First, the Progressives lost their media monopoly so their fictional "Republicans want to eliminate Social Security!!!" only plays well to their Lunatic Fringe Base. The rest of the country is alert, engaged and starting to get educated. Second, the same people who told us that Fannie and Freddie are sound are telling us that Social Security and Medicare are sound and only the Democrat Lunatic Fringe Base thinks that's true. Third, Obama let the cat out of the bag by admitting that the only way the government could pay current check was through current borrowing, there are simply no real assets in the "Trust Fund" Perry needs to straight talk on Social Security and he wins at least 56 states of the 57 Obama claims to have visited in 2008
It's not enough to say that SS is a ponzi scheme, which it basicaly is. Perry and the GOP have to talk about what they would do about it to mke it solvent. It's not a win just to bitch about something, you gotta have some answers.
Agreed. Perry needs to not let the Progressive shout him into silence like they silenced Dubya. 1. You Don't OWN your SocSecurity account! 2. The "Assets" in it are wampum and only can be bought by an entity that is running up trillion plus annual deficits. 3. Partial Privitization will save SocSecurity
He just needs to articulate that in a manner that idiots as well as intelligent folks can understand it.
That is very true and I am sure he has the solutions and will bring them forth in a longer televised event. I love the fact that SO FAR this man is speaking the truth on the issues and not covering it up with pretty, slick and smooth-sounding language we have become so accustomed to with politicians.
There is one problem with Perry and the SS issue. While what Perry says is true, the vast majority of ederly, who rely on SS, are republican supporters. And with the media telling them Perry and republicans want to end SS, which is a lie of course, they will back Obama instead. Or at the least not vote at all.
All Perry did was state in plain Texan what has been widely know for years, by both conservatives and liberals. In any case, it’s certain that Perry’s Ponzi-scheme claim is in no way original. Not only have a raft of conservatives called Social Security a Ponzi scheme over the years, quite a few very respectable liberals have done so as well. It is clearly wrong either to treat the Ponzi-scheme analogy as unprecedented or to rule it altogether out of legitimate public debate. A historical tour of the use of the Ponzi-scheme metaphor will make the point.... Read the whole thing: Perry and the Ponzis - Stanley Kurtz - National Review Online
Sometimes you need to exaggerate to get attention. SS does have a lot of resemblences to a Ponzi Scheme. It differs in that it is legal and the operator can always print more money to cover the shortfall. But now that he has people's attention he ought to lay out a broad outline of how to reform it. Getting too detailed makes him look like a wonk and locks him into positions later on. The basic theme of "power to the people" is the right way to go.
The only difference is that with SS, the government can force unwilling participants to continue to contribute. Does that make it more moral? Not in my book.