Perry puts Bernanke in crosshairs

It was already tough for Bernanke to engage in more easing, but now he’s election fodder.

It would be “treasonous” if Chairman Ben Bernanke tried to use Federal Reserve policy to stimulate the economy before the election, Texas Governor Rick Perry said at a campaign stop in Iowa.

During an appearance in Cedar Rapids, in what appeared to be a backyard with a child’s slide, Perry invoked folksy language to explain what he’d like to do to Bernanke if the chairman decides to engage in more quantitative easing.

According to a video appearing on the left-leading website Think Progress, a reporter asked Perry what he would do about the Federal Reserve.

Standing next to a “Perry President” sign, the governor replied, “If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I don’t know what y’all would do to him in Iowa, but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas.”

“I mean, printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history, is almost treacherous, or treasonous, in my opinion,” he added.