Romney, Perry joust again at GOP debate

ORLANDO, Fla. — Standing mere paces apart, Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Rick Perry sarcastically accused each other in a confrontational debate Thursday night of flip-flopping on Social Security and health care, flashpoints in their early struggle for the party nomination

Romney accused Perry of having said the federal government “shouldn’t be in the pension business, that it’s unconstitutional,” a reference to Social Security benefits.

The Texas governor disputed the charge, saying it “wasn’t the first time Mitt’s been wrong on some issue before.” But Romney mocked his rival’s denial, adding crisply, “You better find that Rick Perry and get him to stop saying that.”

Perry soon returned the favor, saying that Romney switched his position on health care between editions of a book he had published. In one edition, Perry said, Romney advocated expanding the health care program he signed in Massachusetts to the rest of the country. “Then in your paperback you took that line out, so speaking of not getting it straight in your book, Sir.”

“It’s like badminton,” said Perry.

The Massachusetts legislation required residents of the state to purchase health coverage or pay a fine, a cornerstone of the law that President Barack Obama won from Congress last year that has inflamed conservative voters across the country.

The two men run one-two in the public opinion polls — Perry ahead, Romney a close second — and compete daily for endorsements from members of Congress and other party luminaries in hopes of gaining a permanent edge before the caucuses and primaries begin early next year.

Perry gave no ground on one issue — his support for a state law in Texas that gives the children of illegal immigrants reduced tuition to state colleges and universities.

“If you say that we should not educate children who have come into the state for no other reason than they’ve been brought there, by no fault of their own, I don’t think you have a heart,” he said.

That drew a retort from former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. “No one is suggesting that students who are illegal in this country shouldn’t go to colleges and universities,” he said, adding that he objects to giving them state subsidies to do so.

“Most folks have to pay the full boat. ... Why should they be given preferential treatment as an illegal in this country?” he said.