Ron Paul Goes After Rick Perry Over Texas Job Growth In GOP Tea Party Debate

The second key moment in Monday night's GOP debate, as it relates to Rick Perry's fortunes, came when Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) went after the Texas governor.

Paul was asked if Perry should get credit for Texas' job growth. Not only did Paul say no, he said that under Perry, his taxes have doubled, the state's debt has tripled, and 170,000 of the state's new jobs were government jobs.

"I'm a taxpayer there," Paul said. "My taxes have gone up. Our taxes have doubled since he took office. Our debt has gone up nearly triple. So no -- and 170,000 of the jobs were government jobs. So I would put a little damper on this, but I don't want to offend the governor because he might raise my taxes or something."

Perry said that people are coming to Texas "because there's a land of freedom in America -- freedom from over-taxation, freedom from over-litigation and freedom from over-regulation."

That came moments after Romney had gotten in a nice jab at Perry, saying that under the previous two governors, Democrat Ann Richards and Republican George W. Bush, job growth per year was higher: 2.5 percent for Richards, 3.5 percent for Bush and 1 percent for Perry.

"I think the governor would agree with me that if you're dealt four aces, that doesn't make you necessarily a great poker player," Romney said. "And the four aces that are terrific aces -- the ones the nation should learn from -- are the ones I described: zero income tax, low regulation, right to work state, oil in the ground and Republican legislature. Those things are terrific."

"You were doing pretty good until you got to talking poker," Perry replied.

Perry is looking good overall, but the shots from Paul will bloody him a little. Maybe a reason why Perry should have avoided going after the Texas congressman in the last debate.

A rivalry has been brewing between the two lone-star state candidates over the past few weeks.

Paul called Perry "Al Gore's Texas cheerleader" for once working to help elect the Democrat. Perry's team, in turn, is branding Paul a turncoat for once leaving the GOP.

The AP has more:

Last week, Paul likened Perry to a "candidate of the week" and predicted Perry's poll numbers would fall quickly once voters got to know him better. He told The Associated Press, "Texas has had a lot of changes in these last eight years, not exactly positive either."

This week, Paul rolled out a TV ad suggesting that Perry wants to unravel the Reagan legacy. The ad highlighted Paul's own endorsement of Reagan's unsuccessful bid for the GOP nomination in 1976 and Perry's work on then-Sen. Al Gore's unsuccessful presidential bid in 1988.

The ad said: "Rick Perry helped lead Al Gore's campaign to undo the Reagan revolution, fighting to elect Al Gore president of the United States. Now, America must decide who to trust: Al Gore's Texas cheerleader or the one who stood with Reagan."

Perry was a Democrat serving in the state legislature at the time. He switched parties in 1989 and successfully ran for state agriculture commissioner as a Republican.

Paul's ad drew a rebuke from Perry's campaign, which said in a statement, "Like President Reagan, Gov. Perry has cut taxes and freed employers from government regulations that kill jobs."

Perry aides also dug up and distributed Paul's 1987 letter of resignation from the Republican Party.

Comments

[marc chanois]

12:21 PM on 09/20/2011

Perry, biggest liar..among all..anyone but Perry..

[jwalter]

03:08 AM on 09/16/2011

Huffington Post loves Rick Perry almost as much as it loves Sarah Palin.
I'm 150% for Ron Paul, but if we end up with Obama v. Perry, you can expect the lowest voter turnout in American history.

[Marci Economidis]

07:01 PM on 09/14/2011

Do the oil companies pay the American people for the right to take our oil out of our ground that our armed forces protect?

Just asking because they don't really seem to pay a fair share in taxes for this privilege.

[Derek Coyle]

07:59 PM on 09/13/2011

That was not the Tea Party. That was the Republican establishment pretending to be the Tea Party. Be very very wary of any group claiming to be the Tea Party. The Tea party is me an you not people on CNN. HA! HA! Nice try! Of Course the pretend Tea Party (republican establishment will take a shot at Ron Paul because they fear the hell out him. Then they will pretend to boo him They stand for (Republican Establishment )foreign wars forever.

[horsenomad]

07:15 PM on 09/13/2011

I'm quite surprised that Perry hasn't suggested putting people back to work by constructing another Great Wall of China on our border with Mexico. I sincerely believe he has the same motives as Obama to become Emperor of the world. That is self-evident by his removing a parent's right to not have their child inoculated in Texas for HPV.

[wolfmanchuck1]

07:04 PM on 09/13/2011

RON PAUL should be thron out of any Goverment position he is a Anti American and should have nothing to do with the Goverment or any kind of Law making I hope he go's bankrupt and needs some kind of help and we say tough The GOP has to rethink what they want to do because it is antiAmerican and they all should be thrown out of office Most of us work hard all our life and when we retire we should not be Shit on.We do pay these bum for doing nothing.

[RoadtoSurfdom]

12:34 AM on 09/14/2011

wolfmanchuck1 what makes Ron anti-American?

The GOP to a degree I can agree with you.

