Paul 'just wrong' on Iranian weapons issue

DesMoinesRegister.com

CHEROKEE, IA. — Rick Perry took swipes at two of his rivals here Friday, saying Ron Paul was “just wrong” in his statements in Thursday’s debate about Iran and later telling the press that Newt Gingrich’s explanation about his role with a financially troubled government-backed mortgage business is “weak.”

Paul, a U.S. representative from Texas, voiced skepticism at the GOP presidential debate in Sioux City that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon. He received applause, but some of his rivals on stage immediately criticized his comments as dangerous on a critical national security issue.

“Dr. Paul is just wrong on this issue,” Perry, the governor of Texas, said to a group of more than 100 people at a coffee shop here. “You can’t make nice with the mullahs. They hate us. They hate everything about America. They hate our lifestyle. They hate our faith.”

Another key part of Thursday’s debate centered on Gingrich and his relationship with Freddie Mac, a quasi-government agency that paid him $1.6 million for consulting and work as a historian. Gingrich was quick to note in the debate that he never lobbied for the company and that he “was a private citizen engaged in a business like any other business” at the time of his employment.

The federal home loan corporation is a government-sponsored group that along with Fannie Mae will cost taxpayers an estimated $154 billion for government bailouts. On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced it had brought civil actions against six former top executives of both groups, saying they had failed to disclose their firms’ exposure to risky investments.

Perry was asked whether Gingrich’s work with Freddie Mac should disqualify him from being president. He didn’t directly answer the question.

“The idea that somehow or another I’m a consultant, I wasn’t a lobbyist? For most of us, that is a very weak excuse at best,” Perry said. “That’s one of the reasons it’s going to take an outsider to change Washington, D.C.”

OTHER THEMES: Also in Cherokee, Perry was asked a question from the audience about whether he would support the proposed Keystone pipeline, which would transport oil from Alberta to refineries in Texas. President Barack Obama, who has been advocating for an extension to a payroll tax cut, has said he would reject the bill if Republicans incorporate the Keystone pipeline project into that legislation.

“I’m for that pipeline. I think it’s very important for the United States to have that access to that Western hemispheric energy,” Perry told the crowd.

Perry said he believes Obama intends to stop the pipeline because of pressure from “the radical environmental movement.”

SETTING: Perry spoke at Copper Cup coffee shop in Cherokee. He later made a stop at Grand Central Coffee Station in Storm Lake.

CROWD: A standing-room-only crowd of more than 100 in Cherokee; another 70 or so people in Storm Lake.

THE CANDIDATE’S DAY: Cherokee was Perry’s first campaign stop after Thursday’s presidential debate in Sioux City. After his stop in Storm Lake, he and the media bus following him on his tour arrived in Spencer, where he will hold an event at 11 a.m. today.

UP NEXT: Perry is on a 44-stop tour that began Wednesday and will wrap up Jan. 3, the day of the Iowa caucuses. (The campaign will take a few days off for the Christmas holiday.) In addition to Spencer, Perry will campaign today in Algona, Clear Lake and Mason City.