Posted on 01/06/2012 6:38:10 PM PST by DJ MacWoW
KEENE, N.H. (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum called Friday for immediate cuts to Social Security benefits, risking the wrath of older voters and countless others who balk at changes to the entitlement program.
"We can't wait 10 years," even though "everybody wants to," Santorum told a crowd while campaigning in New Hampshire and looking to set himself apart from his Republican rivals four days before the New Hampshire primary.
Most of his opponents have advocated phasing in a reduction and say immediate cuts would be too big a shock to current and soon-to-be retirees.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
And the devil is always in the details....we need specifics for a true analysis
Cut out all the fraudulent disability claims, especially Ritalin medicated kids and all new immigrants.
This is an example of why he lost re-election of his home state by 20 points.
He is an idiot.
He is support taffis and voting agaisnt Nafta was going to hurt him in florida, this will finish him off..
Absolutely right.
Social Security is NOT the problem.
Government borrowing from the Social Security Trust Fund IS the problem.
Santorum needs to run on fixing the problem, not penalizing those who paid in to the Trust Fund for decades.
Sorry, Rick, but you are wrong on this one.
I absolutely agree.
Yeah, that’s going to play well in Florida and other retirement states. Dumb.
I’ll take Rick Perry’s calling SS a Ponzi scheme and calling for reforms that won’t affect those who have already paid and paid into it.
He might as well hang it up now!
Every part of the government budget needs to be cut, Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare included.
And if a senior lost money in the stock market, it is no one’s fault but their own.
Of course he is, even though his philosophy isn't far off the mark. Reminds me of the time, back in the early '70s, when I took a job as a Kirby vacuum cleaner salesman. "There are two things we never say," said the boss, while initiating me into the mysteries of salesmanship. "One is sales. The other is vacuum cleaner."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because!" he replied, incredulously, "that's what we do!"
Their? Then they can at least blame each other!
Removing illegals, druggies, and drunks would be a great start.
I believe you are right.
Place his campaign on a suicide watch.
Wow. I just posted on our FReepathon thread that Romney wasn’t going to attack Santorum -— he was just going to let him do himself in.
Good start, Santorum.
TMI and wrong timing.
The so-called “tax cut” was a cut in payments to Social Security. DUH.
Social Security is not the problem. Governent spending is and other such entitlement spending!
Wow. I just posted on our FReepathon thread that Romney wasn’t going to attack Santorum -— he was just going to let him do himself in.
Good start, Santorum.
TMI and wrong timing.
The so-called “tax cut” was a cut in payments to Social Security. DUH.
Social Security is not the problem. Governent spending is and other such entitlement spending!
He’ll get a book deal out of this campaign: “How to lose a campaign for POTUS”.
Yup!
“Social Security needs to be reformed, yes.”
No, Social Security and Medicare need to be abolished.
But, until then, we need to make deep cuts in Social Security, Medicare and every other aspect of federal spending.
There are no Sacred Cows!
He's dead in the water. Santorum is a fool.
And now every democrat running for whatever office can claim that the republicans want to cut social security and, for once, not be lying about it, if Santorum is the nominee.
How about cutting foreign aid, benefits for illegal aliens, welfare for layabouts, SS/Medicare/Medicaid fraud and grants for quasi-political orgs like ACORN first?
Yes there ARE sacred cows. That money belongs to the people who paid into SS!
Excellent point!
You’re right. There is so much other garbage that should be cut!
agree as well, 6 months ago I was sure this election would be a cake walk.
He is an idiot. Seniors VOTE.
They will not support anybody who wants to cut their SS.
Cut foreign aid.
I’m not sure what he actually intends. The problem is NOT with people who have paid into social security all their lives. It’s with people who are getting special bennies without having put all that much in. Illegals, among others, and plenty of welfare cheats.
Personally, I am retired and living largely on social security, AND I PAID FAR MORE INTO IT THAN I’LL EVER GET BACK. And I cannot afford more any cuts in what I am getting.
So, I hope he doesn’t mean cutting those benefits. On the whole, it would be best if we cut out some of the welfare angles and the cheaters—people receiving benefits for 20 years after the supposed recipient is dead.
I would take the article cautiously, because everyone seems to be out to undermine Santorum, so it would be just as well to wait and see what he really wants to do, and not what some AP presstitute says he wants to do.
What would he tell people? We took your money and you’re not getting it back?! What the heck is Santorum thinking?
Wow ! Santorum really stepped in it...and, unlike Perry, he wasn’t even wearing his boots !
He’s talking gradually over ten years, isn’t he?
Sanatorium has just submitted his resignation as a potential VP candidate on whoever’s ticket!
Our country is in desperate straights. I think it makes people panic.
“That money belongs to the people who paid into SS!”
If that is the case, write every Social Security recipient a check for the exact amount of money they paid in to Social Security minus the amount of money they have thus far received from Social Security.
Social Security is Socialism.
Hi Fives in Axelrod’s office. The wascally Wepublicans want grandma to each dog food!
Clearly aware of the risks, Santorum argued that everyone must sacrifice now because the nation's "house is on fire" with soaring federal debt. He argued that he is being courageous and honest by telling Americans they can't afford to wait to rein in Social Security's growing costs. And he said he anticipated possible attack ads on his position.
Remember, not only did you contribute to Social Security but your employer did too. It totaled 15% of your income before taxes. If you averaged only $30K over your working life, that’s close to $220,500..
If you calculate the future value of $4,500 per year (yours & your employer’s contribution) at a simple 5% (less than what the govt.. pays on the money that it borrows), after 49 years of working you’d have $892,919.98.
If you took out only 3% per year, you’d receive $26,787.60 per year and it would last better than 30 years (until you’re 95 if you retire at age 65) and that’s with no interest paid on that final amount on deposit! If you bought an annuity and it paid 4% per year, you’d have a lifetime income of $2,976.40 per month.
The folks in Washington have pulled off a bigger Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madhoff ever had.
Entitlement my ass, I paid cash for my social security insurance!!!! Just because they borrowed the money, doesn’t make my benefits some kind of charity or handout!!
Congressional benefits —— free healthcare, outrageous retirement packages, 67 paid holidays, three weeks paid vacation, unlimited paid sick days, now that’s welfare, and they have the nerve to call my social security retirement entitlements?
We’re “broke”!
In the last months we have provided aid to Haiti, Chile , and Turkey And now Pakistan ......home of bin Laden. Literally, BILLIONS of DOLLARS!!!
Our retired seniors living on a ‘fixed income’ receive no aid nor do they get any breaks while our government pours Hundreds of Billions of $$$$$$’s and Tons of Food to Foreign Countries and lazy Americans who have never worked a day in their lives!!!!
They call Social Security and Medicare an entitlement even though most of us have been paying for it all our working lives and now when it’s time for us to collect, the government is running out of money. Why did the government borrow from it in the first place? Imagine if the *GOVERNMENT* gave ‘US’ TAXPAYERS, the same support they give to other countries.
This is called “bait and switch”. People are barely able to get by now, thanks to energy and food prices skyrocketing. The last thing that any elderly person needs to hear is that they may be getting LESS money to make ends meet. To me, this proposal sounds daft. Talk about cutting any government agency, but not SS! Bob
Not good.
No one will EVER collect all they’ve paid into SS. Ever.
That was the first thing that came to mind when I read this.
A candidate can’t tackle all issues in a campaign. Your message must be short and concise. This is incomprehensible. Bob
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