Chad’s Morning Brief: Rick Perry Doesn’t Sound Like He Is Leaving Politics, More Excuses From the Obama Administration, and Other Top Stories

Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of June 6, 2014. Give me your feedback below and tune in to The Chad Hasty Show for these and many more topics from 8:30 to 11am. Remember, you can listen online at KFYO.com or on your iPhone/Android with the radioPup App.

Important Election Dates:

KFYO District 3 Debate Between Jeff Griffith and Deanne Clark: June 11th at 9am on The Chad Hasty Show

Early Voting for the District 3 Runoff Election: June 9-17

Election Day for Lubbock City Council District 3 Runoff: June 21

Perry 2016? Sounds Like It

Is Governor Rick Perry running for President? I've been saying he is since last year and in my opinion, his so-called goodbye speech at the Texas Republican Convention is another example. According to the Dallas Morning News, Perry's goodbye sounded more like a hello.

Gov. Rick Perry turned a tribute to his 14 years as governor into a rabble-rousing speech about the future of American leadership, laying the groundwork for a potential second presidential run after leaving the Texas stage.

In a passionate speech before almost 10,000 GOP delegates at their state convention in Fort Worth, Perry spoke of Washington failures, Texas successes and putting the nation’s future in the hands of better leaders.

It is his last address to the Republican activists before stepping down as the state’s longest serving governor in January. But he left little doubt that he was not through with political life.

He reserved special venom for the Affordable Care Act and for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ failures in meeting the medical needs of servicemen and women.

“Some states took the bait of Obamacare, and expanded their Medicaid. We did not,” Perry said triumphantly.

“Federal money is not free. It’s the fruit of taxpayers’ labor, and the problem is not states that refuse it but a federal government that so freely spends it,” he said.

“If you need any greater proof that government-run health care doesn’t work, ask a military veteran,” Perry said to loud cheers.

Texas has the highest rate of uninsured children and adults. Critics have pointed out that his decision to reject Medicaid expansion has left more than 1 million Texans without health care.

Perry touted conservative principles that have guided Texas – a list of core talking points he has emphasized for the past four years. They include keeping taxes low, limiting environmental and business regulations and making it more difficult to file lawsuits.

He said Washington needs to heed Texas’ example.

And he dismissed efforts by Democrats to win their first statewide election in two decades.

“The national Democrats think Texas is the next battleground. Well let’s be really clear: Texas will be their political burial ground,” he said.

While praising the Texas economy and baiting Democrats, Perry’s speech frequently employed lyrical words to speak about the nation’s needs to achieve a brighter future.

Throughout his speech he set the tone of a candidate aiming for the White House again.

“We need to set the stage for 2016 when we will win the White House and we will rebuild the American dream,” Perry said.

“We’re too good a country to wander through the wilderness of economic darkness. We must seize our promise at home. We must establish our moral authority overseas. We must live up to our promise,” he said.

He concluded by telling the Republican delegates to “roll up their sleeves” to help rebuild the nation.

“This America we love faces some hard decisions. And it requires better leaders. Leaders willing to do what is difficult rather than what is expedient,” Perry said, exhorting the crowd to “Let’s get to work.”

If there was any doubt to his intentions, his wife, Anita, underscored it in her introduction of the governor. While talking of Perry’s 24 years in public office and their journey together, the state’s First Lady said they look forward to the future.

“I’m happy to say we both have some tread left on our tires,” she said.

Texas Democrats responded to the Perry speech, saying he is leaving the state with a bleak future, including crumbling infrastructure and schools struggling with insufficient funding.

Perry is in.

Excuses

According to FOX News, not many people are buying into the latest excuse from the government as to while the administration didn't notify Congress of the prisoner swap.

The Obama administration apparently is telling lawmakers that the Taliban threatened to kill Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl if the pending deal to free him was made public -- but sources suggest that's no excuse for keeping Congress in the dark.

One Senate aide told Fox News that senators were told at a briefing on Wednesday that "the U.S. obtained credible information that, if anything about the swap became public, Bergdahl would be killed."

According to The Associated Press, several congressional officials say they were told the same thing.

The claim emerged as the White House grapples with a growing bipartisan backlash over trading five Taliban leaders for Bergdahl's freedom. President Obama and others have argued that they were operating under the principle that America does not leave soldiers behind, and were concerned about Bergdahl's health when they pursued the trade.

But that hasn't satisfied lawmakers who complain the administration failed to notify them of the deal in advance. According to the AP, the administration is now claiming that the threat on Bergdahl's life drove the administration to quickly make the deal to rescue him.

But one senior source told Fox News that this claim is "ridiculous," since "notifying Congress does not make it public."

A member of the Senate Intelligence Committee added: "This is BS."

Congressional sources argue that leaders of the congressional intelligence committees -- who were kept in the dark here -- were able to keep the secret when they were told "months in advance" about plans to go after Usama bin Laden.

Sources tell Fox News such lawmakers are "regularly trusted with sensitive information that is not made public."

Fox News is also told that these notifications can be classified -- further ensuring such information would remain private.

Asked about the notion that a threat on Bergdahl's life was the reason for not notifying Congress, one House Republican aide said, "That's a flimsy, and frankly offensive, argument."

There is some dispute over how strongly the administration is making a link to a potential death threat.

One source familiar with Wednesday's briefing said that information was not briefed to staff. "The Taliban did say Bergdahl was near his death bed, but not that they threatened to kill him," the source said.

A senior administration official would not comment directly on the claims, but said in a statement:

"Our judgment was that every day Sgt Bergdahl was a prisoner his life was at risk, and in the video we received in January, he did not look well. This led to an even greater sense of urgency in pursuing his recovery. We can't disclose classified comments from a closed congressional briefing. However, we are able to say that the senators were told, separate and apart from Sgt Bergdahl's apparent deterioration in health, that we had both specific and general indications that Sgt. Bergdahl 's recovery -- and potentially his life -- could be jeopardized if the detainee exchange proceedings were disclosed or derailed."

Meanwhile, administration officials continue to argue that Congress was not really kept in the dark.

"This was not a new deal," one official said, claiming it was essentially the same deal that was briefed to Congress in 2011 and early 2012.

However, these officials do not dispute the fact that Congress was denied a 30-day notification before releasing Guantanamo detainees. They felt more or less that congressional notification could jeopardize the unexpectedly fast-moving negotiations.

It is amazing that administration officials have elevated the Taliban to this level. In order to buy this excuse, you'd have to believe that Obama broke the law because the Taliban told him to. That isn't a position of power.

Other Top Stories:

KFYO Job Openings

D-Day 70 Years Later

Border Patrol Sector to Release 500 Illegal Immigrants per Week

Is The American Dream Dead?

Obama Has No Plan to Deal With Children Flooding the Border

1 in 5 Children Live in Poverty

How Obama’s Team Sold the EPA Policy

18-34 Year Olds Living With Parents

Use of Force Policy on Border Tightened 

These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of The Chad Hasty Show. Tune in mornings 8:30-11am on News/Talk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App. All guest interviews can be heard online in our podcast section after the show at kfyo.com.