Ron has never taken a paycheck from the government. He returns his entire monthly salary to the treasury every month. The man is simply incorruptible. All Ron's "money" is in gold by the way. With gold, no man can ever go bankrupt.

[PickedName]

05:56 AM on 09/16/2011

Good grief man. I'm a fan of Ron Paul too, but get your facts straight before you start trying to spread them as truth.

Ron Paul does accept a paycheck for doing his job. He does not participate in the (very lucrative) congressional retirement program (pension plan). He also returns a portion of the operating budget of his congressional office each year, unlike the vast majority of the congressmen and senators.

[Dave Vane]

12:49 PM on 09/14/2011

I guess you really don't pay much attention to reality. You want to be protected when you retire? Well Ron Paul is the only one offering bills to protect what you pour your money into every paycheck.

For 8 years now Dr. Paul has been offering a bill that would stop the president and congress from raiding the Social Security funds. No dems, which you seem to love have offered anything as such.

Here's your link as proof: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-219

Do your research, than rant.

[John Kealy]

03:26 PM on 09/13/2011

I too am ditching the democratic party for the republican party to vote for ron paul.... Though that doesn't mean I'll vote republican if he loses the primary. To be honest, I go back and forth between thinking obama is even a good guy or if he's a 'plant' to be a positive PR move for the Carlyle/Bush/globalists. Anyways, even if he is a plant, he's still a better plant than Rick Perry would be... But I'm tired of plants altogether, and there's only one that's running with any chance. And that's Ron Paul.

[manumoka]

04:24 PM on 09/13/2011

"any chance" of what? returning the nation to the stone age?

[John Kealy]

04:56 PM on 09/13/2011

I'll take a stone age over an Orwellian one. Something tells me though with our technological capabilities, the ron paul stone age you described wouldn't be quite the same as the last one we had. Hey, it could the stoned age.

[spyker1]

05:40 PM on 09/13/2011

You want a world of the patriot act marshal law curfews and fear mongering.no thank you.ill take liberty and freedom any day. Elect Ron Paul in 2012

[Inez Tyler]

07:25 PM on 09/13/2011

Once you go Ron Paul, there really is no substitute.

[EdCorner]

02:52 PM on 09/13/2011

I'm fanning everyone smart enough to understand Ron Paul and that he is alone is what this country needs. Endless war is what you get with all the others and more corporatocracy, kleptocracy running our government into a totalitarian state. Inverted totalitarian to be more exact. Check it out on wiki Google it. It's very enlightening about why we are where we are.

[trvcampbe]

04:18 PM on 09/13/2011

I voted for Obama and i will be voting for Paul in 2012,because of his stance on war and peace.He believes in peaceful diplomacy with other countries,instead of attacking and building bases in them.I disagree with some of his beliefs but peace wins at the end of the day..I can dig it.

[frank day]

04:22 PM on 09/13/2011

He'll have to run as an independent.

Did you see how they are already freezing him out.

[manumoka]

04:25 PM on 09/13/2011

if you're a one-issue person, and you want to bring all the troops home, then paul's your guy. if you don't buy the reagonomics that sunk america so low, or don't want to give the states the power to govern what happens in your private life, then ron paul is not your guy.

[RoadtoSurfdom]

12:38 AM on 09/14/2011

He's definitely the thinking mans candidate. No one has more passionate followers who would lay down their life - like Ron Paul does.

I hope to sweet heaven he wins.

Ron Paul 2012!

[guilatty]

02:45 PM on 09/13/2011

Ron Paul is an interesting and charming guy. But President? If a guy with Bill Clinton's political skills had to fight Congress tooth and nail to get anything done what chance does a fairly cantankerous old guy with no history of compromise have? He might even have a lot of great ideas but how would he convince anyone? He's had a long career in politics and he has convinced very few people at this juncture.

We might need to stop looking for "Celebrity Super President" and content ourselves with a competent politician who knows how to get things done.

[chris breaux]

03:00 PM on 09/13/2011

The "No Compromise" approach gets Ron Paul what he wants. If congress bucks his positions, then he waits them out, vetoes all their acts, untill the government shuts down.

Then, constitutionally, as Chief Executive, he alone decides what parts of the government continue to operate, and which close.

Ron Paul's methond to determine that choice? The US Constitution. If it ain't there, it ain't hapnin'.

[Temporalist]

04:01 PM on 09/13/2011

The first things Ron Paul can do is overturn a whole mess of "Executive Orders" and close Guantanamo as well as ending Wars and bringing troops home from the 100+ countries they occupy which would save money and lives. If those aren't a good start I don't know what is! Anyone else will maintain the status quo of US Empire and ignoring the U.S. Constitution.

And if you hadn't noticed there is a first time "contingent" of like minded congresspeople in the Tea Party, as well as his son, and that trend may be growing.

[trvcampbe]

04:20 PM on 09/13/2011

Right on!!..Peace

[manumoka]

04:26 PM on 09/13/2011

how many? who?

[Mat Biscan]

01:49 PM on 09/13/2011

"And the four aces that are terrific aces -- the ones the nation should learn from -- are the ones I described: zero income tax, low regulation, right to work state, oil in the ground and Republican legislature. Those things are terrific."

