Texas Governor Rick Perry appeared on Fox News Sunday this weekend with Chris Wallace to discuss his challenges in the race for the GOP nomination and how he intends overcome them. Perry also discussed his recently unveiled tax plan and whether he will be selectively attending future debates.
Here is Perry’s entire interview:
Report from the Washington Post:
Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) defended his flat tax plan on Fox News Sunday, pushing back on questions from host Chris Wallace about the proposal’s economic consequences.
“There’s nothing wrong with lower revenue,” the presidential candidate said of his flat tax’s lower returns. “I don’t want more revenue in Washington D.C.’s hands.”
Perry argued that under his plan, the dynamic economic growth spurred by his tax cuts would more than offset the lower revenue, leading to a balanced budget by 2020. (The Perry campaign has deflected questions on its growth projections, which are far above the Congressional Budget Office baseline.)
As for criticisms of the complexity of the plan — taxpayers can choose either the old system or the new flat tax — Perry was dismissive. “I think most Americans know right off the top of their heads they’re going to take the 20 percent flat tax,” he said. “If some Americans want to contact an accountant, that’s their business.”
The wealthy would invest significantly more with a flatter tax code, Perry said, explaining that was why he said he didn’t care if the rich got a bigger break under his plan.
Perry has a struggle ahead of him to regain his momentum in the polls and bring his former supporters back into the fold. His one advantage is a strong amount of cash on hand compared to most of the other candidates with the exception of Romney. Perry will have the money to continue all the way to the primary season but his performance in the next two months of debates may be make or break.
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