Texas Governor Says Obama Is 'Hell-Bent' on Socialism

Speaking at a luncheon Wednesday in Midland, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said President Obama is "punishing" the Lone Star State and called for a new wave of "tea parties" to oppose his policies, Politico reports.

"This is an administration hell-bent toward taking American towards a socialist country," Perry said. "If you all think those tea parties didn't work, then let me tell you something. When they all came home in August for those town-hall meetings, they got an earful. Then they went back to Washington, D.C., and the Senate voted that public option down in committee with a majority of Democrats in the Senate."

Perry also accused the administration of dumping illegal immigrants in Texas, citing a recent phone call informing him that illegal immigrants captured in Arizona would be dropped off in El Paso. "I say it's time to make tea parties twice as big as what they were. I think it's time for us to stand up and say to Washington, D.C., that we are no longer going to accept that kind of stuff sitting down and being quiet."