions as lawful, but it's an undeniable wild card in his political future. 
Wealth inequality is a big beef with his detractors who prefer to cite other statistics on the state's economy. "Perry leaves everyday Texans with the 13th highest poverty rate in the country, limited access to affordable health care and underfunded neighborhood schools," Texas Democratic Party spokeswoman Rachel Boyer said. 
"If you're white and wealthy, Texas is a great place," said Jillson. "However, no Texas governor Republican or Democrat is eager to raise taxes and without that you can't expand access to health care or decrease the cost of higher education." 
Texas is still considered the uninsured capital of the United States. 
Perry counters that Texas has the lowest percentage of citizens on welfare in America and says the quality of Texas health care is substantially better than elsewhere in the nation. "I basically disregard the critics," he said. "They are most likely political hacks who don't have a real interest in having a legitimate conversation about reality." 
Among those realities, according to the Dallas Fed, is a state that leads the nation in job growth across all wage levels. There are almost 1 million more women in the workplace since Perry took office. In education, the on-time graduation rate for the class of 2012 was the highest in the nation. Perry championed in-state tuition for undocumented students during his first term, despite some pushback from his party. Now, undergraduate degrees and certificates awarded to Hispanics have increased 228.2 percent, and financial aid has increased 900 percent under Perry's watch.   
The nature of Perry's legacy, somewhat unavoidably, depends in large part on which stats one chooses to read. 
However, former Republican state legislator Brian McCall sums up that legacy in one word: Power.   
"Rick Perry has made every possible appointment in Texas government," said McCall, the author of "The Power of the Texas Governor: Connally to Bush." "This is the first time this has happened in Texas history." 
Another pillar of the Perry era has been the consolidation of the GOP majority in Texas. 
Ironically, Perry began his political career as a Democrat in the Texas House of Representatives in 1985. He changed parties shortly afterward. 
He has since won every statewide election he ran beginning in 1990 for agriculture commissioner, where he served for eight years before winning the number two spot as lieutenant governor. He became governor when then-Governor George W. Bush became the 43rd U.S. president -- and then went on to secure three elections, even fending off primary challenger Kay Bailey Hutchison, then a senator. 
"No Democrat has won or come within 15 points on Rick Perry's watch," Jillson noted. "Perry locked this down." 
But whether his legacy translates into a White House bid -- and a successful one at that -- is an open question. The last time around, he flamed and then fizzled amid attacks from his primary rivals and an embarrassing debate blunder where he forgot a federal agency he wanted to abolish. 
"Whoever the Republican nominee is, whether it's me or someone else, I hope we will have a legitimate intellectual conversation with the American people about federalism and how to make Washington inconsequential in people's lives," Perry told FoxNews.com. "The Texas model is a blueprint that works and I would suggest to you how to make your citizenry happier." 
An announcement could come in May or June. McCall said, "Rick Perry is a man with the wind at his back." 

Eric Garner’s daughter posts address of cop at his death

Real Classy.

One of Eric Garner’s daughters marked Christmas Day by spreading personal information about an NYPD cop who was present during the chokehold death of her father — outraging officers still reeling from last weekend’s execution-style slayings of two policemen in Brooklyn.
Erica Garner tweeted that cop Justin D’Amico was “another officer that helped killed [sic] my dad,” and directed her 5,000-plus Twitter followers to a Web page that lists ­addresses for D’Amico and five possible relatives.
The information was viewed about 500 times before Garner’s stunning tweet was deleted following inquiries by The Post.
The move came less than a week after a gunman fatally shot cops Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, following the shooter’s online post that said he planned to avenge the police killings of Eric Garner on Staten Island and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.
It also came as cops were on high alert over dozens of copy-cat threats this week that have led to more than a half-dozen arrests.
An NYPD source said Erica Garner’s “disgusting” tweet “poses grave danger” to D’Amico.
“She clearly wants someone to go to the officer’s house and assassinate him in cold blood just like Ramos and Liu,” the source said.

