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Subscribe to RSSJOHNSTON, IA -- Speaking to employees of an advanced agricultural facility here yesterday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry struck a populist, disputing the premise of the phrase "too big to fail," including for sovereign nations.
"I would never have bailed anyone out," Perry said at a town hall for staff of DuPont-owned Pioneer Hi-Bred. "If you were too big to fail, you were too big."
"I don't care whether you're a country, or whether you're a corporation, or whether you were a small business down on Main Street," he said yesterday. "And I sure haven't seen any small businesses being bailed out by government."
The comment, which came as President Barack Obama attends a G20 summit clouded by concerns about Greece's debt, was in response to an employee's question about financial regulations.
Perry said of the Dodd-Frank legislation signed into law in 2010: "It institutionalized what they were trying to keep from happening."
He reiterated his claim that government has failed in oversight of the big banks, accusing the two of being "in bed together."
"I happen to think Wall Street and Washington, DC have been in bed together way too long. That's one of the problems that we have in this country, is that there are people who have too much money invested that end up in Washington, DC."
Perry claimed that his pledge to take a "sledgehammer" to the DC status quo is "why the establishment really doesn't like me and really doesn't like my tax plan."
In response to a question about the president's Iraq policy, Perry said he did not necessarily dispute the idea of bringing troops home, but he disagreed with the president's telegraphing of U.S. strategy.
"The issue I have is not with the president's proclamation that he wants to bring our young men and women home. I agree with that. I want to bring them home, too. But to signal to your enemy when you want to bring your troops home is a tactical error and I think irresponsible."
Perry has previously said that Obama should have worked closely with commanders on the ground to formulate a timetable for withdrawal that should not be disclosed to enemy forces.
A former agriculture commissioner who frequently highlights his rural roots, Perry struck a sentimental tone while speaking to the employees at Pioneer, saying that they can help make America "a leader in food supply, or energy supply, or one thing that I think the world needs a huge supply of: Freedom."
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Was Perry at least sober when he made these comments?
If that video of him last weekend was the real little Ricky, it was a great reminder of the last dumb-ass, bible banging, booze-hound TX Governor.
Oh holy hell gang - this is too fantastic.
So the NY York Times [I know right?] has a great little article about how Corzine used his political influence to run off regulators looking into his horrid investment scheme in massive PIIG debt.
So what we got is the Times [one of Obama's biggest cheerleaders] rating out Corzine [Obama's "walls Street Guy"] on thwarting the very regulation Obama touted as protect us against those evil Wall Street fat cats.
Gang I got to say - I loves me some Solyndra - crony socialism. I think Fast and Furious is despicable - Obama's assault on American gun right, but this, this is likely worse for team O.
So Obama is a Champion of the little guy, yet his guy, using his influence as a former democrat big wig, gets to to whatever he wanted on Obama's watch.
Should play well right? I can't wait for Big Ed Schultz to devote an entire hour n this great topic.
Too Big to Fail? Or Too Big in GOP Pocketbooks?
Gov. Perry, although slightly putting himself on the side of regulatory watchdogs, is not really taking on the major banks and capital management firms, or the Wall Street brokers who got into the act as well, with his remarks. The statements are rally rather crafty and sly - because he's opposing bailouts, and not calling for breakups or restrictions on the excesses of executive compensation, or many of the other abuses in the financial sector.
And why?
These are the people who pay the bills for the Republicans and for the Tea Party, and have done so in ever-increasing amounts over the past 30 years.
So Perry butters both sides of his campaign bread with remarks like this. He panders to the angry Tea Party voters - long after the fact of the bailouts and other programs he derides - and he skirts the true questions about what to do now or in the future about the industry.
In contrast, what might have Perry said, if he wishes to be taken seriously?
1. Time to break up the "too big to fail" institutions!
These businesses today are not venerable ancients of American tradition, after all. They are relatively recent constructs assembled from the bones of bankruptcy or the failures of regulation and the changes in law that once kept them in separate compartments. It was the very process of putting them together that created important underpinnings for the global economic crisis, in fact.
There is no reason to oppose breaking them back into their segments, just as Judge Harold Greene did so many years ago when he directed the breakup of the old AT&T monopoly, and spawned the telecommunications industry as a result.
2. Reimpose standards of responsible service to customers and shareholders, rather than allowing financial institutions to remain the personal piggybanks of senior executives and flashy brokers.
