E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
ELKADER, Iowa -- He's still punching up. And today, it's TARP.
Gov. Rick Perry started the sixth day of his 44-stop trip as he typically does: by unloading a new line of attack aimed at those well-positioned in the polls to win the Iowa caucuses.
"The Wall Street bailout was the single greatest act of thievery in American history," Perry told a crowd of about 50 in Elkader. "And Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney were for it. That's what insiders do."
The accusation is a new addition to Perry's typical populist pitch, which ties "Wall Street financiers" and "Washington insiders" together as profiteers of the financial crisis who deliberately gamed the system and "bet against" the nation's middle class.
"On Wall Street some people got rich. I mean literally insanely rich. And they were betting against millions of homeowners with these subprime mortgages," he said Monday.
The attack is yet another example of Perry's attempts to chip away at the support of the three men currently jockeying for the top spot in Iowa: Romney, Gingrich, and Ron Paul. Gingrich, who appears to be bleeding support from conservatives in the state, is the most consistent recipient of jabs, with Perry labeling him "the granddaddy of earmarks" over the weekend.
The Texas governor has yet to take aim during this northern Iowa bus tour against either Rep. Michele Bachmann or Rick Santorum, the socially conservative candidates who are jockeying for a surge along with Perry.
In Elkader, Perry worked to paint himself as a consummate outsider who has spent recent years at battle with the Beltway over education, regulation, and spending.
"That's really the choice that you got in this Republican primary," he said. "I'm the outsider, and everybody else up on that stage with me is either a Wall Street connected individual or an insider. And we don't have to choose this time between a Democrat spendaholic and a Republican spendaholic."
Leave a Comment:
Who gives Ricky his daily talking points?
Haven't you heard?
Little Ricky has God on speed dial..
You don't give drowning man a "talking point" cause he goes for anything withing his reach. Expect more.
Ricky should indeed read a little before he talks a lot. He is insulting a fellow Texan with all of this TARP talk. Isn't that against the law in TX? I hope Rick runs as an indie!
Get your boots on the @!$%# is deep? It keeps getting deeper as GoodHair Parry speaks.
Feisty is given her daily nasty witless talking point direct from a George Soros-funded site, isnt that right, Feisty?
I have to disagree Ricky: I vote for the Iran war (you remember... no-bid military contracts for Cheney, oil deals for Dubya, 4500+ dead Americans= and on and on.)
Talk about dishonest thievery!
bob lots of numbers, do you just come here to insult Feisty? If you have nothing of importance to say, how about leaving and take your talking points with you.
not as stupid as yo uthink
I don't recall there being a war in Iran. Do you know something the rest of us don't? I remember Bush started a war in IRAQ but nothing in Iran (yet). Also there is a little bit of a war in Afghanistan, just in case you didn't get the word on that either. If the military-industrial complex so loved by Bush and Cheney had their way we'd really go broke while they got richer and richer.
Feisty, my thoughts exactly! So, Perry finally got the Clift notes on "Inside Job". I wonder who read it
forto him.... ;-)It's alright verno - little booby has a major crush on me and has difficulty expressing himself, to get my attention! ☺
Can 50 people really be called a "crowd?" For that matter, how can a political event attended by "about 50" people actually qualify as a national news story? This guy is a waste of hair mousse, period. Time to move on, media.
[Perry blasts Gingrich, Romney; calls TARP 'single greatest act of thievery in American history']
Has anyone told Rick that TARP I was paid off...and the country made around $7 billion in profit?
Maybe we can ask Rick how much he petitioned the Feds for to bolster his own state? Seems Rick doesn't consider the money he got for Texas a "government handout".
...I wonder why...
Unfortunately if you are part of the Occupy movement, the right to assemble is limited to no more than two people unless you are a family (unless you are a homeless family) and only if you are Evangelical Christians (not any other denomination) or the Tea Party packing heat. And by all means you better have a parade permit, obey all traffic laws, and you can't walk on the grass. Nativity scenes or school prayer -- It is free speech that's under attack in the public square!