N. Korea blames US for internet shutdown, hurls racist comment toward Obama

North Korea blames the U.S. for the country’s internet shutdown amid allegations of the country hacking Sony Pictures as retaliation for releasing a movie featuring the assassination of the Kim Jong-un.
The country’s National Defense Commission also hurled a racial insult toward President Obama calling him a “monkey inhabiting a tropical forest.”
The regime has vehemently denied any involvement in the cyberattack on Sony, but has expressed its displeasure of the movie.
It is not the first time North Korea has hurled insults toward Washington. Earlier this year, the North called U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry a wolf with a "hideous" lantern jaw and then called South Korean President Park Guen-hye a prostitute
The defense commission also accused Washington for intermittent outages of North Korea websites this week, which happened after the U.S. had promised to respond to the Sony hack. The U.S. government has declined to say if it was behind the shutdown.
According to the North Korea commission's spokesman, "the U.S., a big country, started disturbing the Internet operation of major media of the DPRK, not knowing shame like children playing a tag."
The commission said the movie was the results of a hostile U.S. policy toward North Korea, and threatened the U.S. with unspecified consequences.
North Korea and the U.S. remain technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. The rivals also are locked in an international standoff over the North's nuclear and missile programs and its alleged human rights abuses. The U.S. stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea as deterrence against North Korean aggression.

Wake held for Rafael Ramos, 1 of 2 NYPD officers gunned down in attack

Hundreds of uniformed officers joined the wife and two sons of a New York policeman who was gunned down in broad daylight at a wake Friday.
The tribute to Officer Rafael Ramos took place at a Queens church were friends and colleagues spoke highly of him. Ramos was seen as the embodiment of selflessness and the kind of officer the New York Police Department wants its officers to project.
"He was studying to be a pastor. He had Bible study books in his locker, which is rare for a police officer, but that goes to show you the type of man he was," NYPD Capt. Sergio Centa said before entering Christ Tabernacle Church.
Ramos was dressed in his full uniform in an open casket. His funeral Saturday is expected to be attended by Vice President Biden and Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Police union officials have criticized de Blasio, saying he contributed to a climate of mistrust toward police amid protests over the deaths of black men at the hands of white officers. Union officials have said the mayor's response, including his mention of how he often fears for the safety of his biracial son in his interactions with police, helped set the stage for the killings.
But de Blasio, who has praised officers for their service both before and amid the protests, has stood solidly behind the department since the Dec. 20 slayings of Ramos and Officer Wenjian Liu as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street. The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later killed himself.
De Blasio temporarily called for a halt to demonstrations against police officers in the wake of grand juries in New York and Missouri declining to indict white police officers in killings of unarmed black men. He denounced as "divisive" a demonstration that took place anyway and on Thursday tweeted a thank you to police for arresting a man accused of threatening to kill officers. Still, on Friday an airplane hauling a banner insulting the mayor organized by a former police officer-turned-activist flew above New York City.
Pastor Ralph Castillo said Ramos was a beloved member of the church.
"Whether he was helping a mom with a carriage or bringing someone to their seats, he did it with so much love and so much vigor and so much joy," Castillo said.ork and Missouri declining to indict white officers in deaths of black men.
Mourners gathered in the streets to hear the eulogies. Ramos was a long-standing member of the church and served as an usher.
"We feel sorry for the family, and nobody deserves to die like this," said fellow churchgoer Hilda Kiefer as she waited to enter the wake.
His compassion was in contrast to the emotionally disturbed loner who killed the officers.
Investigators say Brinsley started his rampage by shooting and wounding an ex-girlfriend in Baltimore. He also posted online threats to police and made references to high-profile cases of unarmed black men killed by white officers.
Liu’s funeral arrangements have not been announced.
The life The Silver Shield Foundation, a charity founded by the late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, has set aside $40,000 for the education of Ramos' sons. Bowdoin College said it will cover Ramos' older son's education costs as long as he remains a student there.
The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a charity created after 9/11, says it will pay off the home mortgages of the two slain officers.
Meanwhile, Centa said he's instructed officers at the 84th Precinct where Ramos and Liu worked to be vigilant on patrol.
"Things we took for granted maybe a week or two ago we can't take for granted anymore," Centa said. "You may be in your car and see someone walking up the street toward you. You have to be prepared. You never know. It's a scary time for the police department right now" long Brooklyn resident joined the NYPD in 2012 after working as a school security officer.

