Rick Perry, Mitt Romney Spar Over Job Creation At GOP Debate In California (VIDEO)

At the Republican debate Wednesday night, the fireworks came quickly between Gov. Rick Perry and the man he replaced as the frontrunner for the Republican party's presidential nominee: Mitt Romney.

The topic of contention was, as it has been for several days now, job creation. Romney argued that a career politician wasn't the right resume to have to turn the country around, and Perry responded by noting that Romney, while in the private equity world, did a good job creating jobs... overseas.

Then it turned a more personal.

"States are different," Romney said, of the notion that Perry's management of Texas showed his prowess as a job creator. "Texas is a great state. Texas has zero income tax, [it's] a right to work state, [with] a republican legislature ... a lot of oil and gas in the ground ... Those are wonderful things. Governor Perry didn't create those things. If he tried to say that it would be like Al Gore saying he invented the Internet."

Perry, famously, worked on Al Gore's 1988 presidential campaign.

"Michael Dukakis created jobs three times faster than you did Mitt," Perry responded.

"George Bush and his predecessor created jobs at a faster rate than you did," Romney replied.

"That's not correct," Perry said.

Comments

[Howard Scott Pearlman 59]

02:04 PM on 09/08/2011

Mitt Romney - Just Remember That Corporations are People - Mean Rotten Money Grubbing People who can never have enough money. Hey they are already sitting on $2.5 Trillion in cash or only enough money to employ 20 million Americans in $50,000 a year jobs for the just the next two and a half years. Hey these poor companies really need to save up until they get $10 Trillion in cash so they can hire 80 million Americans all at once since we Corporate People know that Americans just haven't suffered enough yet.

Mitt Romney don't worry America we Corporations feel your pain !

[Gestas]

12:18 PM on 09/08/2011

Is Perry serious or is he just trying to be funny. This guy is starting to sound like a Palin in a suit.

[blueagle8u]

12:15 PM on 09/08/2011

don't worry,the Republicans are going to create PLENTY of non-living wage jobs! And don't give your boss a hard time about working conditions,either deal with it or your FIRED! lol

[TheNewsFix]

10:59 AM on 09/08/2011

On more than one occasion, the Republican candidates said that an "individual mandate that forces people to purchase a product or service" was illegal, whether it's from the federal, state or any other government (referring, of course, to ObamaCare).

Yet as a nation, we all understand that the state-imposed mandate to buy auto insurance is for the purpose of making sure we're all covered, thereby not putting the onus on us collectively to pay for damage caused by uninsured motorists, and to get everyone in the pool to lower overall costs.

The same exact reasons behind having everyone covered by health insurance.

Why are the dots never connected by the interviewers on this most basic question?

[babslesley]

12:03 PM on 09/08/2011

Romney defends his Massachusetts health care program individual mandate by saying that it was "right" for his state because they had a high number of uninsured using the emergency room. Duh. That happens on a massive scale all over the country, in every state. Massachusetts wasn't "unique." That's why Obama's program has an individual mandate. Romney cannot continue to say there's a difference between what he did and what the Obama administration did.

[Barbara Fontaine]

12:22 PM on 09/08/2011

Oh, I think he can. Obamacare is over 2000 pages, Romneycare is barely 10 pages
long. NO waivers, no backroom deals, no death panels, nothing different for the
pols, etc. In other words, do not compare the two.

[lbpatt]

01:05 PM on 09/08/2011

Driving is a right. You are not forced to drive and the state mandates insurance.

[Patricia013]

10:53 AM on 09/08/2011

OT: Hey mods. Please tell your bosses to either stop messing with this website or hire programmers who know what they're doing!

[christopherflynn]

01:07 PM on 09/08/2011

i highly concur................

[Newton21]

10:45 AM on 09/08/2011

This is why we are in the mess we are in today. Obama has done nothing to create jobs. His spending stimulus is just that. Obama has tried to simply spend us out of this recession which has only dug the hole even deeper for us. If the economy isn't growing then the deficiet by default will grow. This is the number one reason to get the economy growing. Incentives like tax cuts and breaks to corportation to invest in technology , research , developement of alternative energy etc.. should have been the bulk of the plan. More tax incentives to individuals to improve their home to make it more energy efficient( that was done but only for one year) or tax incentives to buy energy efficient cars. I personally think allowing everyone to do a one time refiance of their home at 4% would have done wonders. Create more Urgent Care Faciities that recieve tax breaks for providing healthcare affordably.

