Audio: Gov. Perry on standing for fiscal responsibility to balance the Texas budget

Immediately after Gov. Rick Perry’s state of the state address, he convened a conference call with state and national bloggers. The governor took the opportunity to discuss the state’s budget situation, and his plans for dealing with it, noting that the mainstream media and the political left will be of no help at all in getting the state’s budget issues solved.

“There are going to be a vocal group, both in the mainstream media and on the left, that are going to try to force us to spend money that we don’t have in the state of Texas, on programs that may on their face be good programs…When legislators and for that matter the mainstream media hear an outpouring of support for fiscal responsibility, not raising taxes, balacing our budget and living within our means, that’s a strong, strong message that will have a short and long term effect on this state and this country.”

Contrast Gov. Perry’s words with California’s Gov. Jerry Brown, who tried invoking Egypt’s unrest to justify raising taxes, and the Democratic leadership in Illinois, which is raising income taxes 66%, and it’s not difficult to see why businesses are flocking to Texas, bringing jobs with them.