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pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
Sun Nov 8, 2015, 07:53 PM Nov 2015

Ronald Reagan was elected TWICE even though he strongly pushed to end Social Security

Medicaid, and Medicare. Based on some comments here lately, I think many here don't realize that.

That wasn't a policy the majority of Americans supported, but they voted for Reagan anyway. Because they thought he was a nice guy -- and he told a nice story about America in a comforting way. Apparently, they trusted Congress to rein him in on the "policy" issues -- and Congress did.

Now we face another genial candidate , Dr. Ben Carson, who is also pushing to end Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare. But this nice guy, if he gets elected, will probably have a GOP Congress backing him up.

We need to fight Dr. Ben Carson (and anyone else who wants to end Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid) with every tool at our disposal. And that means we and the media should not be putting all the focus on policy details, which most Americans don't follow -- till it's too late.

We have to show the kind of snakes who are lurking behind these pleasant faces.

Thanks to the WSJ, the WAPost, and other media sources who are starting to expose Dr. Ben Carson for the lying, self-serving, narcissistic creep that he is.

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Bluenorthwest

(45,319 posts)
1. So we should be talking about those aspects of him, he wants to end beloved and vital programs
Sun Nov 8, 2015, 08:01 PM
Nov 2015

that benefit millions and that's horrible and that's what we should be talking about, the rest is for the yellow press to do and do it they will. Not all Americans are as stupid as you think and some don't want to read about the silly stuff to the exclusion of policy choices. Those who want to do Kardashian style will always do so, I don't need to help them, nor do our candidates. Our job is to remind the press what is actually important.

madville

(7,397 posts)
3. Reagan was never going to end Social Security regardless of what he "wanted"
Sun Nov 8, 2015, 10:40 PM
Nov 2015

What he did have was a Democratic Congress, Speaker (Oneill), and a bunch of Senate Democrats that were willing to work with him in order to "fix" Social Security by raising the retirement age gradually from 65 to 67 by the year 2000 and to raise the payroll contribution to the current 12.4% that's paid now.

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
4. But Ben Carson has a chance if he has a Rethug congress to back him up.
Sun Nov 8, 2015, 10:50 PM
Nov 2015

And Reagan might have if he'd had the chance. He'd been calling for it since at least 1962.

madville

(7,397 posts)
5. They would need around 10 Democratic Senators
Mon Nov 9, 2015, 06:41 AM
Nov 2015

To go with them, not going to happen. I could see a bipartisan deal to raise the income cap, bump up the retirement age a year or two, and increase the payroll tax a percent, that's far more likely

 

smirkymonkey

(63,221 posts)
6. Maybe this is a dumb question, but what could be the possible justifications for ending
Mon Nov 9, 2015, 07:03 AM
Nov 2015

Social Security? That aren't totally psychopathic, I mean. People have paid into this their entire working lives and then the plan is to just stiff them when they retire? How could that possibly fly with any working person? How could any working person vote for a candidate that even suggests this?

Art_from_Ark

(27,247 posts)
7. When did he strongly push to end all that?
Mon Nov 9, 2015, 07:18 AM
Nov 2015

He made some bullshit record in 1961 against "socialized medicine", but in the 1980 campaign he did not advocate for the destruction of these programs in the campaign, he only claimed that Medicare wasn't what he had wanted. And he actually ran on a platform of "strengthening" Social Security by increasing the payroll tax (which he later raided to pay for his tax cuts for the rich).

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