Perry Calls Romney a 'Fat Cat,' Says Obama-Birther Issue Still on the Table

Updated: October 25, 2011 | 10:13 a.m.
October 25, 2011 | 10:02 a.m.

AP Photo/Chris Carlson

Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, left, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry speak during a Republican presidential debate on Tuesday, Oct. 18.

GOP hopeful Texas Gov. Rick Perry thinks his rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, is a "fat cat."

The Texas governor’s comment came in response to Romney’s charge that flat taxes like the one Perry debuted on Tuesday are for fat cats. "I consider [Romney] to be a fat cat," Perry said in an interview with John Harwood of The New York Times and CNBC.

In the same interview, Perry said the birther issue is "a good issue to keep alive," adding that it’s fun to "poke" the president and ask to see his grades and birth certificate. "I don't have a clue about the where the president – about what this birth certificate says," Perry said.

Perry is rolling out his plan for tax and spending reform in a South Carolina speech on Tuesday. His proposal, which he laid out in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, calls for a 20 percent flat tax for individual and corporate income, eliminating the so-called death tax, and abolishing the tax on Social Security benefits.

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