Perry: Washington is "blackmailing" taxpayers

Rick Perry answers questions during a campaign stop at the Glenn Miller Museum in Clarinda, Iowa, Dec. 27, 2011.

/ AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

CRESTON, Iowa - As he continues to portray himself as the "outsider" of the Republican race, Rick Perry told Iowa voters on Tuesday that Washington was "blackmailing" them with their own money in order to control their lives.

The charges came as Perry was discussing education policy, which he said was "none of [the federal government's] business," He often rails against federal spending and accuses the government of taking money from the taxpayers, skimming off dollars to pay administrative costs, and returning it to the states with preconditions on how they can spend it.

And on a day where he sought to paint his rivals as Washington insiders, Perry also had some harsh words for President Obama. "What's that guy thinking?" he said of the request the president is expected to make later this week to raise the debt ceiling. Perry suggested that the president was simply not thinking, through the request is part of an agreement brokered with Congress this summer to raise the debt ceiling in multiple steps.

He also laid into the president for taking his annual Christmas vacation, saying, "You're not going to see me playing golf on Sunday morning, you're not going to see me on a 19-day trip to Hawaii."

Earlier in the day, Perry kicked off the second leg of his Iowa bus seeking to convince audiences they didn't have to settle for anyone but a true conservative - and that true conservative is him.

"I want you to answer this question: Why should you settle for anything less than an authentic conservative who will fight for your views and values without an apology? Think about that," Perry asked the packed crowd of over 100 in the Main Street Cafe here. "Why should you have to settle for anything less than the real deal to go to Washington D.C. and to represent you, work for you in Washington?"

He alluded to his competitors in the race, suggesting that they were Washington insiders who supported the financial rescue and health care law that many Republican voters despise.

"I got all the respect in the world for the front-runners in this race, but ask yourself: if we replace a Democratic insider with a Republican insider, you think we're really going to change Washington D.C.? You don't have to settle for Washington and Wall Street insiders who supported the Wall Street bailout and the Obamacare individual mandate," he said.

Full CBS News coverage: Rick Perry

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Rick Perry on the campaign trail

[sandy 1027]

It's always good to have the facts before launching an attack; and apparently Mr. Perry didn't because he didn't know that the monies being formally requested in raising the debt limit had already been negotiated earlier as a part of the debt ceiling agreement; nor did he know that the Obamas attended church in Hawaii over the weekend., and the president wasn't just playing golf on a Sunday; although many voters may take offense to this criticism because they play on Sundays.How the president spends his Sundays and vacations isn't any of HIS business.

[jkptak]

LOVE PERRY! GOV. RICK PERRY definitely gets a second look and from what I see...the sooner he is POTUS the better! We don't need RINO ROMNEY, or NEWT...the ULTIMATE POLITICAL INSIDER!

[OnTheRoad01]

Sorry, but our Texas Governor Perry, has never held a job that the salary was not paid by tax payers! So, he is still a political 'Insider'! He has been the governor of Texas longer (Yes, our mistake) than anyone before him, and during the last year we were in the hole 25 Billion dollars. They are now telling us over the course of the next two years we will be in the hole another 15 to 18 Billion dollars. Do you really want this man to be running the country????

[jkptak]

Complete lies...I checked...TEXAS has a $1.6 BILLION BUDGET SURPLUS and also has an unheard of $9 BILLION RAINY DAY FUND! Trade you Illinois (Obama's) home state any day of the week, will gladly throw in the Democrat Legisators and Governor. GET REAL! LOL (admit you're a liberal Democrat)

[sandy 1027]

Perry also took Stimulus money that he has railed against to help close a shortfall in the budget.