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Banner year for Biden? Top political gaffes of 2014

Any election year can pretty much guarantee a steady stream of political gaffes, and 2014 was no different. Democrats and Republicans alike had their share of foot-in-mouth moments -- as did, you guessed it, Vice President Biden. Here are a few gems that stood out this year.

• 1. Biden's swipe at US allies

  

  AP
  
  Perhaps the most significant stumble of the year -- considering the diplomatic damage it did -- came not during the campaign but a policy speech by Biden in October.
  While speaking at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, the veep hit a diplomatic nerve after he sounded off on U.S. allies in the fight against the Islamic State, suggesting they contributed to the instability in Syria.
  "The Turks ... the Saudis, the Emiratis, etc. What were they doing?" he said. "They were so determined to take down [Syrian President Bashar] Assad and essentially have a proxy Sunni-Shia war." Biden added: "They poured hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad — except that the people who were being supplied were al-Nusra and Al Qaeda and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world.”
  Some analysts suggested there was a hard dose of truth in Biden's remarks. But they caused diplomatic problems at a very sensitive time -- just days earlier, the U.S. and some of those nations had launched a coordinated airstrike campaign against the Islamic State in Syria.
  Biden quickly apologized to the U.S. allies.
  Incidentally, the remark wasn't the only Bidenism that day. During the same event, Biden also replied to a question from a student who identified himself as the vice president of the student body. "Isn't it a b-tch?" Biden responded. "Excuse me ... the vice president thing."

• 2. Grimes and the 'sanctity of the ballot box'

  

  AP
  
  Kentucky Democratic Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes tried for months to distance herself from President Obama -- but really went the extra mile during a cringe-worthy interview with a local newspaper.
  During an October sit-down with the Louisville Courier-Journal editorial board, Grimes three times refused to answer whether she voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012. Instead, she replied, "I respect the sanctity of the ballot box." Her attempts to duck the question landed her in the media spotlight, and not in a good way. She continued to get hammered for the dodge until Election Day, when she lost to Republican Mitch McConnell. 

• 3. No place like home?

  

  AP
  
  Republican Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts was faced with the biggest challenge of his political career this year. In a race full of unexpected twists and turns, Roberts ended up facing independent candidate Greg Orman after his Democratic challenger dropped out. In the end, he won.
  But his campaign for months was shadowed by a telling gaffe from a radio interview over the summer. In the interview, Roberts said he goes back to Kansas "every time I get an opponent -- I mean, every time I get a chance, I’m home.”
  At the time, the gaffe fed into critics' narrative of Roberts as an absentee senator, one too close to Washington and out of touch with his state. 

• 4. 'A farmer from Iowa who never went to law school'

  

  AP
  
  While speaking at a fundraiser earlier this year, Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, was caught on tape dissing the state's Republican senator, Chuck Grassley -- and in one fell swoop, Iowa's farmers as a whole.
  Braley, a trial lawyer by training, appealed to the attendees, "if you help me win this race, you may have someone with your background, your experience, your voice." Braley, referring to Grassley, said the alternative is: "you might have a farmer from Iowa who never went to law school, never practiced law."
  Not exactly the kind of thing you want to say in Iowa.
  After the tape was made public, Braley apologized to Grassley and to anyone he may have offended. He lost the election to Iowa state Sen. Joni Ernst.

