Echoing what he told a Koch Brothers audience in November, Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney told the audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference that he would cut Social Security benefits and that he would make changes to Medicare that would effectively begin the privatization of the program. While Romney was a little more vague about privatizing Medicare, he made no mistake about his proposal to cut Social Security:
"We're going to have to recognize that Social Security and Medicare are unsustainable, not for the current group of retirees, but for coming generations," Romney told the 2012 Conservative Political Action Conference. "And we can't afford to avoid these entitlement challenges any longer."
Romney said: "We are going to slowly and gradually raise the retirement age for Social Security" from the current 66 for full benefits. "And we'll slow the growth rate in benefits for higher-income retirees."
As for Medicare, "tomorrow's seniors should have the freedom to choose between Medicare and a range of private plans," Romney said to applause. "And if these future seniors want a more expensive plan, then they will have to pay the additional cost."
Romney's proposed "solutions" are, of course, designed to solve a problem that doesn't exist. Both programs are sustainable for generations to come and the proposals that Romney and other Republicans are making for the programs would be more likely to create the problem they say they are trying to save.
h/t David at Video Cafe for the clip.
