莱克星顿

　　Rick Perry's no-frills airline

　　里克·佩里的廉价航空模式

　　The governor of Texas thinks his state's thrifty model will appeal to America

　　德克萨斯州长认为自己州的节约模式对美国具有号召力

　　COWBOY swagger can be a great look—until the strutting hero trips and falls flat on his face. Governor Rick Perry of Texas learned that in 2011. For a heady moment he led the field of Republicans seeking the presidential nomination. Then came the fall. An ill-prepared Mr Perry was stunned when rivals attacked him from the right, denouncing his (admirable) policy of offering subsidised university places to Texas residents, regardless of immigration status, in the interests of a skilled workforce. The end came with an “Oops” heard around the world, uttered during a TV debate in which—flustered and battling severe back-pain—Mr Perry forgot which federal departments he wanted to abolish.

　　趾高气扬的牛仔看起来很棒—直到这名大摇大摆的英雄不小心摔了个狗啃泥，变成了狗熊。德克萨斯州长里克·佩里在2011年得到了教训。在一个激动人心的时刻，他领导共和党人追求总统提名，然后功亏一篑。由于佩里准备不足，当他的竞争对手从右翼攻击他，谴责他的政策（一个值得赞扬的政策）为德克萨斯居民提供大学资助名额，而忽略了移民身份，只是为了熟练工人的利益，他手足无措。在这场电视直播的辩论中，结束时他的一声“哎哟”全世界都清楚地听到了—佩里慌乱地对抗着严重的背痛，忘了他希望废除的是哪个联邦部门。

　　Now, as he prepares to retire as Texas's longest-serving governor, Mr Perry is poised for a re-launch. Think-tank boffins and foreign-policy gurus have descended on the Ionic-columned governor's mansion in Austin, briefing him on everything from monetary policy to Islamic extremism. He has talked geopolitics in London and Warsaw and debated energy policy with Communist bosses in China. On December 2nd he invited donors to lunch. Wisely, he offered more than happy-talk. When voters handed Republicans big wins in the mid-term elections it was no declaration of love for the Right, he told guests. Theirs was a vote of no-confidence in Barack Obama, and a cry of despair at Washington dysfunction and the lack of respect enjoyed by America abroad. Voters are offering Republicans one more chance to govern, with the message: “Don't blow it.”

　　如今，作为德克萨斯州在任时间最长的州长，他准备退休了，但也正在准备重新开始自己的事业。智囊团和国外政策专家们突然访问了这座位于奥斯丁的有着爱奥尼亚式圆柱的州长大楼，简单向他报告了许多事情——从货币政策到伊斯兰极端主义。他在伦敦和华沙谈论地缘政治学，与中国的共产党官员争辩能源政策。他于12月2日邀请捐赠人吃午餐。他很明智，午餐间他们并不仅仅是愉快的交谈。他对宾客们说，选民们投票给共和党使其在中期大选中全胜，这对右翼来说不是一件好事。他们对奥巴马投了不信任票，而且对美国政府功能紊乱，以及海外国家对美国缺乏尊重很失望。选民们为共和党提供了更多管理的机会，并传递了信息：“别搞砸了。”

　　Not blowing a fresh White House bid is Mr Perry's own mission. Last time he was “a bit arrogant,” he admits in an interview at his mansion, reclining in an armchair flanked by busts of Reagan and Churchill. He mistakenly assumed that running Texas was preparation for a presidential bid. This time, he has spent 22 months preparing “intensively”.

　　佩里的任务就是不要搞砸这次全新的白宫选举。在州长大楼的一场采访中，他斜靠在扶手椅中，两侧分别是里根和丘吉尔的半身像，他承认上次“有点自大”了。他错误认为管理德克萨斯州就是为总统竞选做准备。而这次，他已花费22个月“集中”准备竞选。

　　Pundits are asking: is Rick Perry ready? When asked, prominent Republicans advising Mr Perry offer warm words: they call him “energised” and “intellectually curious”. The difference from 2011 is “night and day”, says one. The governor will make a final decision next spring. In an unexpected twist, he was recently indicted for abuse of power, after leaning on an Austin prosecutor to resign after her arrest for drunk-driving. His indictment (which even some liberal jurists think looks like the hounding of a governor for doing his job) will either go away or stop him dead. Time will tell if he is up to a fresh run, but that is the wrong question. A better one is: what does Mr Perry stand for?

　　专家询问：里克·佩里准备好了吗？当问到这个问题时，杰出的共和党员建议佩里言辞热烈一些：他们称他是“精力充沛”以及“求知好学”的人。某位专家称他与2011年那时已经不可“同日而语”。州长在来年春天将会做出最终决定。在一名奥斯丁检察官因酗酒被捕后，他逼迫她辞职，意料之外的是，最近他因此被控告滥用职权。对他的控告（即使一些仁慈的法学家也认为这看起来是州长被迫行使职权）要么会沉寂，要么就会使他止步。时间将会证明他是否能够胜任一场新选举，但这个问题是错误的。更好的问题是：佩里代表了什么？

　　Any answer must begin with his governing record. A “Texas miracle” say boosters, pointing to the millions who have moved to his state in recent years, drawn by low taxes, cheap housing, light-touch regulation and courts that take a dim view of frivolous lawsuits. Mr Perry is keen on comparisons with highly-taxed, regulation-choked California, or as he calls it, the state from which he poaches employers “on a regular basis”. During his 14 years as governor, he beams, a third of all net jobs created in America were created in Texas.

