"Before the Next Election": The Overlooked Phrase in Perry's Treason Accusation

Rick Perry (R-TX), the Republicans' flavor of the day before they embrace the more marbled beef of Chris Christie (R-NJ), told Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that he would be committing "treason" if he "printed money prior to the next election," and that, if he dared come to Texas after committing such an act, he would be treated "ugly."

While the Beltway was, properly, taken aback by the not-too-subtle physical threat to Bernanke by a sitting governor who aspires to be president, they all overlooked Perry's time qualifier, "before the next election." That ought to dispel any doubt that the Republican Party will prevent an economic recovery so that they might win the next election.

Presumably, if Bernanke launched QE3 (the means to expand the money supply) after the election, it would not be treason, and Bernanke could go to Texas without fear for his life or health.

So, what was Perry really getting at? It seems clear that Perry was warning Bernanke not to improve the economy before November 2012 because it might help President Obama's re-election chances.

That is, they will prevent 14 million Americans from getting jobs. They will make millions more family members suffer. And, they will express outrage that anyone even suggested that that is what they are doing.

It was one of these authentic, unscripted moments in which the candidate said what he really believed. Indeed, he began his answer to the voter question about the Federal Reserve by stating he did not want to address it. But, could not stop himself.

Robert Gibbs is absolutely correct. The Republican Party will keep millions of Americans from having jobs, a payroll tax cut, and unemployment insurance so that the economy will suffer, just so the President will have a more difficult time winning re-election.

Their frontrunner just said so. There is no other plausible (or implausible) explanation for qualifying his outrageous accusation and implied physical threat against Chairman Bernanke with an election-related timeframe.

So, Mr Gibbs, you have the "smoking gun." Use it as evidence. Use it often.

 

Follow Paul Abrams on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pabrams2001

Comments

[cpsummer2457]

09:18 PM on 08/18/2011

I don't understand, why in the world would he want to keep the people in dire straits just to keep a man from being re elected. You would think if he was as good as he claims to be, he would not need to sabotage anyone. Perry would be able to win just because he's the best man for the job. I would think that if he had to resort to these tactics, he's not confident enough to win on your own merits and if that's the case why would we want someone like that in office?

[SpookyAnnya]

11:10 PM on 08/18/2011

The Republican Congress want to keep people in dire straits to keep Obama from being re=elected. That has been their goal all along. That is what Obama is saying to make a choice between Country or party. Republicans are choosing Party.

[cpsummer2457]

08:51 AM on 08/19/2011

I just know that I wont vote for him or any of the other lipton tea baggers.

[demisfine]

08:43 PM on 08/18/2011

"Robert Gibbs is absolutely correct. The Republican Party will keep millions of Americans from having jobs, a payroll tax cut, and unemployment insurance so that the economy will suffer, just so the President will have a more difficult time winning re-election."
So, will the Democrats us Perry's words against him to help prove the point to Americans, to the hurting middle class, that suffering for just a few more months is the price the GOP is willing to extract in order to regain power?
Get on message and repeat it loudly and frequently.

[cdecisneros]

03:10 PM on 08/18/2011

Did they ever complain about all of Bush's Level Red alerts before the 04 election?

[hrpmap]

01:28 PM on 08/18/2011

posted Aug 18, 2011 at 10:33:23 Reply Link Leadsled yea, we actually have read the constitution, and also the various rules for how to properly interpret it. Much as the 4th amendment prevents wiretaps without a warrant, Article 1 Section 8 allows for currency to be issued by way of computers. posted Aug 18, 2011 at 12:31:47 Yep their it is. Money pulled out of this air as computer entries or artifically valued paper shall be considered lawful money.

[hrpmap]

11:52 AM on 08/18/2011

“The the authors of the constitution couldn't foresee the modern-day things we have” So they provided a method of updating the constitution, it’s called an amendment. .”debate with the President? He's a constitutional lawyer So we are told but he ignores the requirement of the going to congress before bombing other nations (Iraq) and sues states on constitutional grounds (AZ) and then loses in the SC, not a good track rcord for a supposed constitutional scholor, is it?? Ignores like many before him the constitution on "no stae shall make anything other thns gold or silver a legal tender in payment of debts" and continues to allow the fed like others before him to print constitutionall unauthorized paper certificates and call them money.

[dahlia97]

03:05 PM on 08/18/2011

ok....so what do you think Perry meant when he said not "prior to the next election" otherwise it would be treason?

[kaisrolls]

11:06 AM on 08/18/2011

Picture this scenario: Ben B. takes up Perry's offer to go to Texas. When he arrives at the giant Houston oil corp. building, he is immediately grabbed by big oil's thugs, and taken to a very dark, small room in the building. After being tied to a flat board, suddenly the lights come on, super bright, and there stands Rick Perry, two holstered six guns by his side. Perry draws the six guns, with plastic oil feeding tubes attached, and commences to oil-board Ben with the guns. While doing so, he yells to Ben, "I TOLD you things can get pretty UGLY down here in Texas!!!! The moral to this story? Ben NEVER had the Fed print out any more money, assuring Perry's accendency to the throne.

[alto2]

09:57 AM on 08/18/2011

No reasonably intelligent voter, watching what has been happening in the Congress, needed to be told this was part of the GOPer agenda, but it is always nice to have confirmation. As Mr. Abrams has said, use this truth often; I'd add, as a Dem, use it loud and proud -- we may yet learn to treat "ugly" all "those who would keep millions of Americans from having jobs, a payroll tax cut, and unemployment insurance so that the economy will suffer...."