Feisty: Haven't you heard? Little Ricky has God on speed dial..
Everbody can and should have God on speed dial...its called praying. I feel bad for you that you don't.
Kumar,
Why do people think God is looking for our recommendations, or why those of some folks would carry more weight? After all, He doesn't grant all of them, does He?
I tired of these 4 year campaigns in the public eye 24/7. Senators are raising $1M's to hold onto power. It's no longer about the service to the people.
If the GOP would stop taking pledges to an entity outside the government, at least, they wouldn't be so obvious. "Taxpayer Protection" has an positive sound, but when the spending rates on defense remain at record levels, revenues rates that hasn't been seen for 60 years, the economy is doomed. War spending is the polar opposite of working towards a balanced budget nor lowering the national debt.
Tax revenues are sorely needed to bring down the mounting debt and the top earners should pony up. We had a middle class and the Democrats need to stand up and have some spine. Wait--most of you guys are on the defense contractors contribution list as well--occupying 5 of the top 10 spots., (see opensecrets.org) . Grow a spine.
Also, in as much that 72% favor a tax hike on the nations top earners---speak up. It can be a partial payback for fact that the nation's wealthiest exported the jobs overseas.
It's amazing to me that Perry would have the balls to come out and call someone else a thief. Lookie here:
Texas Governor and presidential candidate Rick Perry is collecting a $92,000 annual pension on top of his salary as governor, according to financial disclosure forms just filed. State law allows government workers to collect retirement benefits while still working if they meet certain age and service requirements. So Texas taxpayers have been paying Perry a salary as an elected official for 26 years, and now they're also paying him a handsome pension benefit. With his salary of $133,000, his total taxpayer compensation is $224,000 annually.
Why should elected officials receive a pension at all? Service in elected office should be temporary, not a career.
But Rick Perry is not the only government official double-dipping on salaries and pensions, nor is his $92,000 pension the one that will bankrupt the taxpayers.
More recently, legislators in 33 states have passed laws that give themselves pension perks that other state workers don't get. States are resisting proposed new accounting rules that would shine light on their liabilities.
Rick Perry should be embarrassed about living so high on the taxpayer hog. Parris Glendening and those legislators in 33 states should be ashamed of how they manipulated the rules in their own interests (speaking of how elected officials don't always serve as the taxpayers' agents). But for the rest of us, the real problem is that multi-trillion-dollar government-employee pension bill that's going to come due.
Bald Eagle @ 1.8 above:
You are correct, correct. Please pardon the Freudian slip (or poor typing skills) Thank you.
Still, with the correction, I hope my point is clear.
Perry is aiming at anything he thinks might help him. An aside here. His wife better keep a wary eye on him and his various firearms. Perry's aim is so amateur he couldn't hit a bull in the ass with a "Bass Fiddle" much less with a political firearm. The man has proven himself to be totally "ass backwards" which says; everyone around him should guard their asses and allow him to continue his jumble of his own "cheeks and cleft".
Thievery? TARP has been mostly paid back and compared to the Stock Market and other avenues with the exception of gold, it's actually been a good investment, especially since it averted a collapse of many more banks and a total drought of working capital for loans. It wasn't perfect, but that's more the fault of the lack of restrictions under TARP 1 under Bush, and the limited but still not toothy enough restrictions under Obama, but overall it still gets a B+.
Perry, on the other hand being a Governor in a glass house selling everything public he could to private companies and reaping huge political donations in return, should be careful about throwing stones. This only invites the free press to dig a little deeper into Texas politics and he can try to blame it on the liberal media trying to take him down, but as they say in the South "That dog can't hunt".
I don't think anybody gives Perry his talking points. I think he shoots from the hip and then his campaign has to find a way to put a positive spin on it and work it into his next stump speech.
I find Perry to be very scary (and Bachmann too) even being considered for the Presidency in that the wrong things said in matters of foreign diplomacy could have very severe implications in trade, needed cooperation, and even lead to war. Obama's had a full-time job trying to get us out of the messes that Bush caused diplomatically. We don't need and can't stand another dose of G.W. Bush type diplomacy.
Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL: I'm all the way with you. What scares the s4it out of me is the fact that these Candidates, to a man or woman, thinks that the "Football" is a video game to be played for their pleasure.
They are for the Corporation and the 1% rather than for "WE THE PEOPLE". They owe their very souls to the "Country Store" and they all beam with pride.
Actually, TARP was program set in place by Bush's man Paulson. Credit should be given where the plan originated.
He should start his OWN PARTY ? Why be a LOOSER !
I think it's time the media stop treating Rick Perry as some major force within the 2012 Republican field now that he has fallen behind not only Romney and latest flavor-of-the-month Newt Gingrich, but also behind Ron Paul in the latest polls. The man is a flop, his campaign has been a disaster from the very beginning, and the rumors out of Texas concerning his less-than stellar intelligence are being proven deadly accurate. Rick Perry will never, ever be president... http://www.sunstateactivist.org
But Republicans want Rick Perry to step it up... Gingrich is a war-monger flip-flopper with bad morals and a taste for big government and throwing out the constitution.
Romney is too liberal for most of us. He's too "nice". In some ways, he's a democrat wearing a Republican tie.
Perry, on paper, stands for many of the things that we do. He's for cutting government and putting power back in the hands of the states. I hear you on his "less-than stellar intelligence", but we don't necessarily want the smartest guy being president... or it would be Gingrich.
I wouldn't call myself someone who'd vote for Perry due to some of the things that you mentioned, but on paper, he's for many of the things that I think Republicans are for. I believe that he'd be the front runner if he could gain a few IQ points and ability to communicate.
Desperate people do desperate things........Perry is a lost cause!!!
Anthony, being from Texas I can guarantee you that Perry is for whatever the word of the day is. Hell he used to be a democrat in 1984. It wasn't until 89 that he changed parties to become a Republican. They don't call him Slick Rick here without reason (although many think it has to do with his hair product). He's a snake oil salesmen. He will spew whatever populist messages get him into office or keeps him there. The last governors race was a good example. He went on and on about how strong Texas was, until after the election when we found we were billions in the red as opposed to supposedly running a balanced budget.
http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/10/08/3430436/legislature-still-using-gimmicks.html
Tricky Ricky will say whatever will get him into office or keep him there. After that you never hear from him again until it's election time. It's been that way for years.
Cowboy Ricky's got his kid on his campaign payroll. He's got to keep it rolling to keep the loot in the family.
They're keeping him in the news because he makes a damn good internet meme.
I agree that he won't be the nominee, but if Romney does get it (which he probably will), he'll need somebody to balance the ticket that appeals to both the religious and far right and the South, so Perry would be a good V.P. pick using Texas to balance out Massachusetts.
Wow Mike,
Hmm, with a Romney/Perry ticket, nobody would dare even a diehard islamic radical would think to assasinate Romney. Reminds me of Bush/Quayle. With Quayle as a VP, how could Bush not seem like an Einstein! However, if you're going to go that way, maybe a Romney/Bachman ticket would be better. Now who wouldn't be scared witless about Romney's health then?
...and yet the GOP wants to give those "insanely rich" a bigger tax cut. How do you reconcile the two positions, Governor?
Maybe Rick should join Occupy Wall Street?
Occupy Wall Street should change locations to Occupy Congress.
Calling TARP an act of thievery, are ya' Rick!?
Slick Rick is the biggest single thief in Texas and has been for years!
Cowboy Ricky was for TARP before he was again it.
Tex Dufus never turned down a single federal handout the "spendaholics" offered him to keep his state government in business. There is no honor among thieves is there Tex.
I understand a brain is missing from a specimen jar at Crawford High. Did you steal it Ricky?
The brain was in the jar with the name Abby Normal (Young Frankenstein)
give it up rick, their is more about economics than just oil or texans
Hey Ricky ol' boy. You're stating that Wall Street and Washington insiders are making millions by betting against the middle class sounds very similar to YOUR 2003 SCHEME of purchasing life insurance policies on retired teachers over 75 in cahoots with Phill Gramm, the State Insurance Department and UBS. Isn't that basically what you were doing? In fact, none of those teachers were to be notified of these policies, nor were their estates to receive even a penny from these policies. It was all going into you and your other schemers pockets.
