I don’t know if Brian Beutler is right about Rick Perry or not. Beutler thinks that Perry’s criticism of Ben Bernacke’s quantitative easing program is an acknowledgement that printing more money than usual will stimulate the economy. I’m not sure the Texas governor is really that sophisticated. You have to examine his motivation for opening his yap. Was it to shoot an arrow across Bernacke’s bow and actually try to deincentivize him from introducing a QE3 program? Or was it to simply engage is some trendy Fed-bashing to mop up some loose Paulistas and create a distinction with Romney?
In the former case, he’s trying to make sure the economy remains as crappy as possible to help his chances in the general. In the latter case, he’s trying to get a jump in the polls to help his fundraising. I’d go with the latter explanation, frankly.
P.S. Despite heavy criticism, Perry isn’t backing down.
Agreed; it was almost certainly meant to appeal to the hard-core goldbug wingnuts; the ones that blame the Fed and ‘fiat currency’ for all of our ills.
I wonder how they would have reacted to the $1T Platinum Coin.
I agree with your assessment of his motives. He will not be backing down from anything. The idea is to be the conservative concept of STRONG, i.e. stupid and stubborn.
Perry is a BSD. BSDs do not back down. They go all in.
Was that a typo for “BPD”? Or something to do with BSD Linux?
Because Perry is nothing like BSD Linux. More like Windows 3.0 with a massive virus infection.
BSD = big swinging dick
Help his fundraising with who? Grassroots paullites and goldbuggers?
We all realize now that Mitt Romney is the only Republican left who isn’t calling debt slavery and calling for the Fed to be abolished and Bernanke tried for treason, right? And no, Huntsman and Newt don’t count.
What self-respecting businessman would possibly give Perry any money?
the one’s that hate Obama and think putting Romney up against him is like putting Richard Simmons up against Ali.
You’d have to hate Obama pretty bad to cast your lot with a full blown teabagger for president.
What’s the difference right now between Perry and Allen West?
Charisma, baby. Charisma.
whatever you might say about him, he won’t campaign like it’s a tickle-fight. Romney will.
I’m not sure it matters. If it is the former he fits in with the Republican’s war strategy on Obama that the economy and the unemployed are just collateral damage to be shrugged off.
And the latter just means he is a clueless Tea Party Candidate. Either way he is getting heat for it from one real unlikely source, Rove:
– Karl Rove.
Then there is this priceless statement on it from TA-NEHISI COATES
Perry knows he’s not going to influence Ben Bernanke.
He’s just staking out a Tea Party economic position.
Perry has no idea how anything works. That was a truly ignorant statement and didn’t really make sense.
Which hurts him in his hunt for the nomination how?
Not going to get any donations from Wall Street bankers or securities firms. And in a Citizens United universe, he won’t know what hit him.
The Republican primary might be a battle of industries. Resource industries for Perry, retailers for Bachmann, and the FIRE industries for Romney.
Maybe they’ll blow all their money on the primary.
With Citizens United, we are in new territory. The 2010 election played out as expected; money won. Folks now are taking that into account in their campaign strategy. It could get weird because all money doesn’t want the same things. There is a conflict between suppliers and customers that goes beyond the supplier of labor.
Hmm, I hadn’t considered the possibility of a multi-way split in the plutocratic (aka GOP core) coalition.
Breaking out the popcorn.
If you work on Wall Street, the last thing in the world you want to see is a president who doesn’t understand or respect the basic mechanisms of our economy. Heated rhetoric is fine. Saying that you’re going ‘end the Fed’ is not. Toying with our credit rating is not cool. Obama will probably wind up winning the battle for the financial sector. And he deserves to, frankly. He saved their asses and went lightly on them.
No he won’t, not if Romney makes it through. The problem is that folks are starting to realize Romney will likely not make it through; and Christie can’t be the savior with his health issues and Jeb is still a Bush and Mitch Daniels took himself out of the race.
Who’s left?
Bobby Jindal?
I think people are going to see how Perry does and the money will likely line up with him; he seems the type that asks how high when the corporations tell him to jump.
Wall Street will like that.
I mentioned that a while back, during debt ceiling debate, mostly re: the few Koch types and others w. multi-million $ investments they wouldn’t want to see become multi-thousand $ investments
that should be Koch types vs. others
He’s all about a charge into Bachmann territory and emotionally grabbing her TP to get her out of the way and then going on to the next explosion…he’s all about campaign by explosion without letting any dust settle.
His guns will be blazing until he has the Alamo under his belt so to speak. There won’t be any apologies from Perry only attacks based on tripling downs.
I can’t imagine Bernanke doesn’t care what Rick Perry says about him or the Fed.
I meant, “I can’t imagine Rick Perry cares”.
I think it’s simpler, Perry is just a complete idiot who spews various things from his mouth, with some vague sense that they might hurt somebody he doesn’t like. I’d love to play chess with this man. For money.
Chess? Heck, you could clean his clock at Go Fish.