November 14, 2011 10:34 PM

Perry previews plans to "uproot" federal government

By
Rebecca Kaplan
Topics
Campaign 2012

Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry waits to speak at the Scott County Republican Party's Ronald Reagan Dinner, Nov. 14, 2011, in Bettendorf, Iowa.

(Credit: AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

BETTENDORF, Iowa -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry pledged to remake large swaths of the federal government as he previewed a government reform speech he is slated to deliver in Bettendorf on Tuesday.

"Tomorrow I'm going to unveil a plan to uproot all three branches of government and overhaul Washington. It touches every branch of government because they each have contributed to the demise of America," Perry said.

Among his targets for change: lifetime federal judges "who arrogantly rewrite our laws from the bench," the permanent bureaucracy of the executive branch which "thwarts the will of the American people to advance a big government agenda," and a Congress that Perry says "is in Washington too much."

The governor - whose verbal gaffes have caused him to drop in recent polls -- told his audience of about 250 Scott County Republicans that he would "fight to end the IRS as you know it today." The tax collection agency is a frequent target of his on the trail; he has called it the "taxpayer harassment agency" in Des Moines just two weeks ago.

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"I'm going to fight to overhaul Washington and build a smaller, more humble federal government," he said.

His attacks on Washington were not limited to just the government. He also railed against the affluent residents in the greater Washington area, saying that "those lobbyists ... those overpaid czars and bureaucrats" who live there "haven't suffered one bit" during the recession.

Perry also attacked President Obama for his comments to CEOs over the weekend that Americans had gotten "lazy."

"Mr. President, Americans aren't lazy, and they're not soft. Americans do not lack a vision or ambition, we lack leadership in Washington, DC," Perry said. "That's what this country lacks."

Though most of the speech was driven by the Texas governor's darker, anti-Washington remarks, he did joke about the federal bureaucracy - and his own ability to remember all of it in a debate last Wednesday.

"They think the answer to every problem [is], let's just add a new agency of government," he said. "And I can remember most of them."


  • Rebecca Kaplan

    Rebecca Kaplan covers the 2012 presidential campaign for CBS News and National Journal.

Add a Comment See all 59 Comments
by tammyfromTexas November 22, 2011 11:19 AM EST
Well If you think that gov Rick Perry is a great candidate for president consider this? The state of Texas is an at will state. This allows all the companies to terminate our employment for any reason seen fit by the company and they do not have to give a reason for the termination. Is this what you want the rest of america to be like? It is unfair to women more than men. If a woman is smart in texas she will not be able to assist a company without risking her job. If you are on workmans comp due to an injury at work the companies here in Texas can terminate your employment and not have to finish you treatments. This is exactly what America really needs. What we need is the reform of the social security benifits. I have a plan that I have tried to give to President Obama to assist in the defficit and he refuses to talk to me. Rick Perry what do you think about making the illegals in this country tax paying contributors? If they pay taxes on the work they are doing our deficite will decrease. And what do you think is correct about if you are a full time student then you can not qualify for food stamp assistance unless you are working at least 20 hrs a week? The U.S. needs a smarter/better educated working class. So if you are in school then you cannot eat healthy and have the proper fuels necessary to maintain a healthy brain. So just what is given to the mothers in Texas is not available to the students. What are they thinking? The foodstamps here are given to people that really do not use them. I have seen several people selling their foodstamps for cash and then begging for food to feed the kids. They drive new cars and have big homes. But the elderly and the children are starving here. The parents have all the use of the foodstamps and the children have emmpty bellies. They go to school and eat instead of eating at home Two meals are provided, if you get stamps then turn over the proper amount to the school your child is enrolled in. Is this not a double payment by the Gov. for these children to eat daily while in school? This is happening here in Texas. So fix our government with what great leader?
Reply to this comment
by Counselor1 November 16, 2011 8:01 PM EST
Perry's "Uproot and Overhaul Plan:" Does whoever thinks for Perry understand that the founders of our Constitution carefully divided branches of government and powers into very small, limited areas? The Presidency contains no power to do any such things as the terms of "Uproot and Overhaul" propose. And these terms are likely to alienate extremely the very Congressmen whose cooperation the president would have to get. Notice, despite all the repetition of "Obama is a socialist" and "Obama is a Muslim" the question, "So What if he was?" still resonates. The Presidency has no power to take as single piece of private property away and make it state property, nor to convert anyone to any religion. After all the bailing out he still can only BEG banks to lend and not foreclose and corporations to hire. The idea that Presidential "leadership" can win over Congressmen to vote against their interests is wishful, magical thinking.

Can Perry be so ignorant and stupid as to not see this plan as self-sabotaging?
Reply to this comment
by starman5409 November 15, 2011 4:43 PM EST
Rick Perry needs to remember what happened to Governor George Wallace when he started spouting off about what he thinks America needs. Wallace survived, will Perry?
Reply to this comment
by OldProfessor November 15, 2011 12:57 PM EST
I still have not seen his plan for eliminating the Departments of Commerce, Education and Energy. Was all that just part of the debate act...no sincerity in the statement?

All three of those have a major impact on life in the US of A. Let's have some details.
Reply to this comment
by OrangPuteh November 15, 2011 12:26 PM EST
Richard Perry: This week's GOP Wonder Boy

A secessionist, a cultist, Confederates, economic radicals, a Jersey thug, Tea Party Twits and assorted religious nuts are all The GOP has to offer.

Republicans have become so radicalized as to be UN-AMERICAN.
Reply to this comment
by ghostfighter-2009 November 15, 2011 11:59 AM EST
I don't get it. He's going to uproot the three branches of government, yet he's running for a position in one of those branches?

And those three branches of government are essentially the definition of our union, as outlined in the constitution. Is Perry suggesting we scrap the very essence of our constitution?

Is this guy from Planet Crazy?
Reply to this comment
by nolapearl November 15, 2011 11:31 AM EST
I think Bachman, Perry, Cain and Gingrich all escaped from the van in the Michael Keaton movie, "The Dream Team".
Reply to this comment
by leithflood November 15, 2011 11:15 AM EST
NONSENSE.ALL THESE DEBATES ARE NONSENSE. THIS PLAN,THAT PLAN,IT'S ALL BALONEY.THE CONGRESS WOULD FIRST HAVE TO SUBMIT,AND THEN VOTE ON ALL THIS STUFF,AND THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. AS FAR AS ALL THESE CANDIDATES GO, MOST OF THEM SHOULD BE GIVEN WALKING PAPERS, NOW. ALL THE CONTRIBUTIONS COLLECTED BY THE WINDBAGS,SHOULD GO TO THE MAIN CANDIDATE,OR RETURNED TO CONTRIBUTORS,AND THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN EITHER. MOST OF THE STUFF COMING FROM THE WHITE HOUSE IS,SHOVEL READY. HOW'S THAT HOPE AND CHANGE WORKIN FOR YA?
Reply to this comment
by anonymous010 November 15, 2011 10:42 AM EST
Wow...I'd be frightened for America if I thought this moron stood half a chance in he** of even winning the primary.
Reply to this comment
by Sloughfoot November 15, 2011 10:29 AM EST
I'm not going to read the article because it is beyond fiction. It won't even make a pipe-dream.
Reply to this comment
by actornaught November 15, 2011 10:33 AM EST
Smart.
by Zann-Zel November 15, 2011 10:33 AM EST
Its very entertaining! LOL
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