November 15, 2011 10:34 AM

Perry: Term-limit judges, make Congress a part-time job

By
Rebecca Kaplan
Topics
Campaign 2012

Updated 3:59 p.m. Eastern Time

BETTENDORF, Iowa - If elected president, Texas Gov. Rick Perry promised "uproot" the federal government Tuesday, unveiling a range of sweeping reforms that include term limits for federal judges and Supreme Court justices, a part-time Congress, and laws criminalizing insider trading among legislators.

Quoting from the Bible, Perry said in his speech to workers at the Schebler Manufacturing Facility, "There is a time to plant and a time to uproot, there is a time to tear down and there is a time to build."

Perry pledged to limit future federal judges to 18 years of service to prevent them from being able to "rule with impunity from the bench." In Perry's Washington, members of Congress would receive half the pay and half the office budgets they currently have to encourage creation of a part-time legislative branch. Perry threatens to halve their pay again if they fail to balance the federal budget by 2020.

"Congress is out of touch because Congressmen are overpaid, over-staffed and away from home too much. American has had enough of that," Perry said.

Federal workers would suffer a similar, if less severe fate: Their salaries would be halved until the budget is balanced.

Perry's plan seems destined to remain largely what it is -- a campaign promise. His radical overhaul of Congress and the judiciary would need approval from Congress, a body hardly inclined to curb its own powers. The Perry plan would face staunch opposition from both parties, including Republicans and especially House Republicans if they retain control of their majority in 2012. But it may succeed in one way: scoring political points for Perry with tea party voters destined to have an impact on the outcome next year.

In a web video preview of Perry's plan released Monday, he also proposed to criminalize insider trading by members of Congress after the CBS News program 60 Minutes on Sunday aired a segment examining whether lawmakers engage in insider trading by using information from pending legislation to guide their investment decisions.

From 60 Minutes: Congress: Trading stock on inside information?

"Perry says he will also "change the spending culture in Congress" in part by ending bank bailouts and spending earmarks and also by privatizing government-supported mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Perry's plan also calls for eliminating the departments of Commerce, Education and Energy, downsizing and remaking the Environmental Protection Agency, restructuring the Department of Homeland Security, and ending the Transportation Security Administration's " harassment of law-abiding travelers" by returning control of the agency to the private sector.

"It is time to tear down the monuments to bureaucratic failure, and in their place build a smaller, more efficient federal government that puts the American people first," the governor said.

In recent weeks on the stump, Perry has pledged to take a "sledgehammer" to the ways of Washington, rhetoric with appeal among tea party voters. He has also sought to portray his campaign as that of a Washington outsider in order to capitalize on the historically low approval ratings of Congress.

But Perry's own commitment to cutting spending was tested in the question and answer session after his speech. Asked by one questioner about the space program, Perry said cuts to NASA had been "ill thought out" because of the industry's many innovations. The Johnson Space Center in Houston has been a major source of jobs and profitability for Perry's home state.

Rick Perry seeks to reboot after "oops" moment

CBSNews.com special report: Election 2012


  • Rebecca Kaplan

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

Add a Comment See all 25 Comments
by ge556 November 16, 2011 7:31 PM EST
Underpaying lawmakers is a very bad idea. First, it only hurts people who are not rich, meaning that non-rich people will be less likely to run. Second, it makes them more susceptible to corruption.
Reply to this comment
by noloyalisti November 16, 2011 6:36 PM EST
Airheaded Perry: it already is a part time job. Just like most of the lazy good for nothing Top 1% of this country they want a free ride and want us to pay for them for everything.

That is why the Occupy 99% is going to remove ALL of the Top 1% from any positions of power in America. That is the goal.
Reply to this comment
by bckrd1 November 16, 2011 12:43 PM EST
Earth to Perry. They are already part timers with a full time salary. This congress puts in less time than any other congress in history. What are they doing to create jobs? Why do I hear crickets?
Reply to this comment
by noloyalisti November 16, 2011 6:38 PM EST
If the Stupid Committee in Congress agrees to extend the tax welfare entitlements for the Top 1%, we need to General Strike.
by dantom39 November 16, 2011 8:44 AM EST
Crocked snakes get elected worth a few bucks after a year guess what now I am worth millions.
Reply to this comment
by rsamps1 November 15, 2011 6:04 PM EST
Who cares what this creep thinks anymore than any other of the 300 million people in this country?

Mr. Perry is having a rough time of trying to do the job he was somehow elected to do- & not very well- the most polluted & illiterate state of Texas needs a little more out of this guy, surely he isn't ready for anything more than what he's already feebly attempting to do..
Reply to this comment
by NativeTexasSon November 15, 2011 5:48 PM EST
Please say this article is fiction...we Texans are takin' a beatin' over this idiot.
Reply to this comment
by rickbrandt November 15, 2011 5:41 PM EST
does Mr. Perry know enough about Texas to make proposals on the national level? I doubt that he knows how many or how much of the Texas budget is because of federal employees or even, dreads, the evil Fannie Mae folks that work in big T ... all those Guvmint Dollars...

Next time, mr Reporters, ask Gov Perry why no US Flags fly over Texas State Stuff, such as the rest stops, transportation work.... Texas flags, yes.... US flags, no....

I see more US flags in Mexico, than in Texas.
Reply to this comment
by john5673 November 15, 2011 5:34 PM EST
It is not a supreme Court but a Capitalist Court where majority of right wing judges leaning to capitalism give their opinion. It is too bad that in America even the judgment is based on political views rather than the Constitution and State laws. No where else any Court judges have to win election based on their political views and that too taking donation from their cronies and after winning the position like politicians, even judges try to satisfy the wishes of their donors and well wishers. America is going down the drain the way other Empires have wiped out from the globe. Regarding health bill and SC; in my opinion, it is purely a public welfare matter, just like providing water, gas, electricity, roads and education to general public. Health care should not be included in luxury items like car, plane and ipod but a life necessity and must be provided by the State without any double standard. Yes, each service must be charged based on the capacity to pay by each citizen. Nothing should be FREE!!!! As far as Perry's other dreams are concerned, they are all watched by a drunk politicians only to fool the public.
Reply to this comment
by soddydaisy55 November 15, 2011 5:22 PM EST
I totally abhor career politicians. This is not the national government our forefathers envisioned. When the Constitution was enacted it was predicated on wealthy landowners and business people serving 6 years in the Senate because they did not have to make a living on a day-to-day basis. The House, with 2 year term limits, was supposed to be composed of the less wealthy people who wanted to fulfill a civic duty in government.

Today we have the Congress filled with a majority of people who view it as a livelihood. This is absolutely wrong! My recommendation is to limit Senators to 2 terms in office, change the duration of a term for Representatives from 2 years to 3 years and limit them to 2 terms in office.
Reply to this comment
by soddydaisy55 November 15, 2011 5:22 PM EST
I totally abhor career politicians. This is not the national government our forefathers envisioned. When the Constitution was enacted it was predicated on wealthy landowners and business people serving 6 years in the Senate because they did not have to make a living on a day-to-day basis. The House, with 2 year term limits, was supposed to be composed of the less wealthy people who wanted to fulfill a civic duty in government.

Today we have the Congress filled with a majority of people who view it as a livelihood. This is absolutely wrong! My recommendation is to limit Senators to 2 terms in office, change the duration of a term for Representatives from 2 years to 3 years and limit them to 2 terms in office.
Reply to this comment
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