Ben Bernanke no longer would be the Federal Reserve chairman and the central bank would be out of the money-printing business under a Rick-Perry-run White House, the Texas governor told CNBC.
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Texas Governor Rick Perry
The Republican presidential candidate has not hid his disdain for Bernanke, and he reiterated during a live interview that someone else would be in charge of monetary policy should Perry unseat President Barack Obama in the 2012 election.
"The statement towards Chairman Bernanke needs to be very clear to him, that making monetary policy to cover up bad fiscal policy is just bad public policy," Perry said. "What we're seeing is a Fed that is getting involved in things that frankly it does not need to be involved with. Printing money doesn't do anything at this particular juncture except make the dollars in our pocket worth less money, plus it puts us in jeopardy of greater inflation in the future."
Perry's star has faded somewhat over the past week or so after turning in less-than-stellar performances in Republican candidate debates.
The fiery Texas governor has found himself criticized on the right for his immigration stance, and the left for his hard-line stances on social issues.
He has been especially rough on Bernanke, drawing criticism at one point for suggesting that if the central bank chief ever came to Texas "we would treat him pretty ugly" for this actions.
Another trouble spot for Perry has come in comments he made comparing Social Security to a Ponzi scheme.
While he didn't back off on criticizing the way the retirement program is funded, he also said it will continue under his watch.
"Anyone who's trying to scare our seniors by saying 'he's trying to kill Social Security and your Social Security check,' that's just irresponsible statements," Perry said. "We're Republicans. We're supposed to be talking about how you fix things."
Perry indeed has become the favorite target for his competitors in the crowded GOP field. With an absence of other candidates who have electrified the party base, Perry's delayed entry sent ripples through the race and he immediately vaulted to the top.
Yet his views remain largely in line with the Republican platform, particularly in espousing smaller government and getting Washington out of the way to private industry—small business in particular—can get back to creating jobs again.
"Having a job and the dignity to take care of your family is at the core what what I think is hurting America today," he said, criticizing "over-taxation, over-regulation. Someone has to be out there to have the resources to be able to hire a worker. That's what needs to happen in this country."
Perry also took on Warren Buffett.
Asked for his thoughts on the so-called "Buffett Tax" proposed for millionaires, Perry said the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway is out of touch with what the economy needs to thrive.
"Mr. Buffett is a real intelligent individual, but I can promise you he doesn't know what's going on in places where the job creation is at zero because of over-taxation and over-regulation," Perry said.
