The Talk Radio Network Enterprises’ host is the first national radio show to have Presidential Candidate Governor Rick Perry (R-TX) on, to discuss his run for the Republican Presidential Nomination and to share with listeners his position and views regarding healthcare, the economy, trade policies with China, and the U.S. Education System and Mitt Romney.
Perry put forth the healthcare law implemented in Massachusetts will prove to be a blemish on Mitt Romney’s record. “I think Mitt is finally recognizing that the Massachusetts healthcare plan that he passed is a huge problem for him, and yeah it was not almost perfect,” Perry said on The Laura Ingraham Show Thursday.
Perry, who leaped over Romney to claim the top GOP spot in a Gallup poll released Wednesday, and confirmed by earlier polls by both Rasmussen and from Public Policy Polling (PPP), said he advocates allowing healthcare to operate in the free market and hopes the Supreme Court will rule the individual mandate to purchase insurance is unconstitutional. On Ingraham’s radio program, Governor Perry said he is “a big believer that the answer to our healthcare problems can be found in our states.”
Perry used the interview to distinguish himself and advance his image from another Texas politician who assumed the presidency – George W. Bush, who Perry said he respects and calls a friend. “I’m Rick Perry and I am who I am and I’ve got my own record. I’m not George Bush, I don’t try to be,” Perry said.
During the broadcast Perry said, “I am not an establishment figure. I dislike Washington and I think it’s a seedy place.”
The Texas governor defended his decision to cut $4 billion from the Texas education budget, arguing that Texas public schools have made improvements in accountability and college readiness since he became governor in 2000.
Ingraham asked whether Perry could promise he would not vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, if elected President. Perry replied, “I’m not even sure I know where it is.”
The Laura Ingraham Show airs in 9 of the top 10 metro markets in the U.S. and is on over 325 stations nationwide, ranking as the 5th largest nationally syndicated talk radio show in the nation, according to Talkers Magazine.
