Recently in Newton, Iowa Rick Perry was caught off guard by a reporter who asked him about his past support of TARP, to which he quickly replied with a boldfaced lie:

"No Ma'am," he told her.

"I thought I saw a letter where you had written encouraging the support of TARP legislation," she persisted.

"You saw wrong,"

Although presidential candidate Rick Perry would want to believe he never supported TARP and instead advocated a Tea Party approach of only tax and spending cuts, the reality is he actively supported and pushed for the passage of TARP. 

Back on October 1, 2008 after TARP had initially failed to pass the House, Perry, acting as head of the Republican Governor’s Association, teamed up with Joe Manchin, then head of the Democratic Governor’s Association, to write a letter urging Congress to pass TARP.TARP was the only piece of legislation on the table at the time and was passed the same day the letter was written. 

One day earlier, Perry blasted Washington saying he was "sick and tired" of partisan politics and blaming gridlock for Congress failing to come to a solution for the financial debacle and not passing TARP. 

But these facts did not stop Rick Perry from looking a reporter right in the eyes and telling her and the country another boldfaced lie without skipping a beat.