Rick Perry Campaign Responds to Pro-Bachmann Attack Ad with Point-by-Point Rebuttal – Video

Rick Perry’s Presidential Campaign fired back today at an attack ad against him by a pro-Michele Bachmann group (the ad is above). Perry’s Campaign issued a point-by-point rebuttal of the attacks against him in the ad – with footnotes:

RICK PERRY.ORG: A committee supporting Michele Bachmann has released a blatantly false ad that completely misrepresents Gov. Perry’s fiscally conservative record in Texas.

“Gov. Perry is a proven fiscal conservative, having cut taxes, signed six balanced budgets, and led Texas to become America’s top job-creating state,” said Ray Sullivan, RickPerry.org’s communications director. “Congresswoman Bachmann’s front-group ad is patently and provably false. Unlike Washington, the Texas budget is balanced, does not run deficits and limits spending, even as Texas added jobs and population in big numbers.”

FALSE CLAIM: “Rick Perry doubled spending in a decade.”

TRUTH: State spending – the non-federal dollars state lawmakers can control – is six percent lower under Gov. Perry than it was under the two-year budget in effect when he took office, adjusting for population growth and inflation. In unadjusted amounts, state spending is $80.5 billion for the 2012-13 biennium compared to $55.7 billion for the 2000-01 biennium. Texas’ population growth plus inflation since 2001 is 54 percent. The current Texas budget funds the state’s vital needs by operating within available revenues and providing tax cuts for small businesses. Gov. Perry is the only Texas governor since World War II to cut state (general revenue) spending.

FALSE CLAIM: “This year, Rick Perry is spending more money than the state takes in.”

TRUTH: Texas’ budget has been certified as balanced by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, with an estimated $6.5 billion remaining unspent in the state’s Rainy Day Fund. Every budget Gov. Perry has signed has been balanced. . . . Read More