Rick Perry AND Phil Gramm. It doesn't get any sleazier than that.
Perry is still desperately trying to be relevant.
I guess the guys behind him with the $ want him to keep going; no one else wants him around.
What a tumble weed.....
TARP is one of a long line of thievery that ANY government in this formerly great country has done.
Pick a state, county, or city government. Any one of them will do......
Most of the TARP money was repaid.
It should be ALL.
it IS all repaid (PLUS $6 billion in profit). Period. Next baseless argument for Perry to make (as he so rightly assumes his followers can't read, aren't interested, and wouldn't know how to understand what they were reading if they tried).
Bottom line is that TARP likely saved the commercial credit industry from implosion during the worst economic time in our generation.
It's unfortunate we had to do it, but we had no choice.
Odd that republicans, who started the tarp program are now calling it Obama's. There is little doubt that it did prevent a full blown depression. It also aided some of the richest people in the country, and the president knew this, but there was little time to waste. The president was forced to bail out the banks and financial institutions to halt the death spiral the bush administration had given him. We are in the debt of the president and the congress to stop what would have been a much bigger disaster. Thanks God the tea party wasn't in power then, or we would all be selling apples.
I say we reinstate Glass-Steagall. All this time I've heard about Glass-Steagall; hell at my town's post office sometimes there is a booth that wants Glass-Steagall reinstated and shows pictures of Obama with Hitler's mustache. While I wish Obama had gone stronger with Dodd-Frank, I'll blast ANYONE who says it should be repealed UNLESS if they want a stronger bill in place. On C-SPAN I heard Rick Perry say that he wants to repeal Dodd-Frank. Ain't that a flip-flopper!!! He's against bank bailouts (aka TARP) but criticizes Dodd-Frank for being too strong. IT IS TOO SOFT!!!!! I can't believe this guy got CLOSE to being President. It just shows how stupid the GOP has become. Where was the GOP of the 1860s, where they were liberal and supported equal rights for all Americans??? Why would the GOP abandon the liberal vote for the Southern vote???? The majority of electoral votes in America I believe are in either liberal or moderate states, and as far as I know conservatives are out of touch with moderates in America. The ONLY time I would EVER support the GOP is if I was transported back to the 1860s. That's it. And maybe until they adopted conservative ideals in the early 1900s.
Wayne - best wake up from your dream now, why would the right want to give obama and company credit for what bush and company started? If anything they should both be credited. LMAO! You make it sound like obama had to hold his nose because tarp helped the rich. Best check the contribution records for how the wealthy gave more to obama than they gave to his opponents.
How droll, bush put the country in a death spiral... Golly I wonder where all the congressional democrats were?
freshieeee - better be careful for what you wish for. Dodd- frank may be good in the long haul, but in the short term it will stifle growth if for no other reason than the capital requirements it places on financial institutions. IE loans will be harder to get unless the borrower is well qualified. The feds last "twist" stimulas doesn't make it any easier for banks to free up loan creation as it squezes the banks margins closer. Heckuva deal for consumers who haven't been weaned off of easy credit yet.
Just learned this little tidbit today on bloombergTV. Since "confidence" and "clarity" are much talked about buzzwords within the desire for economic growth it seems that those regulators, you know the presidents boys have included within the "vocker rule" (a probable subset of dodd-frank) the word "reasonable" as applying to the regs. Not just once, but over 50 times. WTF does "reasonable" mean?
Would you sign a loan that specced out the interest rate as "reasonable" or defined payments or length of loan payments to be "reasonable"? I know I wouldn't.
By all means make dodd-frank stronger, it will only hurt the middle class and those with marginal credit and the rich will only adjust.
MARK THOMAS;
Obviously you aren't aware that your favorite industry was propped up by the Federal Reserve to the tune of $7 trillion up to that point. $7,000,000,000,000>$700,000,000,000. The major difference is that the too-big-to-fail group got TARP; perpetuating the problem.