Abetted by changes in tax laws - especially those involving capital gains and the classification of "income" for hedge fund managers - the financial sector has turned into a money-printing machine. Only the money started out as that of the customers, and in passing by diverted into the bloated salaries, massive bonuses, and either tax-exempt or nearly exempt earnings of a flew clever folk.
Yet that money really still belongs to the companies' shareholders and customers. This kind of legalized looting should be stopped cold.
3. Undertake "responsibility in government" by weaning the Federal government off outside contracting for work that was once done cheaper and better by public employees.
"Privatization" has been shown a costly inefficiency that has fertilized corruption, bled the taxpayers, and primarily made a gift of public funds to a favored few companies. It is a system that has to be eliminated for the most part and replaced with lean, efficient, non-partisan services back under the Federal aegis. The way most of it was before Ronald Reagan got his hands on the presidency.
And there are many, many more options for serious "government reform" if Gov. Perry wants to take on that topic.
But as his two-faced speech shows, he isn't really serious. The Washington think tanks and corporatist fronts hold the money.
Right on John! The Fed created Too Big to Fail and Perry sells Texas off daily to corporations. This guy is a joke.
Rick Perry reality when it comes to lobbyists:
Assistant: "Mr. Perry, the President of Merck is on line one"
Perry: "Well Howdy, what can I do for you."
Merck: "Did you hear about the campaign money that went to you through our Ultra Super Pac"
Perry: "Yes, thank you very much."
Merck: "Now, about how your gonna change health care. You know, instead of eliminating government insurance, we really ought to think about what should be covered. You know make some changes, don't want to kill the deal, just adjust it."
Perry: "I hear ya."
Merck: "Well, now think about all of the wonderful drugs there are. Take Gardisil, for instance, there's a wonderful drug that, if it was to be approved we could add it to the group of shots that 5th and 6th graders take before going into school each year. Could have that on a national level. Who knows, might be many other drugs just like it."
Perry: "Yep."
Merck: "Could make a lot of similar changes. Don't have to eliminate the law, maybe just change it a little. Well, something to think about. Look for more activity from our ultra super duper pac."
Perry: "yep."
I don't care whether you're a country, or whether you're a corporation, or whether you were a small business down on Main Street," he said yesterday. "And I sure haven't seen any small businesses being bailed out by government
They warn us "If it is too good to be truth, it is probably a scam "
enough said.
Does this mean, Governor, that you believe that the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 was a bad idea when it repealed portions of Glass-Steagall Act of 1933?
Exactly, Graham-Leach-Bliley was the final straw of deregulation that gave us too big to fail. Shame on Bill Clinton for signing the thing.
I guess Perry means that about the auto industry, too. Try selling that in Michigan and other states with auto plants.
@Spanky -
"Fast and Furious"? Come one...they were selling guns.... the Tea Party folks should be behind that. At least they weren't trying to restrict the use of guns...
He doesn't care if its a country or a bank - no one should be too big to be too big to fail?
I wonder if he considers the U.S. too big? Because when we fail (and we will), the global economy will certainly feel like we were too big to fail. Maybe this gives some explanation into his forays with Texas independence?
Very true Paul -
Greece is a country that Germany and France and pouring money into because its 'too big to fail'. If Greece were to fail and decide to "to heck with this" and decide that they will no longer honor any of their EU debt, then banks all over the world who hold EU debt will fall apart
Perry's comments show a lack of real thought on the issues - just another bumper-sticker campaign. I DO belive that the U.S. did "over-pay" on the TARP debt - perhaps they should have paid it off at .50 cents on the dollar or something? However, most companies have paid the money so....
The trouble with Perry's comment and those who think that way is that while the firms that failed were too big, allowing them to fail would have been catastrophic to every other bank in the country. It would have been like watching a carefully arranged room of dominoes fall to orchestrated music. Many are too big as Perry said, but imagine the conservative outcry if the Obama administration had tried to dismantle the "too big to fail" ones. I would have preferred that they be broken apart but with the current partisanship in Washington, the current Wall Street influence--no way it could happen in 2009. Maybe in a few years, Washington legislators will see the light and break up these huge monopolies of money.
Hey, Jody----Mitt Romney has experience in breaking up companies and outsourcing jobs---maybe he could apply those skills to Wall Street.
Too much money and power "Jody". There is no political will on either side to bite the hands that feed them.