About the only terrific thing in that list is a "right to work state."

[maninal2]

01:58 PM on 09/13/2011

"right to work" = right to exploit workers. Texas is a prime example.

[Mat Biscan]

02:20 PM on 09/13/2011

Right to work, at least from what I understand (being an independent consultant who has to sign contracts for jobs), right to work means that you have the absolute right to walk away from a job, despite your contract. The employer has a right to terminate your contract, despite the length of time on the contract.

I am not exploited and I'm free to leave a project for whatever reason. I have left projects before because they are mismanaged, despite the timeframe outlined in my contract.

[jwalter]

03:02 AM on 09/16/2011

union dues=extortion for the priviledge of working.

[Justin Stamper]

12:40 PM on 09/13/2011

I'm registering to vote in the GOP Primary to vote for Ron Paul, because he is the only Republican besides Gary Johnson who will tell the truth, and he won't back down to the corporatists, neo conservatives, theocratic fascists, and war mongers.

The Republican Party needs a wake up jolt, a straight up injection of truth telling into their politics, and Ron Paul is the guy to do it. He could totally fragment that party.

[Le Facteur 99]

12:43 PM on 09/13/2011

Ron Paul has as much chance of winning the nomination as Santa Claus coming down your chimney.

[kelsye2000]

12:50 PM on 09/13/2011

which is sad since I think he is also the only GOP who can tell the truth :(

[miket23]

01:17 PM on 09/13/2011

I think I've read this Santa Claus reference in a previous article as well. You might want to try and get new material.

Whatever chance he has... it's worth it. He has my vote, as well as millions of others. His numbers are growing. It would be silly to dismiss his candidacy with the loyalty of his supporters, strong organization in key primary states, and his poll numbers consistency placing him in the top 3 nationally.

[John Roman]

02:22 PM on 09/13/2011

Just vote for Obama and pray. Voting for ANY Republican will bring Armegeddon/anarchy/end times faster than a rabbit on a hot road.

[EdCorner]

02:47 PM on 09/13/2011

The clear and present danger is the man already in office. Silencing more government whistleblowers than all the presidents combined. The status quo is a front and not what it appears to be.

[chris breaux]

03:05 PM on 09/13/2011

Good thing Ron Paul isn't just "ANY Republican", huh?

[Jerboy]

12:38 PM on 09/13/2011

Why is CNN and the Teabagger Party co-sponsoring this?

[redhead55]

01:23 PM on 09/13/2011

Excerpt from an article on AlterNet -

http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/152386/when_did_cnn_become_a_shill_for_gop_extremism_and_the_tea_party/

"When the cable news network decided to partner with the Tea Party Express for a debate among the Republican presidential candidates, it cast aside any ethical concerns a news organization might have about direct involvement in elections and active engagement in altering the dynamics of a political party.

If the Tea Party Express was nothing more than a political constituency of the Republican Party, that would be bad enough. But it's not: it's a political action committee, directly involved in electioneering, and the CNN event promises to aid the fundraising efforts of the Tea Party Express PAC. CNN's co-sponsorship of the Tea Party Express debate amounts to an incalculable in-kind contribution to a far-right political PAC, elevating its brand name, providing free air time and event-staging, and conferring an aura of legitimacy on an organization that is essentially a fundraising operation for anti-government candidates. If this isn't illegal, it's time to scream from the rafters, why not?"

[chris breaux]

03:05 PM on 09/13/2011

To better control the debate.

[jhsinius]

12:37 PM on 09/13/2011

Ron Paul is right, our taxes have double under Perry. This man talks a good game, but people need to stop believing what he's trying to sell them!

[chris breaux]

03:06 PM on 09/13/2011

He's trying to "sell them" freedom.

Lots of us have already paid the price for it, too.

[John Kealy]

03:28 PM on 09/13/2011

They sure have!

[guitargeorge1964]

12:29 PM on 09/13/2011

Actually Romney is off about something. Perry didn't inherit a Republican legislature. When he came in to office it was a Democrat controlled legislature for his first 2 years in office, then turned Republican for the past almost 10 years. Ann Richards and George W Bush governed with Democrat majority legislatures. That Paul's taxes have doubled and the debt has tripled all happened when Texas went all Republican after 2002.

[chris breaux]

03:08 PM on 09/13/2011

That's exactly right. Perfectly right.

Perry also didn't raise taxes directly. He passed unfunded mandates down to the counties and cities. In order to pay for those mandates, taxes had to be raised.

But Perry gets to say "I cut taxes in Texas", even though what he really did is cause them to rise, as well as run up triple the debt.

Good call, GG1964.

[Le Facteur 99]

12:29 PM on 09/13/2011

I guess Perry's attempt to deck the 100 yr old Paul last weak didn't intimidate him. He knows Perry is 10 gallon popinjay. All hat no cattle.

[chris breaux]

03:16 PM on 09/13/2011

All hat, no cattle.

Love it.