(Taking “youth” to mean anyone younger than forty-five; if you can remember Ike, you’re safe!)
Over at the Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire blog, Neil King Jr. reports that Rick Perry (or the very wise people running his campaign) has backed away from several of the provocative claims he made in his recent book, Fed Up!, particularly that Social Security is unconstitutional.
Today, Perry’s communication director, Ray Sullivan, clarified Perry’s position, saying,
Allow me a moment to parse this statement by Governor Perry’s point man on media relations. In essence, what Mr. Sullivan’s carefully constructed answer is saying is, if we win the presidency, (1) we’re going to preserve Social Security and Medicare for older people, because they reliably vote Republican, and (2) we’re going to dismantle said programs for everyone else because they’re just too goshdarned expensive!
Shall I paraphrase Mr. Sullivan’s thinking further? I think I can boil it down to three words. Fuck young people.
Almost every entitlement reform proposal floated in recent times has called for a significant cut in Social Security benefits for people currently entering the workforce. The youngest members of today’s workforce, already hamstrung by persistent unemployment, will probably face sharp cuts in entitlement benefits to cover debts accumulated by yesterday’s wars and tax cuts.
Those of us Millennials lucky enough to have steady employment are now paying into a system which many of our elders, like Governor Perry, have no intent of preserving for us.
Given the content of Perry’s book, which labels Social Security “an illegal Ponzi scheme,” I doubt very highly that Millennials can count on the governor to reform entitlements in good faith.
Also, I have to admit, I somewhat doubt that Governor Rick "graduated with a 2.2 GPA in animal science at Texas A&M" Perry actually could have written that book. I bet someone at ALEC ghostwrote it for him.
Over at the Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire blog, Neil King Jr. reports that Rick Perry (or the very wise people running his campaign) has backed away from several of the provocative claims he made in his recent book, Fed Up!, particularly that Social Security is unconstitutional.
Today, Perry’s communication director, Ray Sullivan, clarified Perry’s position, saying,
The governor wants to see the benefits for existing retirees and those close to Social Security be strongly protected. [Beyond that], he believes a full review and discussion of entitlement reforms need to be had, aimed at seeing that programs like Social Security and Medicare are fiscally responsible and actuarially sound. (quote credit to King)
Allow me a moment to parse this statement by Governor Perry’s point man on media relations. In essence, what Mr. Sullivan’s carefully constructed answer is saying is, if we win the presidency, (1) we’re going to preserve Social Security and Medicare for older people, because they reliably vote Republican, and (2) we’re going to dismantle said programs for everyone else because they’re just too goshdarned expensive!
Shall I paraphrase Mr. Sullivan’s thinking further? I think I can boil it down to three words. Fuck young people.
Almost every entitlement reform proposal floated in recent times has called for a significant cut in Social Security benefits for people currently entering the workforce. The youngest members of today’s workforce, already hamstrung by persistent unemployment, will probably face sharp cuts in entitlement benefits to cover debts accumulated by yesterday’s wars and tax cuts.
Those of us Millennials lucky enough to have steady employment are now paying into a system which many of our elders, like Governor Perry, have no intent of preserving for us.
Given the content of Perry’s book, which labels Social Security “an illegal Ponzi scheme,” I doubt very highly that Millennials can count on the governor to reform entitlements in good faith.
* * *
Also, I have to admit, I somewhat doubt that Governor Rick "graduated with a 2.2 GPA in animal science at Texas A&M" Perry actually could have written that book. I bet someone at ALEC ghostwrote it for him.
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