In Wednesday's debate, the Texas governor attempted to distance his HPV vaccination mandate from Obamneycare. Will Saletan calls him out:
Perry said his vaccine order "allowed for an opt-out. I don't know what's more strong for parental rights than having that opt-out." But the opt-out procedure specified in the order is cumbersome. It says parents can "submit a request for a conscientious objection affidavit form via the Internet." And the opt-out clause doesn't distinguish Perry's mandate from Romney's or Obama's. The Massachusetts law exempts from its insurance mandate anyone who "files a sworn affidavit with his income tax return stating … that his sincerely held religious beliefs are the basis of his refusal to obtain and maintain creditable coverage." The federal law excuses anyone who obtains a religious exemption because "he is conscientiously opposed" to accepting health insurance benefits.
Perry may be right that good health and fiscal policy sometimes require mandates. He's entitled, as he puts it, to err on the side of saving lives. He's just not entitled to deride his opponents when they do the same thing.
Pareene points to another area:
Perry has spent this entire disastrous year berating the feds for not spending enough time, attention and — most important — money on helping his fire and drought-ridden state, at one point claiming the president had a personal vendetta against the state of Texas. (The U.S. Forest Service and National Interagency Fire Center are currently commanding firefighting efforts near Bastrop.)
Of course Rick Perry doesn't want to see Texas burn, so it is rational of him to ignore his rhetorical distaste for the federal government and demand that it help. And Texas could use the help, because Perry and the Republicans who control all three branches of Texas government have severely slashed the budget of the Texas Forest Service.
The Dish 