What is stopping the Federal Reserve from pumping money into this broken system again only to have the government feel obligated to further inflate our money supply?
Will somebody please name one thing that they hate about Obama that the majority of Congress didn't approve and vote for? Why do people blame the president (any president), but not the people that actually have the constitutional power to spend (and print) our money?
"The Wall Street bailout was the single greatest act of thievery in American history,"
You mean the one that the last Texas Governor/President signed into law? What an idiot.
A returning Iraq veteran on the radio today said "We need to stop electing Presidents from Texas" He was speaking mainly about the not-worth-the-cost wars, but it could equally apply to financial governance.
If Texans don't stop complaining about being the 2nd biggest state, they'll divide Alaska in two and make Texas the 3rd biggest state.
Haaa!!!
Well, if he's aiming at them....then they're safe...
Newt Gingrich is an "invented person".......
Perry seems to have forgotten that it was Bush who proposed TARP. Perry must be unaware that such Tea Baggers as Ryan voted for it and promoted it. How could Texans possibly have voted for this Dumbo as Governor?
If they didn't vote for him he had em' executed !!!!!
The only thing worse than a troop of teabaggers is a Dick Army.........
I'm not necessarily happy about TARP but something big had to happen to provide capital to the banks so they could lend to the 99% again because even though the 99% didn't cause this problem, they were the ones affected worse by the credit crunch that ensued after the financial crisis...
And as a Republican, Perry should look at the and middle class programs he and his party have been putting out there to the determent of the american people for the last 30 years before he proposes to throw stones willy-nilly and paint himself as some sort of populist.
Like I said, I'm not happy that TARP had to happen and I'm a liberal, but I'm glad it did happen and IT'S ALL PAID BACK WITH INTEREST!
Railing against a program that made it possible for banks to lend to the middle class and small business that was also eventually paid back in full is sort of silly.
TKS...The problem is the banks arent lending to small businesses and the middle class. Statistics show that small businesses are the REAL job creators in this country but the elite banksters are not lending to them. One of the reasons for the stubborn unemployment rate. If you are a fortune 500 you can get all the money you want for NOT creating jobs.
Right - I agree with you about the middle class/small business.
I think you're missing my point. It's sort of a paradox. After the crash, the banks were over leveraged and had to be bailed out to prime the pump (without the bailout, it would have been even harder for middle class people to get loans than it is now - and it certainly was awful right when it happened). Then - to prevent a bailout from happening again, we required the banks to have more cash on hand to act as a cushion and to be more selective about who they lend to (less risky)... you see, the exact same things that screwed everything up also made loans cheap and easy to get for the middle class - no matter what, it's a good bet to loan money to a fortune 500 company... in a way, you can't have it both ways even though you want it - you can force a bank to make the same risky loans it made before and expect them to prevent another bubble from bursting that won't require a federal bailout.
Go tell it to the mountain, Perry.
Ugh.. Not even worth a comment..
Oooops, to late.
I say keep talking Mr. Perry. Keep Give'emn Hell Rick!!!
And here I thought Perry was talking about his getting paid as the governor and also getting his state pension!!!! Rip Off!!! Regardless of what the law allows!!!!
He has no clue whatsoever, does he?
Obama should just put Perry on his pay roll. Perry has no shot at getting the nomination but before he goes down he's going to chew up the rest of the Republican candidates to the point that they can't win against Obama either.
ANYONE BUT obama IN 2012!!!!!......this country is screwed until the fraud in the white house returns to community organizing in chicago where he was so successful......
When are the gopers going to produce someone that can ACTUALLY beat him?
I have my own theory on why the 'pubs are allowing this group to run for President . They don't really want to win in 2012 . Knowing as we all do that it will take more than 4 more years to turn this around . Thats my story and I'am sticking to it . In other words they are still trying to pretend the last decade did not really happen .
Carpenter...Exactly right....Its going to take at least ten years to repair the damage done by Bush/Cheney. Maybe more.