You know that you must have made an impression at today's governors summit when you manage to impress even the likes of Good Hair:
The bipartisan meeting included governors and governors-elect from both parties. Mr. Perry lauded Mr. Obama for meeting with the governors, hearing their problems and also taking in the concerns laid out by conservatives about costly federal bailouts.
"Not only was it good policy, it was good politics," Mr. Perry said, noting that he had never attended such a gathering in eight years on the job. "He was very open."
Obama has been very active since winning the presidency on November 4th filling cabinet positions and hiring staff. But he has taken a great deal of time to really listen and hear concerns of elected officials on both sides of the aisle. Hat-tip to President-Elect Barack Obama for being a leader. Even Rick Perry approves.
One more interesting tidbit from the Dallas Morning News Report was this Perry and Obama exchange:
The governor reported afterward that as they shook hands, "He said, `How are the people in Galveston?' And I said, we need some help from FEMA, Mr. President-elect."
Mr. Perry elaborated on the point, urging Mr. Obama to restructure the agency so that instead of managing disaster response directly - a system that creates bureaucracy, delay and wastefulness - it only allocates and oversees funding, with states taking charge of relief efforts after a hurricane or other crisis.
As Mr. Perry recounted, the incoming White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, responded that in one of the states represented Tuesday there is a "great person who can come in and run FEMA."
I have a "great person" in mind, Rahm, and his name is Rick Noriega. The good news about Noriega is that he wouldn't be a political hack receiving a political reward like what Perry's predecessor did with "Brownie." Noriega is the best man for the job. |
