Talk of "Treason" Shifts Perry Off His Jobs Focus

by Jay Root
August 16, 2011
44 Comments

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Gov. Rick Perry has made job creation the focus of his nascent White House bid. But on Tuesday his campaign was answering questions about controversial statements he made about potentially “treasonous” steps the U.S. Federal Reserve might take and pointed remarks about President Obama and the U.S. military.

Perry campaign spokesman Ray Sullivan was asked to explain Tuesday what Perry meant when he said the previous evening it would be “almost treasonous” for the U.S. Federal Reserve to print more money to prop up the economy ahead of the 2012 presidential election. It was ...

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Comments (44)

August 16, 2011 @ 6:24 a.m.

Bruce Hinchey via Texas Tribune on Facebook

I thought we would reelect him as Governor? Got to love political hypocrisy.
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August 16, 2011 @ 6:26 a.m.

Henry V Fitzgerald Jr via Texas Tribune on Facebook

He's a Texas-sized liar, at least that much is obvious. Shoot, you find a way to print money that passes for good in Texas and you'll have a lotta folks linin' up to be your best buddy, with the Republican bigwigs at the head of the herd.
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August 16, 2011 @ 6:32 a.m.

Ryan Schumacher via Texas Tribune on Facebook

I expect this is just the first bit of tough-talking nonsense he somehow relates to Texas we'll hear over the next several months.
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August 16, 2011 @ 6:35 a.m.

Charlene Warfield via Texas Tribune on Facebook

more proof his is a Texas bred JACKASS!
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August 16, 2011 @ 6:53 a.m.

Curtis McMinn via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Perry, Perry. Perry. Tsk tsk. Come on home now, you're embarrassing our state. It's been two or three days. Fun's over.
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August 16, 2011 @ 6:56 a.m.

Nigel Richardson via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Nay, the fun is just beginning. Wait until he dresses up for GOP debates as Davy Crockett.
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August 16, 2011 @ 7:03 a.m.

John Lyon via Texas Tribune on Facebook

I can't wait till he shoots a coyote on stage. Yee. Haw.
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August 16, 2011 @ 7:07 a.m.

Karen Spivey-Cummings via Texas Tribune on Facebook

This guy has no class whatsoever.
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August 16, 2011 @ 7:16 a.m.

Elizabeth Vernon via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Well, dang, Rick, Texans haven't done a thing to you the whole time you've been screwing them with your crackpot financial schemes. Texans must be toothless.
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August 16, 2011 @ 7:20 a.m.

Charlene Warfield via Texas Tribune on Facebook

@Elizabeth-Bubba loves the jackass-educated Texans know he is as crooked as a coyote's hind leg!
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August 16, 2011 @ 7:23 a.m.

Denise Allen Mitchell via Texas Tribune on Facebook

And there seems to be no way to educate bubba!
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August 16, 2011 @ 7:33 a.m.

Riley LovesJoy via Texas Tribune on Facebook

I believe Ron Paul has been saying this since the 70s. Where is your coverage if him? Rick Perry is just saying what he thinks is popular. Paul has been saying this since before it was popular. Paul has been saying this since before Perry was running around Texas as Al Gore's campaign manager. Perry is a fraud. Texas Tribune should be ashamed for spending 98% of their 2012 election coverage on hin and only giving minimal time to Paul, who is also a Texan and deserves the same amount of attention.
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August 16, 2011 @ 7:45 a.m.

Rudy Gonzales

What is most treasonous is the blatant lying the Perry camp and all the TEA party-ers are in this election cycle!
August 16, 2011 @ 7:56 a.m.

Marcus Aguilar via Texas Tribune on Facebook

I guess that federal funds are ok when they help you "balance" the state budget, but now they're job killin' tools of a socialist regime.
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August 16, 2011 @ 8:05 a.m.

James Birdsong via Texas Tribune on Facebook

And this is from the Governor of the " friendship state"; thank you Rick Perry for being yourself.
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August 16, 2011 @ 8:07 a.m.

Jim Hsu via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Ugly....as in $27-Billion budget shortfall deficit ugly that Rick Perry knows so well?
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August 16, 2011 @ 8:13 a.m.

Jim Hsu via Texas Tribune on Facebook

“I’m glad he declared his love for America," David Axelrod, Obama's campaign adviser, told the Journal. "Last I checked, he was suggesting that Texas might secede from America, so this is real progress!”

