Burnt Orange Report

What Republicans Want, but are Afraid to Say

By Byron LaMasters

Dick Armey isn't afraid to point out the real agenda though (emphasis mine):

Former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey said Friday that Social Security should be phased out rather than saved.

"I think if you leave people free to choose, it will be phased out by competition," the former Republican congressman from Lewisville told reporters before sharing a President's Day Dinner with the Smith County Republican Club. [...]

"We now have a generation of people that are thoroughly committed to investing their hopes and futures in private IRAs (Individual Retirement Accounts)," Armey said. "People will always do better for themselves when they are free to choose from among competing options than if they are compelled. Most thoughtful people could do better." [...]

He added there will never be a class of destitute Americans who neglected to do their own investing.

Is Dick Armey in La-la-land? Oh, wait, is the Pope Catholic? Besides the obvious idiocy of Armey's remarks, and his utter inability to comprehend poverty and understand the working class in America, Armey's remarks are very telling. The Republican agenda on Social Security is not one of minor tweaking, or of harmless "personal accounts". They want to dismantle the entire program. Not all at once - it'll be a piecemeal process, but have no doubt, that is their aim. Just ask the Pennsylvania young Republicans... "Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Social Security has got to go"!

Meanwhile, Tom DeLay notes that only one-third of GOP congressmen tried to sell the GOP Social Security plan during the congressional recess - typically with little success. The other two-thirds? They didn't even bother trying:

Last week's congressional recess was intended to be a big chance for GOP lawmakers to push the president's plan in their home districts. Instead, it found Brady and his compatriots here and across the country often encountering chilly skepticism to President Bush's ideas on remodeling the strained benefit program for elders. They found that the opposition was often surprisingly organized and hoped-for support did not always materialize.

The tension could be daunting for some lawmakers. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, said only about a third of House Republicans nationwide conducted meetings on Social Security.

"I am very disappointed about that," said DeLay, who held two town hall meetings on the issue last week.