Fresh from his most recent election victory nearly two weeks ago, Governor Perry visited Tyler again today. He wasn’t stumping this time however. Instead, Mr. Perry held a book signing in coordination with the Grassroots America group. The book is entitled: “Fed Up — Our Fight to Save America from Washington.”The book highlights the importance of state and local authority, and the need for citizen action to oppose a growing Federal government. All proceeds for the book go to “Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Tenth Amendment Studies.”

Over the past couple of years, particularly since the election of President Obama, we’ve seen the governor being politically born again. Tenth amendment or state’s rights issues have been central to Governor Perry’s administration of late and he has spent a great deal of time traveling the state and country making a case for smaller government. While I like him well enough, I’ve been a sort of tacit supporter of Mr. Perry’s over the years; mostly because he has never been considered a rock solid conservative. Indeed it seems that he tends to become more conservative around election time. But In light of our current political situation, Mr. Perry has come to resemble Ronald Reagan… ok not even close, but you get my point. His pro- business and generally low tax policies have kept our state fiscally sound, or more so than many or our sister states, in tough financial times. He has also been an advocate for citizen groups like Grassroots America and the Tea Party since their inception. The governor’s participation in events like the one in Tyler today, have been frequently chalked up to election year politics, but with November second behind us, and the county in a decidedly anti- government mood, he may see an opportunity to move toward the right on a more permanent basis. Of course, only time will tell if he’s actually had something of a political epiphany. In the meantime you’re welcome in Tyler Governor, come back anytime!

For more information on Grassroots America and what they’re doing in our community, go to the following web sites: http://gawtp.com/ or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Grassroots-America-We-The-People/157828612919.