President Barack Obama likes one-size-fits-all solutions to the challenges facing states, but such an approach doesn’t work, says Rick Perry, governor of Texas, the second largest state in the nation.
Appearing Sunday on "Meet the Press," the Republican Perry was critical of what he called the administration's application of a one-size-fits-all solution to everything from the death penalty to joblessness.
Perry said last week's botched execution in Oklahoma is reason for a pause in the process in that state, but not necessarily nationwide. Obama on Friday directed
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to look into the application of the death penalty throughout the country, including why minorities are more likely to receive the a death sentence.
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Texans, Perry said, have decided there are certain crimes for which a death sentence is appropriate. Texas has the largest number of executions in the nation, with 273 people currently on Death Row.
Perry noted that Texas, which uses lethal injection, uses only one drug and not a combination as does Oklahoma. Clayton Lockett, 38, returned to consciousness and died of a heart attack in the botched Oklahoma case.
"There is an appropriate way to deal with this, and, obviously, something went terribly wrong," Perry said.
Turning to the economy, Perry said his state isn't focused on raising the minimum wage, instead looking at the "maximum wage." Perry has been traveling the country, luring employers from other states into Texas.
He said 95 percent of the jobs created in Texas are above minimum wage, and the minimum wage discussion does little good when there are no jobs available, he said.
"Most of us didn't start in the corner office. You worked your way up," Perry said, speaking of an oft-repeated Republican theme that minimum-wage jobs are intended as entry level and not something intended to support a family.
On his own plans to run for president again in 2016, Perry said he agreed with critics who labeled his 2012 effort a failure. But he said more of a person's character shows when he demonstrates how well he can perform after he's failed.
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