Rick Perry: It Would Be 'Almost Treasonous' For Ben Bernanke To Print More Money Before Election (VIDEO)

Texas Governor Rick Perry, who recently announced that he is running for president in 2012, had some harsh words for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday.

ThinkProgress has video of Perry in Iowa explaining that if Bernanke "prints more money between now and the election, I don't know what y'all would do to him in Iowa, but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas." Perry went on to say that if Bernanke printed more money, the act would be "almost treasonous in my opinion."

ABC News has more on Perry's comments:

He added, “We’ve already tried this. All it’s going to be doing is devaluing the dollar in your pocket and we cannot afford that. We have to learn the lessons of the past three years that they’ve been devastating. The President of the United States has conducted an experiment on the American economy for almost the last three years, and it has gone tragically wrong and we need to send him a clear message in November of 2012 that new leadership is coming.”

Perry, who officially entered the presidential race on Saturday, was responding to a question from a member of the audience at a backyard county Republican Party fundraiser here who asked him what he would do with the Federal Reserve.

Politico reports that NYU economics professor Nouriel Roubini tweeted of Perry's comments: "Perry's Remarks on Bernanke are criminal. This Texan thug is making murder threats on the Fed Chairman."

Tony Fratto, who served as Deputy Press Secretary to former President George W. Bush, also criticized Perry's comments. Fratto tweeted: "Gov. Perry's comments about Chmn. Bernanke are inappropriate and unpresidential."

Perry's jump into the presidential contest has generated a fair amount of buzz. Former President Bill Clinton recently remarked that he was "tickled" to see Perry enter the race.

UPDATE: The New York Times reports that Perry spokesman Ray Sullivan addressed the Texas governor's remarks about the Federal Reserve on Tuesday.

"He is passionate about getting federal finances under control," Sullivan told the Times. "They shouldn’t print more money, they should cut spending and move much more rapidly to a balanced budget."

Sullivan did not disavow the comments in question, according to the Times.

UPDATE (3:30 p.m. ET): Rick Perry is standing by his remarks about the Federal Reserve.

"I am just passionate about the issue and we stand by what we said," said the Texas Republican during a stop in Iowa on Tuesday, according to CNN.

WATCH PERRY'S COMMENTS BELOW (via ThinkProgress):

Comments

[Delores Lathon]

10:58 AM on 08/22/2011

Perry is ignorant and he probably is cousin to Bush, his State is the lowest in wages and the poor do not have any kind of health Insurance. I am so sick of these politicians trying to upgrade to presidency when it is clearly they are not qualified, Makes me wonder who is really running this country because the Presidents are clearly just figure heads. The democracy we have in this country is a joke. We feed people everywhere in other countries yet starve Americans here, we give housing to refugee from other countries yet we have homeless veterans here in our own country, Every oppressed American who lives here , who is homeless, who is jobless, who has no insurance , cannot live the American Dream should stand up and fight, We are the majority , it’s more of the 'have-nots" in this Country than there is of the "haves"

[FishinOregon]

12:36 PM on 08/21/2011

By law treason is punishable by death. Since Rick Perry said the actions of the Fed Chairman would be "almost treasonous", should the punishment be "almost put to death"?
Speaking of death, how many people have been executed in Texas since Perry became Governor?
One could easily get the idea Rick Perry likes the idea of people being killed.

Rick Perry really needs to engage his brain before his mouth.

[Arturo Reaza N]

01:12 PM on 08/19/2011

To apologize is to lose, that's someting that is taught at the Rush Limbaugh school and Mr. Perry has taken this to heart.

[Congo Line]

09:32 PM on 08/18/2011

Dear Rick,

Please keep talking. More and more of your opinions and folksy humour should be shared with "real America" so we know who you really are. Keep it up! The Koch brothers are depending on you (lol!)

Sincerely,
Lucid Folks

[TheWM]

04:26 PM on 08/18/2011

"Perry: It Would Be 'Almost Treasonous' For Ben Bernanke To Print More Money Before Election"

Perry's almost an idiot. If he works realy hard, maybe someday he'll work his way up to idiocy.

[CherMoe]

03:03 PM on 08/18/2011

Too funny. Bernanke was hand-selected by George Bush. I swear, these people will EAT THEIR OWN.

[DKelley OK]

10:25 AM on 08/18/2011

Interesting op-ed piece on CNN;

http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/08/18/cardona.perry.texas/index.html?iref=allsearch

[CommonWealth-SinglePayer]

10:05 AM on 08/18/2011

Perry wont last another week if he continues to mouth Tea Bagger lines.

