DNC: Rick Perry Says He Would Have Supported Default, Jeopardizing Our Economy for Middle Class Families and Seniors

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released today by the Democratic National Committee:

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100929/DNCLOGO)

Add Rick Perry's extreme voice to the Republican chorus proudly stating that they would not have supported the bipartisan debt agreement that prevented our country from defaulting on its debt for the first time in history. Rick Perry joins the choir of Tea Party Republicans in agreement that the prospect of America not paying its bills was a risk they were willing to take, despite economists warning that it would have sent the U.S. into depression and the S&P ultimately downgrading the U.S. debt as a result of their intransigence.

RICK PERRY WOULD HAVE VOTED AGAINST THE COMPROMISE DEBT AGREEMENT AND SAID DEFAULT WAS A "BIT OF A STRETCH"

Perry: "If I'd Been In Congress, I Wouldn't Have Voted" For The Compromise Debt Agreement. "Asked about the debt ceiling, [Perry] said: 'If I'd been in Congress I wouldn't have voted for it. Cut cap and balance was the approach to take, and it was a bunch of political theater from my perspective. We got downgraded anyway, so why give a spend-it-all, spend-it-now president $2.4 trillion he can fritter away? I don't get it.'" [Dallas Morning News' Trailblazer Blog, 8/15/11]

Perry: "This Threat…The World Is Going To Come To And The Threat Of 'We're Not Going To Be Able To Pay Our Bills' Is A Bit Of A Stretch." "Gov. Rick Perry said he isn't worried that a failure to increase the nation's borrowing authority would trigger the kind of economic catastrophe that federal officials, ratings agencies and many economists have warned would occur if the debt ceiling isn't raised. 'There's still gonna be revenues flowing in, so I think this threat that somehow or another the world is going to come to an end and the threat of  'We're not going to be able to pay our bills' is a bit of a stretch,' Perry told reporters in Houston." [Texas Tribune, 7/27/11]

S&P SUGGESTED DEFAULT SKEPTICS WAS ONE REASON FOR CREDIT DOWNGRADE

S&P: Debt Default Skeptics Fueled Ratings Downgrade. "A Standard & Poor's director said for the first time Thursday that one reason the United States lost its triple-A credit rating was that several lawmakers expressed skepticism about the serious consequences of a credit default — a position put forth by some Republicans. Without specifically mentioning Republicans, S&P senior director Joydeep Mukherji said the stability and effectiveness of American political institutions were undermined by the fact that 'people in the political arena were even talking about a potential default,' Mukherji said. 'That a country even has such voices, albeit a minority, is something notable,' he added. 'This kind of rhetoric is not common amongst AAA sovereigns.'" [Politico, 8/11/11]

ECONOMISTS AGREED THAT DEFAULTING WOULD HAVE HURT OUR ECONOMY

Mark Zandi: Failure To Increase The Debt Ceiling Would Have Led To Significant Spending Cuts And A Recession. "'If we get to August 2 and there is no debt ceiling limit, and there has to be significant spending cuts – even if Congress and the administration reverse themselves days later, I think the damage will have been serious, and we probably would be thrown into a recession,'' [Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark] Zandi said." [Christian Science Monitor, 6/28/11]

Failure To Raise The Debt Ceiling Would Have Meant Immediate Cuts To Social Security. "The Bipartisan Policy Center studied Treasury Department receipts and expenditures for August 2009 and 2010 and determined that the government likely would not have enough revenue to pay the full $23 billion payment to Social Security recipients due on Aug. 3[…] 'We should be honest with ourselves what this would be like, and the answer is it would be chaotic,' said Jerome Powell, a former Treasury official in the first Bush administration. 'There is no way to avoid really serious pain.'" [USA Today, 6/29/11]

Failure To Increase The Debt Ceiling Could Have Resulted In "The Largest Quarterly Economic Decline Since 1947." The Center for American Progress reported that "a two-month failure to raise the debt limit could result in the largest quarterly economic decline since 1947, when relevant data were first reported. That would obviously be a bigger decline than in any quarter of the Great Recession. And the worst quarter of the Great Recession saw a loss of nearly 2 million jobs." [Center for American Progress, 7/7/11]

SOURCE Democratic National Committee