Rick Perry seems to lack a basic understanding of the global economy, as well as a failure to remember the history of the bailouts he speaks of. It was Republicans and their corporate benefactors that were pushing for the use of public money to prop up failed financial institutions. Wall Street is a friend to the GOP, and they were the recipient of trillions in taxpayer money devoted to keeping them solvent. Why does Perry think ordinary Americans are in the streets? It's because of policies embraced by his colleagues that favor the corporate elite over the middle-class. http://www.sunstateactivist.org
Therein lies to problem, Perry lacks basic understanding period. He sold Texas to the corporations and created an artificial boom that only benefits corporations and most of the state works on Wal-Mart type wages. All he wants to do is spread that across the country for a political price and more power. A vote for him would be another nail in the middle class coffin.
Well gee Rick that is not what you said when you took piles of federal stimulus money and paid Texas state bills with it!
Rick is a two-bit governor in a big state that he has been using as a piggy bank for the rich and poweful.
Word is out that Rick has been bought and paid for by corporations.
He thinks the voters aren't going to find out all of the gory details about the shenanigans in Austin.
I want him to give back ALL of the stimulus money since he hates Washington so much.
Liar, liar, pants on fire!
Not to mention that $11 million of that stimulus money went to renovation of the Texas Governor's Mansion.
Saying something is too big to fail is one thing. Saying it as the Governor of Texas is hypocrisy. I mean, how can you, as a resident and graduate of a Texas university, even use that phrase? Slocum Tidwell (real name withheld for obvious reasons) was 6'9", 350 pounds and ran the 40 yard dash in 4.3 seconds. He had hands like a gator's mouth and a brain like a pissant, but he managed to play football at the University of Texas for 8 years (4 redshirt years, of course) before he graduated with honors in basic English. He was too big to fail, so he didn't.
I think Rick Perry would lie about his grandma being a hooker if it would get him elected President. And he would probably screw up the lie to the point that it would involve something about drillin, huntin, or shootin, because that is what he KNOWS. Perry has no base outside of Texas, so why do we consider him a serious candidate?
Kevin Belake Johnson,
Perry's candidacy reminds me of the "favorite son" strategy some states used for bargaining chips at their National convention. What does the GOPTP folks in Texas want when they show up in Tampa next year?
"Favorite son strategy" in this age of Billion Dollar Campaigns(tm)? ARE YOU KIDDIN?
Now, if the Perry campaign is gonna kick in to pay down campaign debt for the eventual nominee, that's all different. Primaries gonna be finished before MARCH, so we got 5 months of joy and pleasure before it gets down to cuttin time. Ish. THe GOPTPers better get used to callin Newt "Sir" by Christmas. Last month, Ole Newt was at 5 percent, now he is at 11. What Happened? The man doesn't have a pot to piss in or a window to toss it out of, but he has doubled his base by not being an idiot. If Mitt was a smart man, he would be slamming Newt hammer and TONG until he drops out, otherwise, its McCain version 2.0 in the next South Carolina primary.
"Speaking to employees of an advanced agricultural facility here yesterday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry struck a populist, disputing the premise"
Wow.....did the populist strike him back?
Ha! Good one, JoAnne PA.
Perry said of the Dodd-Frank legislation signed into law in 2010: "It institutionalized what they were trying to keep from happening."
Amen.
Obama brags on Dodd Frank and new regulation on Wall Street to prevent fraud. And a few months later..Obama's biggest crony, Dem Governor Jon Corzine,who helped him write the failed stimulus economic plan, goes to Wall Street and his firm loots millions.
The Obama crony Corzine met with regulators to tell them not to regulate what he was doing. This is while Corzine was bundling half a mill for Obama re election.
First Read, any follow up? or is one story enough to delude yourselves to believe you arent Obama poodles?
Please. Hold Obama and the Democrats accountable? Not happening, at least not around here. Figuring out how Corzine killing off a 200 year old company in a few months would require that questions be asked, and a somewhat complex path of investigation be followed.
Obama and the Democrats pulled out all the stops to make sure this pilfering of Wall Street "Never happens again". Millions are being spent by Wall Street to comply with the new regulations, well, unless you're a FOB (Friend of Barack) where apparently you get to skate by those pesky regulations if you're a big time contribute to the B-man's campaign. It seems to be a cost of business.
It's better to stick with the Cain stories of alleged sexual harassment or that Cain bought an iPad for his campaign using the wrong account. That's real news.
