The Governor’s decision to reject part of the stimulus funds to help unemployed Texans is being criticized by the Texas Democratic Party. Democrats are accusing Perry of using out-of-work Texans as “political pawns,” and say it shows he is out of touch.
The TDP’s full statement:
(Austin, TX) – Today, Governor Rick Perry, in a move sure to draw legislative opposition, announced that he intends to turn down $555 million in stimulus funds that would provide additional benefits for unemployed Texas job-seekers who are trying to get by in the wake of layoffs caused by the Republican recession.
“First, the Governor compared out-of-work Texans to junkies, and now he’s using them as political pawns to appeal to the talk show bosses that drive the agenda of Perry’s heartless Republican base,” said Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie. “We don’t need a right-wing candidate masquerading as Governor; we need a leader who will work with mainstream Texans in a bipartisan effort to rebuild our economy.”
Perry announced his refusal to help Texas families at a hardware store in an affluent area in Houston less than two miles from a branch of the Texas Workforce Commission where Texans were lined up to get unemployment benefits while they actively seek employment.
“Governor Perry’s failed policies have already put our state unemployment fund on the verge of bankruptcy, and now he wants to compound that failure by sending our federal tax dollars to help the unemployed in other states while hardworking Texas taxpayers are losing their jobs,” Richie added. “It’s shameful that Rick Perry would rather play politics to keep his job than help Texans who have lost their jobs.”
Mary Benton Media 
When you have worked your entire life, and thru no fault of your own, you are ‘laid off’ and find you have zero income, it’s lifechanging. This is why the Texas Employment Commission and all other state’s commissions have unemployment insurance. This is a fund that has been draining slowly because of the massive amount of people who are out of work. It was set up as a safety net for situations like the current one. It is not ‘something for nothing’ because the fund is paid from business owners/companies. It’s a benefit that even employers are okay with because when they see they
have to lay off people, at the very least, they will be able to collect… albeit not for very long, and not very much, it is there for this intended purpose. The TWC works very hard to place people who have lost jobs. It’s their job.
Perry grandstanding on ‘turning down $555 million dollars’, yet considering a toll road that would go from nowhere to nowhere, and cost billions, is okay. Time to go, Mr. Governor. This doens’t make you any taller than you already are. Every person in this state has been affected by the current turn of events in this country. Don’t turn away what is rightfully due to help this state from crisis. These benefits also keep the unemployed in their homes, and making consumer purchases, which help the business’… and so on… when that stops… your business owners will not be grateful for your ‘help’. This isn’t welfare.
It’s insurance.