Rick Perry Quotes
Social Security is a Ponzi scheme.
It was not known whether he actually believes such an extreme statement, or he just made it to pander to the extreme right wing of the Republican Party who were a large part of his political base. In effect he was calling the Great Republican Presidents after WWII like Eisenhower a con artist. See {622864}. A Ponzi Scheme is an illegal investment scheme designed so that the early investors get paid by the later investors and the crook running it skims money off the top and has no intention whatso ever to pay off the later investors. It is named after a Bostom Crook who ran the scam in the early 20th century.
Rick Perry, Governor of Texas (Republican), Candidate for the Republican Presidential Nomination, Quoted on PBS Washington Week In Review, August 26, 2011
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This was before the Republican Party moved so far to the right. Eisenhower not only supported Social Security where each generation was paid for by the next generation, but he was adamant that the benefits were too low and should be increased. See {623075} for the extent that the Republican party deviated from its roots and traditions,
This is a classic statement from the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party. Here he not only criticizes the most successful and popular program in American History, but he describes it as a criminal fraud and then claims that Social Security is the biggest threat to our democracy—a bigger threat than Al Qaeda and terrorism, a greater threat than global warming, a greater threat than the housing bubble and the Great Recession. The Tea Party blindness to the effect of these gross exaggerated and obviously false claims is fascinating. He seems totally sincere and yet it is hard for voters to believe that he actually has faith in what he says—although perhaps faith is all he has.
Both of these programs have been amongst the most popular programs in American History. Yet for Republican conservatives at the beginning of the 21st century, these were programs that they wanted to either terminate of alter in such severe manners that they would not be anything like the original programs. When these programs were passed by Congress, most Republicans were opposed to the legislation but enough were supportive to have bipartisan support. However, by 2000, most liberal Republicans had been driven out of the party, and it was the Democrats who kept the programs alive and in force despite the Republican assaults. The Democrats had public opinion on their side on these battles and even most registered Republicans opposed President George W. Bush’s major attempt to privatize Social Security.
Social Security was part of FDR’s New Deal legislation. It was passed in the middle of the Great Depression in 1936. By the end of the 20th century many people had forgotten or never learned that Social Security was a government social program. It provided relieve for two of the biggest social problems—old age retirement and disability. Most people have no idea that they had disability insurance covered by Social Security throughout their working lives unless they happened to be disabled. The price of a comparable private disability plan would be substantial, yet it is a benefit that most people have and few know it.
- Born: March 4, 1950
- Nationality: American
- Profession: Politician
James Richard "Rick" Perry is an American politician who served as the 14th United States Secretary of Energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th Governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2012 and 2016 elections.
