His new suggestion is not to split Texas from the other 49 states, but rather to give it the option to secede from the national pension program that has defined retirement in the country for 75 years.
"When you look at social security, it's broke," Perry told the hosts of MSNBC's Morning Joe this morning. "My kids, 27 and 24, they know this is a Ponzi scheme."
One way out of this mess, in Perry's mind? Just abandon Social Security altogether and let the states handle it. Texas (of course) has already fixed Social Security's problem, Perry says, so why should it be saddled with paying the Ponzi debts of every other sucker?
"Why is the federal government even in the pension program or the health care delivery program?" Perry asked. "Let the states do it."
Perry is currently on a national tour touting his book Fed Up! which is focused on the many ways the federal government should, in essence, get off the backs of the 50 states. The tools of federal tyranny Perry describes would be at home at any tea party rally: In a nutshell, taxes are too high, the EPA is too nosy and the health care reform law is an existential terror.
It all goes back to the Founding Fathers, Perry says.
"They did not believe that all of us would be alike, and they really didn't like centralized government and mandating down to these states how to act, how to look," he told NPR.
Right, because providing a safety net for the elderly is entirely like dictating how states should dress its citizens. Meanwhile, Rick wants to hide cuts to the program that would be necessary by privatizing it and raising the retirement age.
I understand Texas and its traditional and historic role of independence. But Perry's just using this silliness to cover his tracks to make cuts to the program and to line the pockets of banks who'd just love to see a privatized retirement system, you know, the same banks that ran out economy into the ground. Besides, how do you just up and secede from federal programs you don't like? How does that even work?
Is Texas going to give up all its federal money? I'd like to see them do that.
Seems to me the phrase here is "all hat, no cattle".
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2 comments:
"Right, because providing a safety net for the elderly is entirely like dictating how states should dress its citizens."
No, not really.
But taking 5% or so of my earnings with no guarantee that I'll ever see any returns of the money, or even any contractual obligation to pay me the money, and with something approaching piss-poor returns on the money they do take if they do decide to pay it out?
That's not telling me how to dress. That's telling me I'm a serf.
Yeah, already had the huge throwdown with Rusty over this, old friend.
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