Perry Blasts Santorum as Big Spender

Texas Gov. Rick Perry insisted he is the “only outsider” in the Republican field to voters Monday while dismissing the other candidates.

“We do stand out. We’re the only outsider — you got 63 years of collective congressional time in four of the candidates and then you’ve got a Wall Street insider,” Perry said on NBC’s “Today” show one day before Tuesday’s Iowa caucuses, billing himself the only candidate who can represent voters who want to clean up Washington,according to Politico.

Perry also blasted former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum’s record.

“You’ve got Rick Santorum, who’s talked about being a fiscal conservative but voted eight times to raise the debt ceiling,” said Perry. “He’s raised it more than Obama has. He’s a serial earmarker and matter of fact, stood up as late as yesterday and said he was proud of all of the earmarks. That’s the problem in Washington, D.C.”

Perry responded to Santorum’s attack of his vow to get rid of federal agencies.

“He’s part of the problem because you’ve got a culture there — a person who has been in Washington, D.C. so long, who doesn’t understand what the American people want,” he said. “Why do we have a Department of Education? Does Rick Santorum want Washington to tell the people of Iowa how to educate their children? I don’t think so.”