Perry Labels Wall Street Bailout as ‘Greatest Act of Thievery’
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Charles Krupa/AP Photo
ELKDADER, Iowa – Texas Gov. Rick Perry branded the Wall Street bailout as the “greatest act of thievery in American history” Monday and criticized Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney for their support of TARP.
“There have been people on Wall Street that have been betting against America, and then we bailed them out, and there’s nothing right about that,” Perry told a crowd of around 50 people at Johnson’s Restaurant. “On Wall Street some people got rich. I mean literally, insanely rich, and they were betting against millions of homeowners with these subprime mortgages. Wall Street bailout was the single greatest act of thievery in American history. And Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney were for it.”
“That’s what insiders do,” Perry continued. “They take care of each other. They protect the moneyed interest and then they leave the tab to those of us in the middle class. They put Wall Street, K Street, which is where all the lobbyists live, ahead of Main Street. Washington’s wasteful spending’s wrong. It’s unjust, it’s got to stop and that’s the reason I offer myself as an outsider who will walk up there, who doesn’t have any connections with the folks on Wall Street or on K Street for that matter.”
Perry further described the nexus between Washington, D.C. and Wall Street as “a den of thieves” that leaves the American people to deal with “picking up the carnage.”
The Texas governor presented himself as the alternative to a culture of wasteful spending in Washington, D.C.
“We don’t have to choose this time between a Democrat spendaholic or a Republican spendaholic,” Perry said noting that as governor of Texas he signed six balanced budgets.
“We shouldn’t have to settle for a candidate this time around that’s going to support bailouts or wasteful earmarks as some of those on the stage with me have, and we don’t have to resign ourselves to these gross abuses that we’ve seen from the standpoint of the permanent bureaucracy in the ruling class.”
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That’s a laugh Mr. Perry criticizing others for taking advantage when he retired early to increase his bank account… Folks from Texas said when he first got into the race. “Perry’s true colors will come out”. Boy if they weren’t right. He is a TOOL.
Posted by: MTATL67 | December 19, 2011, 1:31 pm 1:31 pm
Bogus indignation. Is he looking for an Oscar?
Posted by: howdymo1 | December 19, 2011, 1:38 pm 1:38 pm
It seems problematic for a Republican to say you shouldn’t vote for Republicans becuase they give bailouts. It leads one to think that Perry would give bailouts later on if he were in office. Perry may have done things as governor of TX that could be interpreted as bailouts.
Posted by: Greggw | December 19, 2011, 2:03 pm 2:03 pm
Is Perry calling ex-president Bush a thief? TARP was the Bush administrations idea. President elect Obama and Congress signed on and endorsed the plan to save us from a depression.
Would Perry have preferred we let the world financial system collapse and then deal with now? Every time he opens his mouth he shows how stupid he is.
Posted by: tmferretti | December 19, 2011, 2:43 pm 2:43 pm
CAN WE JUST SLAP HIM NOW? I can’t stand this ignorant THEIF! Did you Y’all hear he is being paid as Texas Govenor, even though he’s running around the country spouting out ingorance and he just filed for his retirement. An additional $ 92,000 a year after he fought to keep teachers and state workers from getting. He is such a fricking crook!
Posted by: SinTexas | December 19, 2011, 3:01 pm 3:01 pm