PERRY-BACHMANN 2012

A WINNING COMBINATION!

TEXAS GOVERNOR RICK PERRY AND U.S. CONGRESSWOMAN MICHELE BACHMANN

WHAT A TEAM!

GOVERNOR RICK PERRY:

http://www.governor.state.tx.us/

A fifth generation Texan, Governor Rick Perry has taken an extraordinary Texas journey, from a tenant farm in the rolling West Texas plains to the governor's office of our nation's second largest state.

Texas' 47th governor, and the first Texas A&M graduate to occupy the Governor's Mansion, Rick Perry has led a life of public service, starting in the United States Air Force and continuing over two decades in elected office.

Governor Perry's administration has focused on creating a Texas of unlimited opportunity and prosperity by improving education, securing the border and increasing economic development through classic conservative values.

During his tenure, Governor Perry has maintained a strong focus on fiscal discipline, becoming the only Texas governor since World War II to sign budgets that reduced general revenue spending. He has used his line item veto to scrub more than $3 billion in budgeted spending, while encouraging investments in the building blocks of a prosperous state: the economy, education and security.

The Texas economy is performing well in the current global economic crisis, thanks to a focused effort to keep taxes low, regulations predictable and legal system fair. Gov. Perry led the effort to reform the legal system, signing into law a series of lawsuit reforms designed to stem the flow of frivolous lawsuits through Texas courts. As a result, employers can devote their resources to creating jobs instead of defending against those frivolous lawsuits. More importantly, the reforms reversed the trend on skyrocketing malpractice insurance rates which has led to an influx of doctors seeking to practice in Texas. As a result, obstetricians and other specialists are returning to practice in previously underserved, high-risk areas.

On the education front, Governor Perry has worked to improve the quality of Texas schools from top to bottom by increasing accountability, raising expectations and funding programs that work. In addition to introducing the largest teacher incentive pay program in the country, Governor Perry has overseen a 43 percent increase in total spending on public education in Texas. He also signed a school finance reform package that provided a 33 percent school property tax reduction, a $2,000 pay raise for teachers, record funding for classrooms and a reformed business tax.

Stepping into the gap left by the federal government, Governor Perry has worked with the legislature to fund coordinated border security efforts to the tune of more than $230 million over the past several years. Governor Perry has initiated a "boots on the ground" strategy, integrating and coordinating local, county, state and federal law enforcement efforts, resulting in significantly decreased crime in key areas along the border.

Rick Perry's political career started in 1985 as a representative for a rural West Texas district in the state House of Representatives. He was first elected to statewide office in 1990, and served as Texas Commissioner of Agriculture for two terms. Governor Perry hails from Paint Creek, a small farming community north of Abilene. His father, Ray Perry, served as a Haskell County Commissioner, school board member and a World War II tail gunner. Between 1972 and 1977, Governor Perry served in the United States Air Force, flying C-130 tactical airlift aircraft in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East.

He is a 1972 graduate of Texas A&M University where he was a member of the Corps of Cadets, a junior and senior yell leader and an animal science major. The younger of Ray and Amelia Perry's two children, Governor Perry is an Eagle Scout and lifetime member of American Legion Post #75.

He first met Anita Thigpen at a piano recital during their elementary school years. They married in 1982 and are the proud parents of two grown children -- Griffin and Sydney. Griffin married his wife, Meredith, in 2009.

CONGRESSWOMAN MICHELE BACHMANN:
http://bachmann.house.gov/

In 2006, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann became the first Republican woman to be elected to represent Minnesota in the U.S. House of Representatives. As a self-proclaimed “Constitutional Conservative”, Bachmann is committed to fixing Washington’s broken ways by advocating for America’s adherence to the Constitution. Bachmann has become known on Capitol Hill as a member who champions tax reform, works to cut wasteful government spending and supports limiting the size of our government. She also is devoted to the repeal of ObamaCare, a legislation she believes is an example of government’s recent uninhibited growth.

In Bachmann’s view, the government needs to make the kind of serious spending decisions that many families and small businesses across America have been forced to make. As a believer in the traditional values upon which this country was founded, she consistently defends America’s religious liberties and the importance of the family as the first unit of government. She also has continuously worked to defend the right to life for all Americans, including the unborn.

Bachmann is a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Financial Services Committee. She has taken the opportunity of serving on the Intelligence Committee to regularly advocate for peace through strength to ensure America’s national security. As she vowed in her Oath of Office, Bachmann continues to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Bachmann is devoted to doing her part to ensure America’s safety. As a member of the Financial Services Committee, Bachmann has been given keen insight into the current housing crisis and credit crunch. This insight has led her to be a staunch opponent of the taxpayer-funded bailout of Wall Street and the Dodd-Frank legislation.

As the federal government continues to grow under the current administration, Bachmann was honored to establish the Tea Party Caucus in July 2010. She is proud to stand with the Tea Party to call for lower taxes, renewed focus on the Constitution and smaller government.

Prior to serving in the U.S. Congress, Bachmann served in the Minnesota State Senate from 2000-2006. As a Minnesota State Senator, she championed the Taxpayers Bill of Rights. Before holding elected office, Bachmann worked on hundreds of civil and criminal cases as a federal tax litigation attorney. Through her experience as a tax attorney, Bachmann came to understand firsthand the need to simplify the current tax code and reduce taxes on families and small businesses. Yet, it was her role as a mother of five and foster mother of 23 that led her to call for the abolishment of Goals 2000 and the Profiles of Learning and start a charter school for at-risk kids in Minnesota.

Bachmann is a graduate of Anoka High School and Winona State University. After receiving her J.D. at the O.W. Coburn School of Law at Oral Roberts University and an L.L.M. in Tax Law at the College of William and Mary, she along with her husband, Marcus moved their young family to Stillwater, Minnesota. There they opened a small business health care practice that employs nearly fifty people. The Bachmanns, who have been married over thirty years, have five children, Lucas, Harrison, Elisa, Caroline and Sophia. The Bachmanns have also cared for 23 foster children, inspiring Bachmann’s tireless efforts in Congress on behalf of America’s foster and adopted children, a role that has earned her bipartisan praise.

She is proud to represent Minnesota’s Sixth Congressional District, a district which contains parts of six counties, stretching from Stillwater past Saint Cloud, including several suburbs of the Twin Cities.