This is hidden brain.
Im Shankar Vedantam.
In 2011, the race for us president was heating up.
Near the front of the pack on the republican side was Rick Perry.
His odds look promising.
He had been governor of Texas for more than a decade, and the previous republican president, George W.
Bush, had also been a Texas governor.
Rick Perrys poll numbers were competitive, and he had amassed an impressive war chest.
His core themes of shrinking government and cutting spending were popular with many republican voters.
Tonight, we are here in the great state of Michigan for a debate that.
Will focus almost exclusively on the economy.
On November 9, Rick Perry appeared on stage in Rochester, Michigan, along with seven fellow candidates.
It was a live televised debate watched by millions.
The moderator asked a question about what the candidates would do in office if elected.
But the fact of the matter is, we better have a plan in place that Americans can get their hands around.
And that's the reason my flat tax.
Is the only Robert Rick Perry launched energetically into a description of the actions he planned to take as president and his sweeping plans to slash the size of government.
Under his leadership, he vowed entire departments would disappear.
And I will tell you, it's three agencies of government when I get there that are gone.
Commerce, education, and the.