[rodnox]

09:32 AM on 08/18/2011

in the last 40 yrs we have given in to the bullying by corporations----we let them have so many tax write offs that they pay virtually no taxes-----we dont stop them from hiding their money in off shore accounts----again paying no taxes------we let their CEOs steal them blind- then sell them-destroying countless jobs-----we allow them to outsource our jobs ---all for more profit----WE HAVE ALLOWED THEM TO STAND ON EVEN GROUND--IF NOT HIGHER---IN THE INFLUENCING OF OUR GOVERNMENT--after all this giving--what do they give back ????? lower wages--less benifits-----more corrupting influence on regulatory inluences---essentially they own and control the govt agencies which should be policing them. YES THERE IS A WAR----ITS THE AVERAGE CITIZEN AGAINST THIS WHOLE WAY OF LIFE THEY HAVE JAMBED DOWN OUR THROATS------START STANDING UP FOR YOURSELF----EDUCATE YOURSELVES-----THE PROCESS WILL FOLLOW----

[rpopeteacher1]

10:43 PM on 08/18/2011

Do you know how many corporations have moved overseas? Do you know how much money is lost in revenues as a result? The 35% corporate tax rate is too high. If I could move my corporation to Switzerland and pay 13-15% corporate tax rates, I would be stupid not to. The US has done this to itself. Lower the corporate tax rate to 20% and maybe we can recoup the one trillion dollars per year in revenues we lose each year.

[rodnox]

12:21 AM on 08/19/2011

teach --youre not listening----CORPORATIONS PAY NO TAXES !!!!!! yes the tax rate is high but the write off rate n e g a t e s it.then after that they hide all they can off shore-----so what is your arguement ?????????

[AlteSoldier]

09:31 AM on 08/18/2011

The FED reserve banks own the US dollar. The US treasury prints these dollars but the treasury does not own these dollars that the treasury prints. This is a very important concept to understand when you start talking about the FED reserve banking system. The FED reserve banks are privately owned banks that own the US currency and charges interest to the US government for the right to US the FED reserve privately owned money as the US currency. Look up the difference between the Greenback dollar and the Federal reserve dollar. Hint!

[rodnox]

09:19 AM on 08/18/2011

this creeps wife is supposedly a high ranking employee of some big PHARMA entity--through her BS he instituted one of the largest involuntary drug tests perpetrated on the world---made it law that young women needed to have the scam vaccine for cervical cancer----an untested----pile of poisions---with many known and unknown side-effects----not only does it only cover a small portion of cancers---it is just another intrusion into our lives by an industry which only intention is to make $$$-----HE SHOULD BE CALLED OUT ON THIS

[wmnorton]

08:56 AM on 08/18/2011

No one seems to have picked up on the fact that Perry is admitting that the Republicans know that QE2 worked and that they know a QE3 will also work. Then they are also admitting that they are willing for the economy to crash if it helps them gain the White House. Talk about UnAmerican! Comeon people they are admitting before the whole world they don't care how much the serfs have to suffer as long as the nobles get control.

[had410]

06:31 PM on 08/18/2011

please explain to me how QE2 worked, since it all went to foreign banks.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25566

[wmnorton]

08:59 AM on 08/19/2011

I don't know about your local bank but my bank had enough money to refinaance my house at a lower interest rate which left me with about $120 a month spending money. I know that not going to solve the threat of a double dip recession but it made a difference in the number of times I can take my wife out to eat. That makes a big differnce at my house. Every little bit helps.

[wmnorton]

09:09 AM on 08/19/2011

You can argue about whether or how well QE2 worked., but that was not the point of my post. It was that Perry thought it worked and he didn't want there to be a QE3 if it would help the economy because that would help Obama. He wants the economy to fail if that will help the Republicans (Him) into the White House.

[rpopeteacher1]

10:45 PM on 08/18/2011

Qe2 worked? Have you been grocery shopping lately? Don't you see the inflation all around you? It reminds me of the frog that is put in warm water and the temperature is gradually raised until the water is boiling. The frog doesn't notice until he's a goner.

[wmnorton]

03:31 AM on 08/19/2011

Yes proof of QE2 working, Demand went up supply stayed the same price went up. price goes up, suppliers hire more people to support more supply. You can't get around supply and demand.

[cliffhammond]

02:41 AM on 08/18/2011

Perry did not answer the question he was asked and said that he wasn't going to. It apparently took him aback. It's the one area of vulnerability he has among tea party voters -- the Fed. He was asked about his position on the Fed, not what he thought about Bernanke. And the entire MSM has gone after the straw man he hanged from the barn. Perry has been vetted by the boys with deep pockets, the Bildebergers, etc. He's not about to bite the hand that feeds him. Yet the Tea Party folks are proving their lack of sophistication by letting him get away with this. THE FED IS THE ISSUE, not the chairman.

[AlteSoldier]

06:16 AM on 08/18/2011

Exactly right!

[kokobin]

01:53 AM on 08/18/2011

Darth Perry - Return of the Sith

[lw1]

08:27 PM on 08/17/2011

Does America want a pit bull for president?

[cutesky]

10:37 PM on 08/17/2011

with or without lipstick?

[duzacm]

02:09 AM on 08/18/2011

Woah,,let's back up. None of the "State Run Media" said a single thing when Dick Durbin was calling our troops Nazis and murderers during the hight of the war in Iraq.
Poor Rick. He;s in the right ball park,but the wrong team////////