Perry Campaign Press Release - Perry Champions Conservative Tea Party Mantle to Overhaul Washington, Shrink Government and Spark Jobs as Only Non-D.C./Non-Wall Street Candidate

CONCORD, N.H. — Texas Gov. Rick Perry touted his conservative and Tea Party vision to rebuild a stronger America and spark job growth at this morning's NBC News-Facebook Presidential Debate. As the true non-Washington, non-establishment candidate in the GOP race, Gov. Perry shared his plan to sever the connection between Washington, D.C., and Wall Street and create a part-time Congress with half of the pay and half of the staff, designed to answer to the American people instead of the other way around.

"You have to ask the question of who is it that can beat Obama, who is it that can invigorate the Tea Party, who is it that can take the message of smaller outsider government that's truly going to change that place," Gov. Perry said.  "As I look from here down to Rick Santorum, I see insiders who have been the big-spending Republicans in Washington, D.C."

"We have a president who's a socialist," Gov. Perry said. "I don't think our Founding Fathers wanted America to be a socialist country. He talks about having a more powerful, more centralized, more consuming and costly federal government. I am a Tenth Amendment-believing governor.  We need a president who respects the Tenth Amendment, who pushes back authority to the states, whether it's how to deliver education, how to deliver healthcare, how to do environmental regulations. The states will do a considerably better job than a one-size-fits-all Washington, D.C., led by this president."

"We need a candidate that can not only draw that stark contrast between themselves and Barack Obama, but also stand up and lead the Tea Party movement back. 2010 was about the Tea Party standing up and understanding that Republicans, big-spending Republicans, had caused as much of this problem as anything. And it was their power that brought together, that brought Washington, D.C., and the House to Republican control and that's the kind of individual that we've got to have to lead this movement."

The governor shared key pieces of his Uproot and Overhaul Washington plan, which will establish a part-time, citizen Congress, cut congressional salaries, end lifetime appointments of federal judges, issue an immediate moratorium on new and pending federal regulations, and dismantle wasteful, redundant federal agencies.

"The biggest problem facing this country today is a Congress that is out of control with their spending," Gov. Perry said. We've got to have someone, an outsider that will walk in, not part of the insider group that you see here, people who have voted for raising the debt limit, and people who have been part of the problem that is facing America. I will tell you two things that can occur that a president can lead the charge on. One of those is a part-time Congress to tell those members of Congress, 'We're going to cut your pay, we're going to cut the amount of time that you spend in Washington, D.C., and send you back to your district so you can get a job like everybody else in your district and live under the laws of which you passed,' and then a Balanced Budget Amendment to the United States Constitution."

Gov. Perry's Cut, Balance and Grow plan cuts personal and corporate tax rates to a lower, flat 20 percent rate, cuts federal spending, ends earmarks and corporate loopholes and calls for a federal Balanced Budget Amendment. His Energizing American Jobs and Security plan will spark the creation of up to 1.2 million jobs in every sector, reduce our nation's dependence on hostile foreign oil, revitalize manufacturing and help contain the cost of electricity and fuel.

"We need to be focusing on how do we create the environment in this country where the entrepreneurs know that they can risk their capital, have a chance to have a return on the investment and create the jobs out there so people can have the dignity to take care of their families," said Gov. Perry." That's what Americans are looking for. I've done that for the last 11 years in the state of Texas and have the executive governing experience that no one else up here on this stage has."

Gov. Perry has the strongest record of job creation of all the candidates, having established a pro-business, pro-jobs and pro-innovation environment in the state of Texas. Under Gov. Perry, Texas has created more than one million net new jobs and ranked first in job creation. Under President Obama, America has lost two million jobs.