Perry & Obama trade verbal jabs

After Texas Gov. Rick Perry publicly warned Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that playing politics with the nation's monetary system would be "almost treasonous," President Obama used his bus tour platform to fire back, telling the press that the GOP contender should be "more careful" with his words:

In an interview with CNN airing [Tuesday evening], Obama was asked if he thought Perry's comments during an Iowa event on Monday night were disrespectful.

"I think that everybody who runs for president, it probably takes them a little bit of time before they start realizing that this isn't like running for governor or running for senator or running for Congress, and you've got to be a little more careful about what you say," Obama said.

"But I'll cut him some slack. He's only been at it for a few days now."

From the sounds of it, Perry doesn't need the president's "slack."  Returning the favor from New Hampshire Wednesday morning, Perry fired back at the White House by contrasting his own economic record with President Obama's, noting, “Actions speak louder than words.”

h/t Greg Hengler

Is this recent back-and-forth just a symptom of a newly energized Republican field, or is Perry getting under the president's skin?  The latter is a possibility.  Love him or hate him, Rick Perry has demonstrated that he's a candidate who shoots from the hip (Note to Media Matters: I am speaking metaphorically).  The Washington Examiner's Charlie Spiering breaks down Perry's Top 10 one-liners here.

Author's note: This post has been updated with video.