Bachmann, Gingrich unhappy with payroll tax deal
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., speaks during a campaign stop at Lodge Pizza & Steakhouse in Corydon, Iowa, Dec. 23, 2011.
/ AP Photo/Charlie RiedelCHARITON, Iowa--Rep. Michele Bachmann on Friday condemned the payroll tax deal between President Obama and congressional Republicans because of its effect on the Social Security trust fund, saying she warned last December about the issue. "It was a mistake a year ago, and it's a mistake today," she said.
The extension of the payroll-tax cut doesn't harm the trust fund's solvency, because the shortfall is made up with payments from the general fund and the trust fund suffers no loss of income.
But Bachmann said, "We all know that the federal government's broke, so that would mean either more borrowing or more adding to the debt.... Even if the money was in the Social Security trust fund, we would be depriving the trust fund of that money that we will need in the future."
She said that as president, she would tackle the larger issue, which she contended means scrapping the tax code.
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Perry shares Christmas traditions
Rick Perry signs an autograph for Jeanne Dietrich after speaking to local residents and workers at the TPI Iowa wind blade manufacturing facility, Dec. 22, 2011, in Newton, Iowa.
/ AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
"It's kind of like dad, you are so lame," he said, mimicking his children. "But I think they would be disappointed if I didn't do it."
The Texas governor ventured aboard the bus carrying his press corps Thursday morning and spent ten minutes sharing his family's Christmas traditions en route to the first event of the day, a breakfast meet and greet at the Drake on the Riverfront restaurant here.
He recalled fondly the trips he made to his grandparents' house as a child, where his grandfather would put a dollar bill for each of the grandchildren in the tree. "A dollar you know in 1955 was like pretty serious amount of money for me so I that was what I remembered was getting a dollar from my granddad," he said. Both grandparents, who lived about 20 miles outside Paint Creek, were great cooks, he said.
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Perry's ad for holidays features veterans
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Rick Perry's final message to Iowa voters before the holidays evokes pride and patriotism in a new ad released by the campaign featuring several military veterans voicing their support for the Texas governor.
"Governor Perry -- he is the best person to serve as commander in chief," says Daniel Moran, a veteran who was wounded in Iraq and stumped for Perry during the first part of the governor's Iowa bus tour.
Marcus Luttrell, another longtime Perry friend and veteran, appears saying, "Governor Rick Perry - he is one of the most honorable men I've ever met."
Continue » Perry hits Obama for tax cut remarks
AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
"I will suggest to you his priorities are so messed up, he's worried about a temporary tax cut when we ought to be talking about freeing entrepreneurs so that they have the confidence that they can create jobs in this country. Putting people back to work. That's what this president ought to be talking about. But he's more interested in playing politics," Perry told a crowd of about 100 voters packed into a restaurant in Ottumwa. He was responding to Mr. Obama's remarks on the current battle over a two-month extension of the tax cut on Capitol Hill, which he had watched a few minutes earlier on television.
Saying "enough is enough," Mr. Obama is urging House Republicans to accept the two-month extension instead of holding out for a longer, one year extension. Perry did not express support for either Republican position, and after the event his aides told reporters he was opposed to any temporary extension of the payroll tax cut and instead wanted to see large-scale reforms and more attention to jobs driven by energy production.
Continue » Drug testing welfare recipients arises again
Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks to local residents during a campaign stop at The Button Factory restaurant, Dec. 21, 2011, in Muscatine, Iowa.
/ AP Photo/Charlie NeibergallMT. PLEASANT, Iowa - Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday he wouldn't be opposed to welfare recipients also being drug tested, joining fellow candidate Newt Gingrich in suggesting that federal aid should be tied to substance use.
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Perry likens Fannie & Freddie to Bonnie & Clyde
Rick Perry speaks to local residents during a campaign stop at The Button Factory restaurant, Dec. 21, 2011, in Muscatine, Iowa.
/ AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
"They're stealing from the people," Perry told a standing-room-only crowd of at least 150 at the Button Factory restaurant. His criticism of the quasi-governmental mortgage lenders also served to remind voters of rival candidate Newt Gingrich's association with Freddie Mac, which paid the former House speaker $1.6 million for what Gingrich has described as consulting services.
Conducting a two-week bus tour leading up to the Jan. 3 GOP caucus in Iowa, Perry got his best reception to date from the crowd, which applauded loudly at his calls for constitutional amendments to mandate a balanced budget and a part-time Congress. They were especially enthusiastic when he talked about his religious faith.
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Jindal touts Perry leadership on Iowa trail
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal
/ Charlie NeibergallMAQUOKETA, Iowa - Texas Gov. Rick Perry got a little help on the campaign trail today from fellow governor Bobby Jindal, who testified to a crowd about Perry's economic success in Texas.
"There are going to be a lot of people running for president who can give a great speech and a lot of people who have come out of Washington, DC. I'm here to help support Rick Perry because I think we've got to elect somebody who's actually run his state before," Jindal said, reviewing a list of ways that he said Perry created a strong economic climate in Texas.