Hello, the FBI just ordered an investigation of Corzine. The lobbyists are killing the Dodd Bill and it was weak to begin with. Alleged harassment? the women were paid off in a settlement, hmm and the source of a lot of the information are from republican operatives. Sorry JA that was an inside job from the GOP and Cain is too clueless and inexperienced to put the allegations to bed. Politico gave him 10 days to come clean instead he played naive, spare me. I give you credit though, you defend the repubs to the hilt no matter how dysfunctional they are. You must be a 1%er or really hate Obama. How else can you tirelessly support these people? Deregulation and tax cuts worked so well under GWB didn't they? Carry on, this venue wouldn't be the same without you...
Mav, can we try to do without and see how it goes.
Gov. Perry---if George Bush signed the agreement to bring all troops out of Iraq and President Obama is complying with it and not extending it, how have we signaled anything to anyone?
Makes you wonder if his brains are in his cowboy boots. Perry forgot that Bush did it which ranks up there with Cain claiming China wants to acquire nuclear weapons (at least Cain said nuclear and not nukular).
Jody---I'll bet it shocked the heck out of a lot of conservatives to find out China has had nuclear weapons since the 60s.
Dude, whats with the facts? Perry doesn't care about facts or reality.
First off - President Bush signed the TARP deal.....Obama followed through with it. If there was no TARP, and Perry were President, then he would be presiding over 13-14% unemployment instead. Think about it: Obama is going to lose his job becauseof 9% unemployment, but Perry would like BoA, Chrysler & GM also unemployed or owned by China?
The issue is "too big to fail" companies needs to be broken up or held to higher financial levels. I betcha that if the Government even tried to perform any of these controls, the Republicans would scream about how the Government should stay out of businesses.
BY the way, why don't you tell the Chrysler and GM employees that we shouldnt have bailed our the auto industry with TARP money...
To big to fail countries: Perhaps Perry think sthat Germany and France are wasting their money trying to prop up Greece? If Greece falls out of the EU, and says "goodbye" to their EU debt and begins to print their own moeny, then Financial sectors all over the world will fail. Who do you think owns the debt that Greece has? If Greece says "forget it", who loses?
Iraq: Dude... we 'all' want out of Irag... we want out of Afganistan too ( SURPRISE !). Set a date; dance a jig, pray to whomever; ask the Generals but don't base your entire decision on people who's job it is to wage war because their answer would be to continue fighting. To co-relate the point: American Businesses wanted TARP - and by listening to them, we gave them the money to survive.
Overall, I find that year after year, Americans seem to want to elect people that we would like to "drink a beer with". We need a PRESIDENT, not a drinking partner. Perry seems like a nice guy, certainly more knowledgable than Herman Cain, but these people aren't really Presidental material are they?
Americas problems are more complex and need a bit more thought
Pablo, the republicans want us to beleive that the country's problems are rather simple and they have simple solutions for fix them all. God knows a thinker in the white house is bad, they want a doer like GWB and boy did he do a lot: Start two wars, deregulation, cut more taxes for the 1% and preside over the biggest recession since the depression. Yupper, we like our cowboys and bravado. Don't you know, if we just cut taxes on the wealthy and corporations all our problems will go away. Who cares if it failed under Reagan and GWB.
Bruce Bartlett, Ex-Reagan Economist: Idea That Deregulation Leads To Jobs 'Just Made Up'
"Republicans favor tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, but these had no stimulative effect during the George W. Bush administration, and there is no reason to believe that more of them will have any today," writes Bruce Bartlett. He's an economist who worked for Republican congressmen and in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
As for the idea that cutting regulations will lead to significant job growth, Bartlett said in an interview, "It's just nonsense. It's just made up."
Government and industry studies support his view.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tracks company's reasons for large layoffs, found that 1,119 layoffs were attributed to government regulations in the first half of this year, while 144,746 were attributed to poor "business demand."
By CHARLES BABINGTON 10/30/11 01:07 PM ET
Bartlett, whose books on tax policy include "The Benefit and the Burden," recently wrote in the New York Times: "People are increasingly concerned about unemployment, but Republicans have nothing to offer them."
This place is great .....liberal lies and socialistic lies..............do yourselfs a favor and do SOME research....hold dumbocrats to the same standards.....duhhhhhhh your only hurting yourselfs with all the hatred and we all suffer......the current economic situation comes to mine.....yeahhhh more pork and ear marks for noboma....john edwards is a lying coward of the highest calaber...
Rseibert
Please help me out here. I would like to follow your advise and research your comments. Can you direct me to the current website John Edwards is using in his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination?
Darn Bush. He signed a treaty with the Government promising to get all combat troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011. He spilled the beans, and before you knew it, the bad guys figured out our strategy.
Obama should have fooled em by pulling out in 2009. right Ricky?