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Perry in ‘treason’ dust-up

Ben Bernanke (ap)

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WASHINGTON — Texas Gov. Rick Perry was hit with a firestorm of criticism from all political sides yesterday for saying Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s policies were “almost treasonous.”

The explosive remark came just days after Perry joined the Republican presidential race and set off a firestorm from the White House, and even former Bush-administration officials.

Perry practically threatened Bernanke during a campaign stop Monday night in Iowa, railing against the Fed’s strategy ofprinting money to boost the economy.

“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,” Perry barked.

“Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treacherous — or treasonous, in my opinion,” he declared.

Even Bush political adviser Karl Rove, a Texan, blasted Perry.

“That’s not ‘a presidential’ statement,” Rove said on Fox News. “Governor Perry is going to have to fight the impression that he’s a cowboy from Texas. This simply added to it.”

President Obama said on CNN that Perry needs to realize his words now have a greater impact.

“You’ve got to be a little more careful about what you say,” Obama warned. “But I’ll cut him some slack. He’s only been at it for a few days now.”

But Perry didn’t back down.

“I am passionate about the issue, but I stand by what I said,” he said at another Iowa campaign stop.