August 15, 2011 Gov. Rick Perry at the Des Moines Register Soapbox

Perry, introduced by his wife Anita, spoke for a bit less that 14 minutes and took no questions. He spoke against over-taxation, over-regulation and over-litigation. FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, labeled Perry's claim about new regulations for tractors false. "Rick Perry's Imaginary Regulation" August 16, 2011 (+).

Gov. Rick Perry
Des Moines Register Soapbox
Iowa State Fair
Des Moines, Iowa
Aug. 15, 2011
[DEMOCRACY IN ACTION TRANSCRIPT/DMR video]

Thank you honey, you just made my day. You don't get to hear that very often that you get better every day, so God Bless—oh every year, okay. Hey while I'm up here I want to point out some of my proud, my most proud accomplishments I guess, and that is my children. Sydney is right here, the beautiful little brunette and only her almost stunt double sister in law Meredith right there and Meredith's husband, my son Griffin. So that's the Perry crew right there [applause] all come to the Fair.

I got up here and I was trying to figure out how to get this hay back to Texas. I'm telling you we've got a you know monster debt—drought going on and keep our old Texas farmers in your prayers. It's pretty tough down there. But flying in out here today was just magnificent. We came in last night actually. And looking at all—y'all got it going up here. We flew over just miles and miles and acres and acres and acres of beautiful corn crop that is going to make some farmers around here have a big smile on their face.

And I grew up on a farm. My dad was a dry land cotton farmer, and you want to know how I learned my faith be a dry land cotton farmer and you understand that you're going to spend a lot of time asking the good Lord to do something on the weather side of things. Whether it's dry up or rain or whatever it might be.

But my entire growing up time [person yelling from audience], I guess 1960 through 1972 I was in high school going off to Texas A&M University. Got any Aggies in the crowd? We've got to have some Aggies in the crowd.

[Points toward person yelling: Who would Jesus bomb?] That may not be an Aggie over there I'm pretty sure. [laughter, cheers] He may not be an Aggie fan.

You know speaking of Aggies, Iowa State's one of those great universities, and I know that they delivered a lot of folks like myself, animal science degree. But I also grew up in the era when the Vietnam conflict was going on and I volunteered to go into the Air Force, left school in 1972 and we went on for I guess four and a half years flying tactical aircraft across the— well pretty much around the globe, spent time in England and South America, Central America, in the Saudi Arabian-Middle Eastern part of the world.

And here's what I, I really never thought about how important our freedoms are in America. You know we take them for granted. But living in all of those different countries, and I saw the different types of governments that they had. You know and I lived in places that had theocracies and monarchies and dictatorships and different types of representative government. And I saw how people's freedoms were limited by some of those governments. And when I was 26, 27 years old it really became abundantly clear to me what an incredible country we live in and that the freedoms that we have and men and women who died for those freedoms and why they're so precious. [applause]

You know my dad, my dad was a tailgunner on B-17s in 1944 flying 35 missions into Nazi-held Germany. And by the grace of God he got to come home and go to his little piece of farmland. And he just wanted to live in peace and be married and he did. And that great generation we owe an incredible thanks to. [applause] Yes. And a bunch of 'em are in this audience here today on veteran's day [at the State Fair] as we are saluting our veterans.

But let me tell you that this generation that we have today is just as selfless, just as sacrificial. Friday Iowa's going to bury one of your own. One of those young Navy SEALs who was killed in Afghanistan. And on Friday I want you to think about T.J. Tumilson, and the sacrifices that are still being made today so a guy like me can stand up on a soap box at the Iowa State Fair and talk freely about freedom and liberty and America and that we are an exceptional country and we're going to stay an exceptional country. [applause] We don't need anybody apologizing anywhere in this world about America. [cheers, applause]

Now I get a little bit passionate about that, but that's okay. I think you want a president that is passionate about America, that's in love with America. [cheers, applause]

I know what this country needs. And we need to get Americans back working. We need to be able to create an environment in this country where anybody that wants to work can find that job. And I'm really proud of what we've done in the state of Texas over the last decade. Over half of the jobs created in America during periods of time in that decade were in the state of Texas. Forty percent of all the jobs created in America from June of 2009 until the present were created in Texas. [applause]

I know how to create jobs. You let the private sector— Free 'em up from over-taxation, free 'em up from over-regulation, free 'em up from over-litigation. Then government get out of the way. Let the private sector do what the private sector knows how to do. [applause continues] That's what we need to be all about.