Seceding means giving up the fed dollars used to try to plug your state's budget shortfall, so I guess Rick looked at the $27-Billion and decided he luvs Amurrika after all.
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August 16, 2011 @ 8:30 a.m.

tommy walnuts

This guy more than the rest is an oxymoron.Whether you agree with his fiscal policies or not there is no doubt they are not christian. If DEMOCRATS would stoop to the level of using the bible for political gain, republicans would never win another election because their principles are actually less CHRISTIAN. Lets start wit the fact that the bible states a Christian "Can not serve two masters" . If republicans dont paint themselves in a corner with that, i would point out A true Christian nation would need to give ALL its riches to the poor. Does that sound Republican? A Christian nation could never oppose a tax to treat the sickest/poorest people amongst us. A Christian country would "Pound its swords into plows to feed the poor". A Christian country could never go to war for oil or power.A christian country could never judge others but leave the judging to god.Does any of that sound Republican to you.If you are christian and not convinced, you either dont know your bible or chose to ignore it.So Christians, if you vote Republican, be careful what you wish for .Far as i can tell, Republican stands for more money in the bank, not Christianity. I live in a poor country that provided me with the surgery i needed when my own would leave me out to dry. CNN just covered my story. You can find it at Happierthanabillionaire.com .I will be here all week!
August 16, 2011 @ 9:13 a.m.

Joel Stanford via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Finally, someone just as ignorant as Ron Paul on fiscal matters!
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August 16, 2011 @ 9:29 a.m.

Angela Lee

Speaking of 'treason' - Rick Perry is just one more Republican signer of Grover Norquist's pledge, along with Michele Bachman, Ron Paul, Mitch McConnell. John Boehner, and far too many other Republicans who were elected to office to represent their constituents - not to represent Grover Norquist and whoever he stands for. Since one seldom - if ever - hears any of them publicly state they are signers of the Norquist pledge I have to assume it is something they would rather the ordinary tax-paying, voting American citizen didn't know about. Too bad ol' Grover decided to create 2 lists on his website (one for 112th congress and the other the state elected official signers) - so its all readily available for those who take the time - and we should!
August 16, 2011 @ 10:09 a.m.

Thomas Jefferson

Me thinks Rick Perry is borrowing from Ron Paul. I highly recommend every what Jon Stewart's most recent show. One of his best.
August 16, 2011 @ 10:23 a.m.

Marcus Aguilar via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Hey Rick, I've got and idea. Why don't you use DPS officers to surround the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Fort Worth, so that none of the money that they're printing gets out! That'll fix Washington, huh.
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August 16, 2011 @ 11:44 a.m.

Kenneth Collier

When did it become treason in this country to disagree on economic theory? I don't always agree with the Fed's decisions, but talking about Bernanke "printing money" is misleading and extremely divisive. Perry seems desperate for attention and acts as if the only way to get it is to generate shrill and angry attacks.
August 16, 2011 @ 11:45 a.m.

Bert Chadwick

Top 10 Things Texas Gov. Rick Perry Doesn’t Want You To Know About Him...

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/06/10/241830/top-10-thing-texas-gov-rick-perry/
August 16, 2011 @ 11:48 a.m.

Gritsforbreakfast

How is it NOT treasonous to suggest secession but treasonous to "prop up the economy"? Secession, which Perry publicly contemplated, amounts to literal treason, not just a rhetorical flourish. Perry says he loves America, but saying so after suggesting secession is like saying "I love my wife, though I often think about leaving her for someone else."

Besides, doesn't the economy need propping up? Would Perry just let it collapse?

Terrible candidate; great theater. I'm glad Perry is running for the entertainment value, but these first few moments on the national stage show he's not quite ready for prime time.
August 16, 2011 @ 1:02 p.m.

Mike Openshaw via Texas Tribune on Facebook

As someone called a terrorist by the Vice-President, I guess I'm not all that horrified by this. The call for civility sure seems to have a double standard.
As for a QE3, the only employment that would generate is for Zimbabwaen currency printers; they're the only ones in modern times with expertise in adding enough zeroes to a country's currency.
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August 16, 2011 @ 1:05 p.m.