[hrpmap]

09:50 AM on 08/18/2011

1: since when has the Bernak's spewing out money helped the economy? 2: There is no evicence by the recent experience that a third round Of QE would be any more effective than the first two. The suppoaistion that it would help the economy and that was Parry's motive is shear bogus soeculation.

[fr33d0mhawk]

09:48 AM on 08/18/2011

The economy will not improve under a GOP president either, especially one like Perry who would gleefully raise taxes or cut services on the middle classes to pamper his rich Plutocrat friends, because you can bet his buddies over in Wahabist Disneyland, Halliburton, UAE, are wringing their hands in anticipation on all the government cheese coming their way if another Texas conservative moron who thinks he is God takes office. Perry's real goal is not to improve the economy, but to further crash it, to turn America into a Christo-Taliban version of Afghanistan.

I guess I better start telling my daughters to prepare to buy Perry's Koreshian Burkhas because the Grand Inquisitor of Texas will likely be the next POTUS, and American electorate will have finally put down the USA for good, no more Constitution, no more rights, no freedom, just obedience and fealty expected from the serfs to the biggest, most intrusive and most oppressiv government the US has ever seen. And one more thing, the national debt will become far worse, because during GOP presidencies, defecits don't matter, remember under Bush and Reagan when the same yahoos said defecits do not matter are the same ones now whining like a DC-10 engine on how bad they are simply because we have a Democrat as president? Welcome to New Christo-Talibanistan, formerly known as the USA.

[Eraser]

08:43 AM on 08/18/2011

This isn't the "smoking gun" This is the 1000th smoking gun. The first was back in 2009 and there's been another pretty much every single day since then.

If I were Bernanke, I'd start QE3 the day after he said it, then immediately fly down to Texas and call him out on it. Show the world he's just another tough talking texas coward.

[NHBQ]

08:22 AM on 08/18/2011

After the debt-ceiling spectacle, it was apparent that there will be no legislation passed between now and Nov. 2012 that will help our economy in any way. The political experts have been saying for quite awhile now, that the only thing that will weaken Obama's chances of reelection is a bad economy. It's blatantly apparent that the Republicans are going to continue to do everything in their power to prevent our economy from improving, and with a Republican majority in the House, I can't see how any bill will pass that might stimulate the economy. The Fed seems to have the only cards left to play, in terms of any sort of economic uplift. I'm guessing that's why Rick Perry made his threat to Bernanke.

[Carl Caroli]

07:16 AM on 08/18/2011

The GOP doesn't care about the working class or the economy. They want power, they want the presidency, and they're willing to destroy our economy to get it. Anyone else see that as clear as day?

[Fahrenheit 451 usedbooks]

10:06 AM on 08/18/2011

Carl, They Have power, lots of it the wealthy, the corporate oligarchy, the political right! what they want is more control of the process; they want dictate the social agenda, I don't care what you call it oligarchy, fascism, dictatorship, monopoly, government, power always moves to consolidate, that's what they are doing, its the nature of the beast, they want to tell you who to love when & where its alright to love, they want to tell you who to pray too, how much your worth, where you work what your paid, dictate your benefits & options they want to tell you the strong survive the weak can get old and die, we are not our brothers keepers, it's winner takes all capitalism, and that's the fair way to build a world and economy, your body is not your own and they can control what you can do with it, what you can put in it, they are the upper class of contemporary society nothing should stop us from casting them out they are the money lenders of the Jewish temples of old, they are the powerful bourgeoisie that the French rose up against, the Royalty that the communist's in Russia cast out, the bureaucrats and industrialist that Mao crushed, and the haters and war mongers that we rose up against in the sixties times change Power doesn't; if you don't have it you take it! SDS / Seniors for a Democratic Society

[dahlia97]

03:08 PM on 08/18/2011

f and f

[YOKEL13]

02:55 PM on 08/18/2011

Of course! They want to bring the economy to its knees and attempt to blame President Obama. The have been saying the same things ever since Mr. Obama was elected. Republicans want the unemployment rate to go up, not down. It could not be more clear.

[Tox of Oz]

06:23 AM on 08/18/2011

When dumb seems to be a requirement to be part of the party can anyone be shocked about what these guys say anymore?

[pmoschetta]

10:46 AM on 08/18/2011

The prerequisite of being a political Tea Bagger is lack of common sense

[Leadsled]

12:25 PM on 08/18/2011

No, you can't be shocked by it anymore other than when they say what they actually think/mean rather than what they are trying to sell.

Dont think they are dumb. Many of their voters are but the politicians generally are not. it isnt idiocy, its craven, calculated, greed.

[dahlia97]

03:10 PM on 08/18/2011

They just play dumb.....but they are masters at using people to achieve their ends.

[americandownunder]

06:08 AM on 08/18/2011

The only thing missing with Perry is the ten gallon hat to go with the ten gallon ego!

[highplainswoman]

05:26 AM on 08/18/2011

The sad thing about their (Republican) goal is they might very well succeed. Unfortunately, once their guy is in office, he might very well find it nigh well impossible to reverse the damage done in the mean time. I don't think they are thinking about that possibility at all--and they certainly don't care about the "little people".

[dahlia97]

03:17 PM on 08/18/2011

I've enjoyed reading your many insightful comments on this website.
f and f