[blueagle8u]

12:20 PM on 09/08/2011

One of the reasons the stimulus plans failed is because INSTEAD of that money being used to create jobs,many Governors(BOTH Republican and Democrats) used the funds towards balancing their states budgets! NO WONDER IT FAILED TWICE! DO THE RESEARCH!

[jackstraw 67]

12:31 PM on 09/08/2011

the more tax cuts and incentives are great but then the debt goes up to pay for it so the republicans can say he raises the debt. which do you want jobs, tax cuts or no debt? In the is economy you can't have it all that is the problem.

[Newton21]

03:36 PM on 09/08/2011

If these measure make the economy grow then it will help reduce the deficeit simply through growth in tax revenues. More people working equals more tax revenues. More growth in demand equals more jobs. So it goes around and around...

[Newton21]

10:44 AM on 09/08/2011

I think everyone needs a little history lesson. The Democratic Congress and Bill Clinton are the reason this mess started. A little known government policy which was crammed down banks throats to lend money to poor communities so they could buy homes. Bill Clinton believed it was everyone's right to own a home. This my friends is what started this mess. As noble as the policy was intended it was bad business. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae started buying these mortgages from banks ( Banks didn't want to hold them since they were high risk) and packaging them up to sell as government securities with implied AAA rating which in turn were purchased by instiitutions all over the world and thus started the greed machine. When George Bush and Republicans saw the corruption going on in Freddic Mac and Fannie May the Democrates cired Foul.. and would not allow any regulations to be passed to control these institutions for fear that poor peole would not be able to purchase a home and everyone was making so much money as a result of these mortgages. As we all know the housing market bubble burst and it all came crashing down. If these type of morgages were not made this would not have happened to the exent that it did. Its not all the goverments fault competely but just an example of how when the governments regulates industry the outcome is never what is intended.

[baw409]

11:12 AM on 09/08/2011

When George Bush saw the corruption???? Are you whacked, he started it...and just piled on for his cronies like Ken Lay of Enron (remember him??)Say what you must but please be right, The last time this country had a set of balanced books was under Clinton...

By not reigning in these corrupt banks under Bush it has us in the quagmire we are currently in..

He left huge piles of Elephant dung that we are still stepping... get a clue

[rowf]

04:51 PM on 09/08/2011

I think you need a little history lesson yourself. Yes, Bill Clinton tried to help people be able to purchase their own home. However, the greedy banks didn't follow the regulations and told borrowers they could afford more than they really could. THIS is the reason for the mess. Greed, and the idiocy of the Repulican party doing away with any and every regulation they could. If you're going to give a history lesson, you really should no the TRUTH.

[So silly]

10:20 AM on 09/08/2011

Singing Texas' praise might win him the Texas vote but it doesn't fly for the other 49.

[NotStarvingArtist]

10:03 AM on 09/08/2011

Why hasn't anyone written a blog on Perry's response to the question regarding immigration? In the hullaballoo about his answers to Social Security, jobs, etc., they completely overlooked his answer on "the fence". Perry said he wants the federal government to build a fence all the way from coast to coast along the US southern border. In Texas alone, he wants to permanently station 3000 soldiers along the border and use drones to patrol it. Just a few months ago, Perry said that Texas does not need the federal government and suggested that Texas should secede from the union. Now he wants the government to build a fence and provide military support to patrol Texas' border. Perry also wants to shrink government and stop spending more than it takes in. But he wants to build a multi-million (if not billion) dollar fence and pay 3000 soldiers, in Texas alone, forever to patrol that border. Beyond their salaries, living quarters and command and control installations would have to be built for those soldiers. Equipment, vehicles, weapons (including drone airplanes) would have to be paid for. Where does he think that money would come from? No one asked him that question after he made that statement in the debate last night.

[Patricia013]

10:55 AM on 09/08/2011

Who is supposed to pay for that? The small little government these fools want? Or does big government apply only when its something they want or need?

[candcje]

02:29 PM on 09/08/2011

big government applies when it's something they want or feel they need and when it's my health female care or my gay neighbor's desire to have a lifetime commitment to his partner with all the same tax benefits that I get. You know.... just the basics.

