Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry and Illinois Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn butted heads Friday over their two very different plans for their respective states, with Perry unveiling an ad designed to entice Illinoisans to make the move away from liberal governance to the Lone Star State.
Perry battled Quinn during a segment on CNN’s “Crossfire,” hosted by former Obama aide Van Jones and former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Quinn went after the Texas governor for not taking federal money in order to implement Obamacare.
“Why not accept the money from Washington to have more people with health coverage?” he asked. “We’ve that in Illinois. I can’t understand why Texas doesn’t want to have everyday people –”
“Well, the answer is very straightforward, governor,” Perry interjected. “We don’t want to bankrupt our state. Because we know what’s going to happen… The key is access to health care. And what you’re talking about doing with Obamacare is — I’m trying to find people who are for it now, because it’s coming apart as we watch.”
“Here’s the bigger question,” Perry later asked. “Would you rather make the decisions for healthcare for Illinois — you and your legislature — or would you rather a bureaucrat from Washington DC? Because that’s what we’ve got with Obamacare. They’re making the decisions for YOU.”
Quinn countered that he’s “walked across Illinois, from the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan. And we have a decent healthcare for everyone. And you can’t have a system — as you have in Texas — where there’s Rolls-Royce coverage for some people and no coverage whatsoever for lots of hard-working people!”
“Why are 1,000 people a day moving to the state of Texas if it’s such a terrible place, man?” Perry asked incredulously. “That’s what I want you to tell me. Why?”
CNN also ran a new ad from Perry’s office, now airing in Quinn’s home state. The ad labels Illinois 48th in job creation and urges people to seek economic opportunity by packing up and moving to Texas.
Quinn was thrown on the defensive. “We’re not 48th in job creation, he’s wrong about that,” he began, his voice rising. “Not only that, we have more people with college degrees, more people who have graduated from high school! We’re number one when it comes making sure we build building in a 21st century way — we just got that award. Top ten in energy efficiency. We can teach you a few things.”
“Competition’s good,” Perry responded. “And you put your policies into place — and let’s face it, Illinois has liberal policies, from the standpoint of tax and regulatory, they are — and people can get to pick where they want to live. And it’s ok for them to move to Indiana or Illinois or wherever. But they’re moving to Texas!”
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