　　任何答案都应该从他的管理记录开始。近几年有数百万人因低税收、低房价、轻力度监管和法庭对琐碎诉讼的不赞成而迁移到德克萨斯州，支持者们说这是个“德克萨斯奇迹”。佩里喜欢与高税收、严监管的加州作对比，或者像他称的那样，他“经常”从加州挖来雇主。他笑容满面地称，在他十四年的行政生涯中，美国所有净就业机会中有三分之一都是德克萨斯州创造的，这是他的一个得意功绩。

　　A mirage, retort many on the Left: Mr Perry rode an energy boom and stole jobs from other states with tax breaks and other bribes. Millions in Texas lack health insurance. The state tolerates horrible inequalities. Sceptics charge that an extremist lurks behind the governor's charm, whether he is attacking the federal government for leaving a lethally “porous” border between Mexico and Texas, or displaying a serene confidence as he signed off on 279 executions as governor. If people move to Texas—such critics murmur—it's because they are happy with crappy.

　　许多左翼人士反驳说这只是个假象：佩里先生精力旺盛，用税收减免和其它贿赂从别的州偷来了不少工作。德克萨斯州有数百万人没有医疗保险。该州容忍了严重的不平等。怀疑论者们控告称州长那迷人外表下隐藏着极端主义者，他正在攻击联邦政府，在墨西哥和德克萨斯州之间留下致命的“漏洞百出”的边界，或者是就像同意了279项执行令状那样展示着自己平静的自信。这些批评家们抱怨说，如果人们迁移到德克萨斯州，那是因为他们自甘堕落。

　　Americans don't move to crappy places, retorts Mr Perry. He reels off statistics about the Texan quality of life: the number of well-paid new jobs, the 35,000 doctors who arrived once dodgy lawsuits were curtailed, even the number of theatre seats in Houston (only New York has more, he says). The Texan way is a choice, he says: the state offers people as much government as they want, rather than what Washington thinks is good for them.

　　佩里先生反驳说，美国人不会迁移到没价值的地方。他一口气说出了德克萨斯州的生活质量的各种统计资料：待遇优厚的新工作，当烦人的诉讼被缩减后，三万五千名医生来到了这里，甚至连休斯顿的剧院座位都缩减了（只有纽约增加了，他说）。德克萨斯之路是个选择，他说：该州为人们提供了他们所有想要的治理，即使华盛顿都没这么为他们着想过。

　　You get what you pay for

　　你付出了，就能得到收获

　　This, surely, will be Mr Perry's contribution to the debate if he runs. Reduce modern politics to their essence, and some of the angriest arguments turn on a crisis of affordability. Most households have seen their incomes stagnate while certain essential middle-class goods (such as college education and health care) have soared in price. Too many Democrats seem to think that the solution is to pluck more money out of a magician's hat. Some suggest that new taxes can painlessly fund more government largesse, or insist that firms can easily afford to pay higher wages. Too many Republicans put their faith in magical policies: hinting that tax cuts and deregulation alone will return the economy to a Golden Age of affluence.

　　当然，如果佩里先生参加竞选的话，这就是他对辩论的贡献。将现代政策缩减至精华，一些愤怒的争论变成了负担能力的危机。大多数家庭都看到了收入停滞不前，而一些重要的中产阶级物品（如大学教育和医疗保险）价格飙升。许多民主党认为解决方案就是从魔术师的帽子里变出更多的钱。一些人建议说新的税务政策能够毫不费力地为政府的慷慨提供资金支持，或者坚称公司能够轻松负担高薪。许多共和党对魔法政策信心十足：暗示单靠减税和放松管制就能使经济回到富裕的鼎盛时期。

　　Mr Perry stands out for tackling, squarely, the fact that Americans are used to services that increasingly cost more than they (or any government) can afford. Rather often, the Texan solution involves basic services that aim to be cheap but good enough. Call it the low-cost airline model: offering a minimal service that is safe and reliable, then letting consumers pay for frills and extras if they like. Mr Perry grumbles at the idea that Texas is a discount model for anything. But competition is certainly at the heart of his pitch. He has pressed Texan colleges to offer degrees for only $10,000, for example. He has rejected Obamacare's calls to expand health coverage on Washington's terms. He thinks that Texas should be allowed to cover the poor as it sees fit (with an emphasis on creating jobs that make health care affordable, rather than safety nets). As president, he would be delighted to let other states offer onerous taxes and lavish services. Some people want such things, he agrees: they are “free to live in California”.

　　佩里坚决断然阻止，事实是美国人习惯了超出他们（或者任何政府）承担能力的日益增加的花费。德克萨斯州的常见解决方法就包括物美价廉的基本服务，叫做廉价航空模式：提供最少的安全可靠服务，如果顾客需要额外的花哨服务的话，让他们自己支付。佩里对德克萨斯州这种什么事情都要打折扣的模式表示不满。但竞争是他竞选的核心。例如，他曾向德克萨斯州大学施压，让他们提供一万美元就能获得的学位。在华盛顿任期期间，他拒绝了奥巴马医改扩大医疗覆盖范围的要求。他认为德克萨斯应该被允许覆盖穷人，因为它很合适（强调创造就业机会，使人们能负担得起医疗保险，而不是建立医疗安全网）。如果成为总统，他会很乐意让其它州提供繁重的税收和花哨的服务。有人喜欢这些东西，他赞同说：她们“在加州自由生活”。

　　Not everyone wants to live in Texas. But Mr Perry's pitch is worth debating. Forget that “Oops,” and hope that he runs.

　　不是每个人都想生活在德克萨斯州。但佩里先生的政策值得争辩。忘掉那声“哎哟”吧，希望他参加竞选。