[Patricia013]

02:43 PM on 09/08/2011

They don't call them the party of hypocrisy for no good reason ;-)

[merger]

02:37 PM on 09/08/2011

No, he didn't that was romney. Perry has never been building the fence.

[NotStarvingArtist]

10:33 PM on 09/08/2011

You are right about the fence. I was listening to the debate on the radio in the car and got that part wrong. However, I have since read the transcript of the debate, and Perry does want boots on the ground (3000 troops in Texas alone) and predator drone air support. To provide that level of protection and surveillance to Texas alone would be extraordinarily expensive. To provide it for the entire southern border of the US would be astronomical. So, I still want to know how it can be done while shrinking the size of the US government, cutting spending and balancing the budget?

[aratny]

09:34 AM on 09/08/2011

yeah we as a nation definitely want a mormon in the white house. theyre so nice and inclusive and have such open minds about everything that pertains to this century...
we may as well go back to the dark ages!!!

[candcje]

02:30 PM on 09/08/2011

I would prefer an atheist to anyone devoted to any religion. Ours is a democracy, not a theocracy. I do not want my president making decisions based on God or manifest destiny. I'd like them to be living in the real world where we create and enforce laws of equality for all, not just for those that subscribe to the same view.

[Grace Alexander]

08:43 PM on 09/08/2011

YES. The "Christian" Dominionism crap Perry and Bachmann ascribe to is frankly more frightening than a lapsed Mormon in the WH. The is NOT a nation founded on Christian principles by Christians. It's a secular nation founded by a bunch of agnostics and deists. The fact that one party continually pushes the 'because God told me so" agenda is alarming.

[garycooper12]

09:33 AM on 09/08/2011

Most of the lefty comments on the HP don't take into account the very tenuous Electoral College math when it comes to the next election. If the economy is still in the tank, count on Obama dropping some of those more typically red states he picked up...Iowa, Indiana, Colorado, New Mexico, North Carolina, etc. If so, then it'll come down to holding on to Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, etc. with little to no room for error. One of these guys might very well be in the White House come 2013.

[lbpatt]

01:08 PM on 09/08/2011

One will.

[Garyatty10]

08:58 AM on 09/08/2011

The GOP mantra has been Government Doesn't Create Jobs. Now the same GOP brags on how many jobs they created or the other guy didn't create while governors of government. Shows how critical thought is not necessary for GOP voters.

[Barbara Fontaine]

12:26 PM on 09/08/2011

The GOP gives the means to companies in which they can operate without all the tons of
restrictions that the Dems have made to choke any kind of job growth. Once Obamacare
is gone and all the many needless regulations, we will have job growth.

[candcje]

02:34 PM on 09/08/2011

Obama's HCR is not the job killer that Bachmann would like you to believe it would be. If you read the CBO report, what it actually says is that some people may choose to not work because they can get affordable health care without being employed. In other words, those close to retirement, or those who are otherwise financially solvent may decide to retire earlier because they are no longer beholden to an employer for their monthly premiums and quality health care. This actually means that more jobs will be available for those who actually need/want a job.

And given that most of HCR hasn't yet been implemented, they cannot say today that it is in fact a jobs killer. And when employers are no longer required to provide the health care because there are equally comprehensive plans that are much more affordable, they will be able to divert those dollars to salaries of new hires.

[BlueArizonan]

02:56 PM on 09/08/2011

Check the numbers on the number of government jobs in 2001 and 2007 or so...then tell me that one again.

As an aside, if we're all so broke from low wages and sick from pollution that we spend what little we have on healthcare, who's going to buy all the products those companies make? Its hard to buy the newest electronic gizmos on $4.75/hr.

[IMSickOfAllOfEm]

08:56 AM on 09/08/2011

The AARP used to be the first in line to call out those who try to destroy Social Security but I haven't heard from those folks in quite a while. Have they been bought too?

[lbpatt]

01:09 PM on 09/08/2011

AARP is a joke. It is nothing but a PAC and insurance front.

[Patrick Ciriello]

08:52 AM on 09/08/2011

Neither one of them said anything useful. Which is what I would expect.

[libertymen]

08:45 AM on 09/08/2011

Romney was sharp in the debate.
He stood his ground.
Perry was tea party squared.
Perry has no solutions for anything just TP rhetoric.
He is Another more polished version of SARAH PALIN.
HIS death penalty rant was Yipee!!!! hang em High crap.
They have an assembly line death penalty system in TEXAs for poor people.