Listen, today I'm asking the President of the United States to do something. He's coming here into Iowa here in a little bit. And I'm asking him to do something. He says he's on a listening tour, so I'm going to talk to him. [laughter] And here's what I'm going to say to him. Mr. President you need to free up the employers of this country to create jobs. Get rid of the regulations that are stifing jobs in America. Free up this country from these stifling reguations.

Let me just give you— This is just such an obscene, crazy regulation. They want to make, if you're a tractor driver, if you drive your tractor across a public road, you're going to have to have a commercial driver's license.

MAN FROM AUDIENCE: That's not true.

PERRY: Now how idiotic is that?

MAN FROM AUDIENCE: That's not true.

PERRY: How idiotic is that? Senator Grassley last night. I said Senator I heard that in the last two days that they were going to put that type of regulation in place. And your own United States Senator sitting there at the table said that's right. And I said what were they thinking Senator? And he said, they weren't. So that's the issues at hand here.

Look, we all know the EPA is stifling the energy production in America. When you can't— I mean the idea that— I don't know how you get a permit to go drill in the Gulf Coast, if you're from Mississippi, Louisiana or Texas and you've got an oil and gas exploration company. And at the same time this president is making forays to foreign countries. He goes to Brazil with $2 billion of your tax money to give to Brazil to help them get their offshore drilling going. Now what kind of nonsense is that? We need to have an American first, American first theory in our government. [applause] We need to be helping the United States. We need to be freeing this country from over-regulation. We need to be freeing this country from over-taxation, from over litigation.

Just this last year in Texas we passed a piece of legislation because we were seeing too many businesses get hung up by frivilous lawsuits, spending literally hours—or not hours, days and months and even years in litigation and paying for defense attorneys. We passed loser pays in the state of Texas. [applause] You get frivilously sued and they will pay your court costs and legal fees. That's the type of thoughtful, pro-business policies that we need in America.

I am a pro-business governor. I don't make any apologies about it, and I will be a pro-business president. [applause] Getting America back to work is the most important issue that faces this country. Being able to pay off 14 and a half or 16 trillion dollars worth of debt, that big black cloud that hangs over America, that debt that is so monstrous. There's only one way you get rid of it that's practical, that makes sense. And that is to free up America. Free up American entrepreneurs. Give them the incentives to go out and spend the dollars that they have and hire the people. That is the plan. It works. It worked in Texas for a decade. We can take those same low tax, low regulation, low lawsuit theory and you implement it at the national level.

Think about what will happen in this economy in this world. It will absolutely take off like a rocket. I know that the American spirit is strong. It has just been stifled too long by those that think that Washington, DC knows what's best.

Well let me tell you I happen to be a big believer that some faceless bureaucrat in Washington, DC doesn't know best how to educate a child in Iowa. [applause]. They don't know best how to deliver health care. [applause] One of the first things I'll do as president of the United States is sign an executive order to wipe out as much of Obamacare as I can. [cheers, applause] And then we'll work with the United States House of Representatives, we'll work with the United States Senate to wipe that piece of legislation completely off the books, and talk with the states on how to use their innovative approaches, and we'll be able to give better health care, we'll be able to give more health care, we'll be able to do it cheaper than Washington ever could. [applause]

I don't see a hook yet, so I'm going to keep going. [laughter] Listen, I want to tell you all as I wrap up, seriously, how honored Anita and I are to get to come up here. We know this is a long haul, but we love this country. I love it enough that I'll leave the great state of Texas to come and serve this country one more time.

And [pointing to audience] there's my Second Amendment boys down there on the front row. You know what? That's kind of one of my favorite amendments. You know that. Second Amendment allows me to go jogging with my daughter's dog over here and if a cayote jumps out I can take care of it. [applause]

But as I wrap up I just want to say thank you for the hospitality. This is like going home for me. Rural small town farming and ranching people are some of the great backbone of America. [applause] It's men and women like you who still believe in this country, that still believe America's exception, that still believe that if America can be loosed from over-regulations and over-taxation and over-litigation that we again can be the most powerful, the most influential, and the country that the world needs to be strong. I want to say God bless you, God bless Iowa and God bless the United States of America. Thank you. [cheers, applause]

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