TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

Texas Gov. Rick Perry didn't back down from his much-quoted characterization of Social Security as a Ponzi scheme at a Bakersfield fundraiser Friday.

Asked about it after his speech at the Jam Event Center, Perry again said the safety-net program was "no worse than a Ponzi scheme."

That stance is becoming a major dividing point between Perry and the other top contender for the GOP presidential nomination, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

"For people who are on Social Security now, like my folks, and people who are approaching Social Security, like me, it's going to be there," Perry said.

But, he added, where is the transition? At what point will eligibility have to be raised because funds simply aren't there?

"People are tired of scare tactics," Perry said. "They're looking for a leader who will tell them the truth but also find solutions."

Romney has been arguing that Republicans won't stand a chance in November 2012 if their nominee is seen as anti-Social Security.

He has advocated for finding ways to save the program.

The issue is expected to come up again Monday when the two participate in a debate in Florida.

Tickets to the Bakersfield fundraiser ranged from $1,000 to $2,500 a plate. About 200 people turned out, and the event raised about $200,000, said local Republican political consultant and Perry supporter Cathy Abernathy.

Perry's speech inside the Jam center was closed to the media but reporters still managed to overhear much of what was said.

The talk was brief, and he repeated his campaign message that the key to turning the weak economy around was to reduce taxes and regulation.

"Freeing the private sector from over-taxation and over-regulation" is the only way to reduce the national debt, Perry said.

The $13.4 trillion national debt works out to more than $43,000 per man, woman and child in America and is growing by more than $4 billion a day, he said.

That's more than $2.7 million a minute and more than $46,000 per second, Perry said.

Perry's first act as president would be to issue an executive order dismantling as much as he could of "Obamacare," he said, criticizing a "one-size fits all" approach to health care best handled by the states.

Perry also would replace the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency with someone who was pro-business.

"The EPA is a graveyard for jobs in this country," he said.

That isn't to say, Perry added, that he doesn't care about air quality. The Texas clean air program has achieved a 22 percent reduction in ozone and a 46 percent decrease in nitrogen oxide emissions from industrial sources, he said.

"This is the air that our children breathe," Perry said.

At the news conference after the speech, Perry also was asked what he thought of President Barack Obama's package of proposals to attack unemployment.

Perry dismissed Thursday's address to a joint session of Congress as a "reelection speech," adding that "Americans are not looking for more debt, and that is what he has laid out."

The conservative audience received the governor's remarks warmly.

Linda Voiland said she's still undecided about whom she'll support in the GOP primary but found Perry to be "very dynamic and no nonsense and straightforward."

"I like what he had to say," Voiland said.

Johnnie Peters, 22, said he knew going into the event that he would vote for Perry, but was excited to hear him speak in person.

"I like his passion for change," Peters said. "I have the same kind of values when it comes to business and reducing federal regulation and giving power back to the states."

Harley Pinson, 61, said he supports what Perry stands for and is glad all the Republican candidates got into the race early so there was plenty of time for them to present their ideas.

"I think it says a lot about Bakersfield" that the city is able to draw people at Perry's level, Pinson said.