Perry's Iowa Remarks Reveal Republican Strategy on Social Security

From Truthout

Wednesday 31 August 2011

by: Daniel Marans, Campaign for America's Future | Report

The media have portrayed Governor Rick Perry’s description of Social Security as a “Ponzi scheme” at a recent Iowa campaign event as the latest extreme statement of an unconventionally candid, conservative presidential candidate. But Perry’s full remarks reveal just as much about the Republican Party’s strategy for cutting Social Security as they do about Perry himself.

The question that prompted Perry to call Social Security a “Ponzi scheme” and the beginning of Perry’s response—which have not been flagged in the flurry of media attention over Perry’s statement—shed light on rank-and-file Republicans’ support for Social Security and the delicate strategy Republican politicians employ in talking about how to “reform” the program, as a result.

(For a point-by-point takedown of Perry’s biggest Social Security whoppers, click here.)

Here is the text of the question and the beginning of Perry’s response:

    Iowa Woman: The current Administration is promoting Social Security as an entitlement program (inaudible). The question is, is what it originally started out to be is not an entitlement program. Americans were working and putting money into it—

    Rick Perry: It was a retirement program. And actually it’s turned into a tax now—

    Iowa Woman: There is such a bad sum of people who are on it who have never put into it—

To read the entire article, go here.