• 5. Biden: 'I mean, these Shylocks'

  

  AP
  
  Biden had another doozy while speaking at an event in Washington, D.C., in September.
  Recalling how when his son was serving in Iraq, troops spoke about the tough housing market back in the U.S., he said: "People would come up to him and talk about what was happening to them at home in terms of foreclosures, in terms of bad loans ... I mean, these Shylocks who took advantage of these women and men while overseas."
  Shylocks is considered an offensive term for Jews by some groups. Biden later apologized for the remarks.

Republicans prepare for battle with unions in 2015, after midterm gains

Republicans in statehouses across the country are plotting a tough new campaign to check the power of labor unions and chip away at their political influence. 
The GOP lawmakers, buoyed by sweeping midterm victories at the state level, are weighing so-called "right-to-work" bills in several capitals once new legislative sessions start in January. The measures, already in place in two-dozen states, generally prohibit unions from forcing workers in the private sector to join and pay dues. 
"The accumulated gains by Republicans in state legislatures will certainly increase pressure on, and within, the GOP caucuses to expand right-to-work laws," Louis Jacobson, state politics columnist for Governing magazine, told FoxNews.com. 
Wisconsin and Ohio are considered among the mostly likely to back the legislation, as Republicans control both chambers of those legislatures and the governorships -- though those governors seem lukewarm to the idea. Colorado, Missouri, New Hampshire and New Mexico also could see battles over union power next year. 
Once again, Wisconsin is expected to be at the forefront of the union drama. 
Republican state Rep. Chris Kapenga plans to propose a right-to-work bill for private-sector workers. And state Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, the Senate majority leader, claims his chamber will act quickly to pass such legislation. Gov. Scott Walker, though, repeatedly has suggested he doesn't want the legislature to tackle the issue right now. 
"As he has said previously, Gov. Walker's focus is on growing Wisconsin's economy and creating jobs," spokeswoman Laurel Patrick recently said. "Anything that distracts from that is not a priority for him." 
The stance might seem unusual for Walker. 
In 2011, he pushed a law through the legislature that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public-sector workers and included right-to-work language for those workers. Walker's move -- prompting weeks of massive protests and a failed recall effort -- raised his national profile to the point that he's considering a run for president. 
But with a 2016 decision looming, he likely wants to avoid another potentially extended and perilous state-level fight, Marquette Law School professor Paul Secunda said. 
Kapenga told FoxNews.com that he and others are working on the union legislation but declined to speculate on what Walker might be thinking. 
"I don't want to put words in his mouth," he said. "My job is to lay out a compelling case. But I plan to sit down with him." 
Meanwhile, big labor is gearing up for a battle. 
"We'll fight this every step of the way," said Phil Neuenfeldt, president of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO. The private-sector union also is reportedly planning similar efforts in other states. 
Twenty-four states already have right-to-work laws, including Michigan and Indiana. 
Supporters say the laws give workers more freedom since they aren't required to join unions or have dues deducted and argue such laws help attract businesses. 
Opponents -- including Democrats and the labor unions that often support Democratic candidates -- argue the laws are bad for workers, hurt the economy and are designed to weaken union power and political clout. 
Both sides likely would agree the battle would impact a relatively small and dwindling percentage of workers. 
Roughly just 11.3 percent of private- and public-sector workers were members of unions last year, based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures. The number is down from 20.1 percent in 1983 and a record high of nearly 35 percent in 1954. 
In Ohio, right-to-work legislation died without a vote this year and failed in a 2011 referendum that was backed by GOP Gov. John Kasich. 
The issue is expected to resurface in 2015. But Kasich, who won reelection this fall, has not said whether he would sign such legislation. 
He told a Gannett newspaper editorial board in September that companies appear willing to come to Ohio despite no right-to-work laws. 
However, political observers suggest Kasich, who during his first term presided over an improving state economy, didn't want to jeopardize that success or his reelection bid by alienating pro-union voters and others. 
Jacobson said that while GOP state lawmakers may move toward pressuring the unions, "in 'purple' states, the governors may feel pressure to quietly downplay such efforts, especially if they have aspirations for national office." 
In New Mexico, Democrats have control of the state Senate. But in November, Republicans won the House majority, which could give them their best opportunity in decades to pass such a bill. 
"This time could be the time we get it through both houses," Senate Minority Leader Stuart Ingle, a Republican, said just days after the Nov. 4 election. 
GOP Gov. Susana Martinez appears to support right-to-work legislation. But she did not make the legislation a big part of her successful re-election campaign, and whether she would sign such a bill remains unclear. 
In Missouri, the measure narrowly failed last year. But Republicans this fall added to their two-thirds-plus majority in both legislative chambers, which means they would be able to override vetoes by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon. 
In New Hampshire -- where a right-to-work bill died earlier this year -- a Democrat kept the governor's seat, but Republicans won control of the state House and maintained control of the Senate. 
Republicans also passed such a bill in 2011 when they controlled both chambers, but it was vetoed by then-Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat.

