Lone Nut State

Via Yggy, we learn Republican Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, apparently afraid of not getting that lock on the title of Most Insane Governor After Sarah Palin Resigns This Weekend, has decided that if Obamacare does pass that he totally sees the means to "resist" it.

Gov. Rick Perry, raising the specter of a showdown with the Obama administration, suggested Thursday that he would consider invoking states’ rights protections under the 10th Amendment to resist the president’s healthcare plan, which he said would be "disastrous" for Texas.

Interviewed by conservative talk show host Mark Davis of Dallas’ WBAP/820 AM, Perry said his first hope is that Congress will defeat the plan, which both Perry and Davis described as "Obama Care." But should it pass, Perry predicted that Texas and a "number" of states might resist the federal health mandate.

"I think you’ll hear states and governors standing up and saying 'no’ to this type of encroachment on the states with their healthcare," Perry said. "So my hope is that we never have to have that stand-up. But I’m certainly willing and ready for the fight if this administration continues to try to force their very expansive government philosophy down our collective throats."

Ahh, the thievery and tyranny of providing health care insurance for people who can't afford it! What would we do without folks like Rick Perry, bravely standing up to the 72% of America that wants health care reform?

If I'm reading this right, Rick Perry's basically saying that should Obamacare pass, he's going to exempt Texas and its 24 million Americans from it. He also expects other GOP governors will exempt their states from it too and just make sure tens of millions of Americans don't get access to what the plan would provide.

So, if you live in Texas, and you don't have health insurance, Rick Perry apparently wants to keep it that way.

Nice guy.

[UPDATE 2:42 PM] And speaking of Texas...

Guaranty Financial Group Inc
(GFG.N), the second-largest publicly traded bank in Texas, said
it will probably fail after loan losses and writedowns left it
"critically" short of capital.

 The Austin-based lender has about $16 billion of assets and
more than 150 branches in Texas and California, according to
its website.

 On that basis, if it were to fail, Guaranty would be the
largest U.S. bank to do so in 2009. Guaranty is about half the
size of IndyMac Bancorp Inc (IDMCQ.PK), which failed in July.

 In a regulatory filing late on Thursday, Guaranty said it
has been unable to obtain new capital from shareholders, and
believes it will be ineligible for help from U.S. regulators.

 Guaranty said it does not expect to raise enough capital to
comply with an April cease-and-desist order from the federal
Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS).

 It said losses and writedowns have left it "critically
undercapitalized," with negative capital ratios.

 "The company believes that it is probable that it will not
be able to continue as a going concern," Guaranty said.

Nice.