Campaign rhetoric can get ugly. Everybody knows that, and the American public braces itself during campaign season--which, unfortunately, starts earlier each season. Still, in the running for the ugly trophy, Governor Perry set the bar awfully high let's hope nobody else gets near it during this campaign season) in remarks about Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve.
First he said they would treat Bernanke "...pretty ugly" down in Texas if he prints more money before the election. Imagine your neighbor saying that to you for not cutting your grass say! A rational response would be to try to get your neighbor locked up. The only saving grace is the general public has no idea how monetary policy works and how the Fed prints money. But still - a threat is a threat.
Secondly, he said it would be almost "treasonous." What? The definition of treason covers a gamut of actions, but in this context it has to be taken as political action betraying the country. On the basis of this definition, they would have to bring in 75% or more of our legislators. These are the folks who have spent, like drunken sailors, way more than they brought in during the periods when the economy was going gang busters.
I am certainly not a fan of Bernanke or Greenspan, his predecessor; but their actions didn't put us in the precarious debt crisis we are in today. Furthermore, it should be absolutely clear that the Chairman is doing everything he can possibly think of to get the country on the right track and put people to work.
I, and many others, believe he is taking the wrong measures; but they are not for the wrong reasons and, who knows, they may work.
Frankly, remarks like Governor Perry's remind me of pre-WWII Germany. They have no place in America. The American people should denounce Governor Perry - he is an embarrassment.
How does the feds, an independent body, even figure in partisan politics?
ReplyDeleteThreatening the fed chairman? Very classy indeed!
On treason, here's a direct quote from Governor Perry:
"Texas is a unique place. When we came into the Union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that.
My hope is that America, and Washington in particular, pays attention. We’ve got a great Union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it."
Secessionist talk isn't treason?
re: MoneyCone It sad when candidates feel they have to make inflammatory comments to get noticed. On another subject - I'm editing my blog yesterday to invite you to write about your favorite blogs etc. Dome of the ones you have written have been among the most creative and useful I've read.
ReplyDeleteI don't quite know where to begin with Gov. Perry.
ReplyDeleteAlthough he should look to the inkstained thumbs of the Secretary of Treasury with regard to printing money, it seems that Perry's support of the notion that Texas should secede from the Union would be more worthy of a treason indictment.
Imagine, if Perry had been successful, Haley Barbour could claim his foreign policy expertise on the basis of being able to look out his bedroom window over to the Independent States of Texas.
Had Perry not been Governor during the years of an energy boom he would have no claim to Texas' relative prosperity, as it is so heavily energy based.
Additionally, despite the fact that he decried the federal stimulus plan, he quickly took credit for its job creating projects.
Whoever thought that Sarah Palin could look good in comparison?
I never would have imagined the level would sink so low, what's next? political assassinations?
ReplyDeleteThe only reason we have to pay attention to politicians is that they have the power to tax, spend, regulate and destroy economies with foolish policies. Texans seem to have a fixation on the Fed for some reason, probably because the Fed has been highly successful in destroying the value of the dollar, manipulating interest rates artificially low to distort markets and reward debtors (like Uncle Sam), and contributed mightily to the economic downturn of 2008-2009. To think they are immune to political pressures is to ignore reality.
ReplyDeleteShould we be surprised by anything politicians say? I think not. When we have the highest elected officials in the land calling anyone who wants to cut government spending terrorists and un-American, and then blame everyone but themselves for the results of their policy decisions--- that is just politics as usual. The government plantation continues to grow and prosper. Gov. Perry is no more outrageous than any politician, it's just that the media considers him a serious threat to the status quo and is out to take him down.
@DIY: Thanks for the invite!
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