Judy Shelton Curtis via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Evolve.... LOL! More like CYA with lie after lie, after lie...
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August 16, 2011 @ 1:17 p.m.

Jason Stradtner via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Wow, so they admit that he has no values but rather sways which ever way the wind blows?
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August 16, 2011 @ 1:17 p.m.

Elaine A. Hall via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Yes!!! hopefully "we" all will be listening for the message everyday!!! His lies and his record will hopefully be catching up with him publically!!!
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August 16, 2011 @ 1:24 p.m.

Robert Adams via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Right, cause he flip flops on a seconds notice.
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August 16, 2011 @ 1:52 p.m.

Carlyn Short via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Kinda like a chameleon? Adjusting to suit the environment? :(
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August 16, 2011 @ 1:55 p.m.

Paul Underbrink via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Everyone expects a little hyperbole on the campaign trail, but there's a world of difference between "I disagree with the Fed's policy" and the Fed is "almost treasonous." An apology is due.
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August 16, 2011 @ 2 p.m.

Marc Lippincott via Texas Tribune on Facebook

If people are "tired of the shell game", how do they explain the most recent accounting shell game in the Texas budget?
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August 16, 2011 @ 2:11 p.m.

Karen Spivey-Cummings via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Rick Perry is a long time politician. Nothing more.
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August 16, 2011 @ 2:17 p.m.

Margaret Lalk via Texas Tribune on Facebook

"Evolve"? like, shift in the wind or like teaching non-evolution in schools?
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August 16, 2011 @ 2:28 p.m.

Margaret Lalk via Texas Tribune on Facebook

I don't know, they fell for Bush #2's machismo -
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August 16, 2011 @ 2:56 p.m.

James Hollas

Remember this is from a D student of economics!
August 16, 2011 @ 4:33 p.m.

Marcus Aguilar via Texas Tribune on Facebook

I also agree that Go. Perry seems to have set aside any discretion or civil discourse, and has opted instead for thinly veiled threats of retribution against Bernake. No marketplace of ideas tract here. As we say down here in Texas: we don't take to kindly to pointy headed ideas from pointy headed professors. Modern day knownothings.
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August 16, 2011 @ 5:57 p.m.

Texascattleco

Party over country is what is wrong with the Republicans right now. Maybe they will eventually learn this is not being an American Patriot.
August 16, 2011 @ 7:01 p.m.

Ron Grimm via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Whatever happened to "Intelligent Design" as an alternative to evolving?
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August 16, 2011 @ 9:46 p.m.

sssdddd

Time to be proud to be a Texan, or maybe not... An open letter to Mr. Dick Perry follows.

Mr. Dick Perry,

Possibly as you have started to realize. Most of us in the USA do not hail originally from the state of Texas. We do not listen to Fox news nightly nor are we listening intently with our mouths open so commentators can piss into our open mouths.

A few important points follow as you seek the highest office in our good land:

- Maybe Aggies are stupid enough to believe your lies Dick Perry, but some of us have real degrees.
- Any attempt to string Mr. Bernanke up will set turbines alight at Tinker Air Force base, regardless if a Texan Secessionist is President or not. This Sir is my vow. And Sir I understand through engineering education how to bring NBC to your theater. You do not want me as an enemy of the 'New South'.
- Yes lies are sacrosanct in Texas. However in other areas of our good country, liars are imprisoned.
- This is 'One Nation Under God, INDIVISIBLE'

Your Friend and fellow United States Citizen.

Dan Price
August 16, 2011 @ 9:59 p.m.

sssdddd

OK so I disparaged the Aggies. I am not the first, nor will be the last.

Do you (individual Aggies) think disparagement of Aggie reputation is a just when faced with the choice of patriotism to the USA or the New South?

I wrote my name, so believe me that I am ready to defend our country in the face of whatever comes our way, however evil or not so evil as the case may be.
August 17, 2011 @ 1:21 a.m.

Lenny Gwynne via Texas Tribune on Facebook

Is this boy full of himself or what? His verbosity is conduct unbecoming a 'New Apostle'...LOL
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August 17, 2011 @ 1:59 a.m.

Bert Chadwick

Top 10 Things Texas Gov. Rick Perry Doesn’t Want You To Know About Him.....

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/06/10/241830/top-10-thing-texas-gov-rick-perry/