Jindal endorsed Perry in September and was his first high-profile supporter. Perry often jokes on the campaign trail that he and Jindal are competing to create jobs in their home states. Throughout Tuesday's event at the Decker hotel, which drew about 70 people, the two repeatedly referred to each other by their first names.
Continue » Perry: Obama's policies are 'destructive'
Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during a campaign stop at the Chickasaw Event Center in New Hampton, Iowa, Dec. 18, 2011.
/ AP Photo/Chris CarlsonDYERSVILLE, Iowa - At his third campaign stop of the day on Monday, Rick Perry dropped his attacks on fellow candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich and instead chose to take aim at his other big opponent -- President Obama.
"President Obama ran a great campaign, but his campaign was on hope and change, and there weren't a lot of details," the Texas governor said to a group of about 80 voters at the Country Junction restaurant here. "We sure got some change, I'll agree there. But the change we got, it's been destructive to our country."
He then repeated a line borrowed from Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.: "Let me just ask you this: are you better off today than you were 4 trillion dollars ago?" Perry first unveiled the question at a hybrid seed plant in Johnston, Iowa in early November, but hasn't trotted it out since then.
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Perry on TARP: "Single greatest act of thievery"
Rick Perry, walks to greet local residents during a campaign stop at the Pizza Ranch restaurant, Dec. 19, 2011, in Manchester, Iowa.
/ AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
The worst part? "Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney were for it," Perry said.
Both Romney and Gingrich have said the Wall Street bailout was unsavory but necessary to save the financial system from collapse.
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Perry confronted over fracking, gays in military
Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during a campaign stop at the Chickasaw Event Center in New Hampton, Iowa, Dec. 18, 2011.
/ APDECORAH, Iowa - What had been for Rick Perry a calm day filled with church services and friendly audiences, ended on a sour note as the governor found himself in two confrontations during his last town hall Sunday over controversial natural gas extraction techniques and gays serving openly in the military.
In the first exchange, Perry found himself debating a college student over whether hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking" -- a method for natural gas extraction -- pollutes surrounding groundwater.
After the event, Perry had to explain to a 14-year-old girl - who later told reporters she was bisexual - why he opposed gays serving openly in the military.
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Perry turns attacks to Romney and Gingrich
Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, boards his bus after a campaign stop at the La Chiesa Restaurant in Spencer, Iowa, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011.
/ AP Photo/Chris CarlsonNEW HAMPTON, Iowa - Rick Perry seems to be keeping things interesting on his Iowa bus tour by lobbing varying attacks at his fellow candidates. Gone were Saturday's attacks on his fellow Texan, Rep. Ron Paul, as Perry instead turned his focus to front runners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.
Both men took hits from Perry today, who accused Romney of raising business taxes in Massachusetts and Gingrich of raiding the Social Security fund in order to balance budgets. The remarks came after Perry spent the first few minutes of a meet and greet here railing against tax hikes and Washington involvement in issues that he says should be left to the states.
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Did Perry overstate budget cut?
Republican presidential candidate and Texas Governor Rick Perry speaks during a campaign stop at the Copper Cup Coffee Shop in Cherokee, Iowa, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011.
/ AP Photo/Chris CarlsonThat's a bit of a tall order. Obama's proposed FY2012 budget is $3.7 trillion.
After reporters began to note the error, Perry's campaign sent around a statement saying that the governor was actually referring to a cumulative $5 trillion difference over the budgets he would submit from FY2014 to FY2020, a total of seven fiscal years.
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Perry defends taking pension
Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during a campaign stop at the Copper Cup Coffee Shop in Cherokee, Iowa, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011.
/ AP Photo/Chris CarlsonTexas Gov. Rick Perry on Friday defended a decision to begin collecting his pension early in addition to drawing a $150,000 salary as governor as nothing "out of the ordinary" since they are funds he accrued through his military and public service.
"I think it would be rather foolish to not access what you've earned," Perry told reporters in a media availability in Cherokee, Iowa.
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Report: Perry "retired" early to get pension
AP
The 61-year-old Perry's state salary of $150,000 is now being supplemented by a monthly retirement annuity of $7,698 before taxes, or $6,588 in net income. That brings his annual earnings to over $240,000, the news organization estimated.
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Perry defends Joe Arpaio
Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry listens as he gets the endorsement of Maricopa County, Ariz. Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Nov. 29, 2011, during a campaign stop at Joey's Diner in Amherst, N.H.
/ AP Photo/Jim ColeJustice's Civil Rights Division alleged that Arpaio's office has committed a wide range of violations, including following a pattern of racial profiling and discrimination, and carrying out heavy-handed immigration patrols based on racially charged citizen complaints.
"I would suggest to you that these people are out after Sheriff Joe," Perry said, though he acknowledged he didn't know the details of the charges. "He is tough. And again, when I'm the president of the United States, you're not going to see me going after states like Arizona or Alabama, suing sovereign states for making decisions."
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