If I recall correctly, back in the '90s Newt got positively whacked for saying (out of context) that conservatives would let Social Security "wither on the vine." Once bitten, twice shy, I'd say. And honestly, can you imagine any politician, no matter how frankly conservative, seriously campaigning on a promise to end Medicare and Social Security?
Please look it up....another story about Newt that is false....and I am not a Newt fan for President, but I do like his gumption.
Working within Congress has to be the most daunting challenge for any conservative who wants to abolish, reduce or fix Government programs. Not only dealing with the socialist Dems, but having to motivate GOP colleagues to stand up and fight against earmarks and entrenched special interests.
As POTUS, Newt would be the pilot - not a flight attendant. With a great crew and a veto pen - he could truly keep his promises and passengers safe;)
Good point.
Also one thing people have to understand. Social Security really isn’t going bankrupt. What is...is that politicians have spent that money already on consummables to buy votes.
Had they never went to the IOU SS would be solvent for generations; however, they are spending the money as fast as it comes in and passing the burden to our grand kids.
I’m not a fan of SS; however, let’s put blame where it deserves to be put—politicians buying votes and voters screwing their grandkids over for freebies.
Also if we don’t have SS, you know the liberals would not let grandma starve and freeze to death...so they’d just raise our taxes to pay for her via welfare. As much as I don’t like it, SS is kind of a lessor of two evils. Until we as a population are willing to let grandma freeze to death it’s either we all pay for grandma or we make grandma save some of her money via SS (or some other mandated program).
Once again the BIGGEST problem with SS is the federal government can spend the money on non-SS items.
“In a speech that October to a Blue Cross/Blue Shield conference Gingrich said he held to the belief that the federal bureaucracy overseeing Medicare—then the Health Care Financing Administration, now the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services—would “wither on the vine because we think people are voluntarily going to leave” Medicare once market-based alternatives were made available.”