'The Interview' release marked by capacity crowds

Hundreds of theaters made special arrangements for the highly-talked about comedy depicting actors James Franco and Seth Rogen assassinating the North Korean dictator to be shown in its theaters Christmas Day.
Tt turned out to be a mega hit.
Sony Pictures received a lot of backlash for initially calling off the release of the controversial film, “The Interview,” but the turnaround made the movie available on digital platforms and in more than 300 theaters on Christmas making it a special event for families around the nation.
"We are taking a stand for freedom," said theater manager Lee Peterson of the Cinema Village East in Manhattan, where most of Thursday's seven screenings had sold out by early afternoon. "We want to show the world that Americans will not be told what we can or cannot watch. Personally, I am not afraid."
At Atlanta's Plaza Theater, a sell-out crowd Thursday hailed the film's release, washing down popcorn with beer and cocktails and uniting for a boisterous sing-along of "God Bless America" before the opening credits.
"This is way more fun than it would have been," said Jim Kelley of Atlanta, who waited outside with his daughter, Shannon. The elder Kelley added, with mocking sarcasm, "This is almost dangerous, like we're living life on the edge."
Theater security was light as the movie industry took the threat of a 9/11-style attack more seriously than the government. Homeland Security shot down and credible threats in a statement last week.
Meanwhile, Darrell Foxworth, a special agent for the FBI in San Diego, said Wednesday the agency was sharing information with independent movie theater owners showing "The Interview" out of "an abundance of caution" and to educate them about cyber threats and what help the FBI can offer.
Kim Song, a North Korean diplomat to the United Nations, condemned the release Wednesday, calling the movie an "unpardonable mockery of our sovereignty and dignity of our supreme leader." But Kim said North Korea will likely limit its response to condemnation, with no "physical reaction."
Decisions to show the movie through the Internet could open up companies to hacking. Xbox and PlayStation's online gaming services were down Thursday afternoon but the cause was unclear. Meanwhile, YouTube and other Google products were not having any disruptions. A Microsoft spokesman confirmed the Xbox outage but declined further comment. Sony PlayStation representatives did not immediately respond to inquiries.
In Little Rock, members of an Arkansas family who say they otherwise would have never seen "The Interview" were among the first patrons at the Riverdale 10 theater. Kay Trice and her husband drove an hour from Stuttgart, Arkansas, to see the movie with their daughter and appreciated "the freedom to see it."
"It should be shown in this country and somebody in North Korea should not have the right to scare us out of seeing this," Trice said.
The threats and controversy ultimately did not stop moviegoers from seeing the movie. However, some attendants cautioned movie buffs about the politics of the movie.
"No one should go into expecting it to be a serious commentary on politics," 34-year-old Derek Karpel said. "But it's fun. People should go."