Ron Paul vs. Rick Perry: Texans Feud Over Budget-Cutting Strategies

Rush Limbaugh likes it, but Ron Paul says Rick Perry's "Cut, Balance and Grow" plan simply tinkers around the margins of America's economic problems.

Paul, appearing on Fox News Tuesday, said Perry's proposal to begin with a $100 billion budget cut is too little. The Texas congressman has pledged a first-year spending reduction of $1 trillion.

And where the Texas governor envisions a balanced federal budget by 2020, Paul vows to get the job done within three years.

Unlike other GOP rivals, including Michele Bachmann, Perry did not call for the dismantling of any federal agencies. Paul said he would eliminate five Cabinet departments: Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, Interior and Education.

The Dow tumbled more than 200 points today on fears that the debt supercommittee was stumbling in efforts to produce a deficit-reduction package, and that the United States could face another credit downgrade.