Romney Campaign Press Release - Perry and State Social Security

In The Past Week, Governor Perry Has Said That Social Security Should Be Brought Back To The States For State Employees Only:

On September 30, Perry Said That States Should Be Able To Opt Out Of Social Security And Create Their Own Programs For State Employees. PERRY: "I also think we need to open it up so that the states can again, like they had historically, been able to take the employees of the state or the retirees of the state and opt of Social Security and create their own programs." (Rick Perry, Remarks, Derry, NH, 9/30/11)

On September 22, Perry Said That State Employees And Retirees Should Be Able To Go Onto A System That The States Operate Themselves. PERRY: "What we said was, we ought to have as one of the options the state employees and the state retirees, they being able to go off of the current system, on to one that the states would operate themselves." (Fox News RPOF Debate, Orlando, FL, 9/22/11)

But Governor Perry Has Repeatedly And Passionately Claimed That Social Security Should Not Be Run At The Federal Level:

Perry: "Get It Back To The States. Why Is The Federal Government Even In The Pension Program...? Let The States Do It." PERRY: "When you look at Social Security, it's broke. ... Get it back to the states. Why is the federal government even in the pension program or the health care delivery program? Let the states do it. ... That, I will suggest to you, is one of the ways this federal government can get out of our business, save a lot of money and get back to that Constitutional way of doing business in those enumerated powers that they're supposed to have." (MSNBC's "Morning Joe," 11/5/10)

In Fed Up!, Perry Says Social Security Is In Place "At The Expense Of Respect For The Constitution." "Social Security is something that we've been forced to accept for more than 70 years now. ... at the expense of respect for the Constitution and limited government." (Rick Perry, Fed Up!, 2010, p. 50)

• "By Any Measure, Social Security Is A Failure." (Rick Perry, Fed Up, 2010, p. 62)

Perry: "Let The States [Decide] How To Run The Pensions." PERRY: "There's a number of things in that book that will strike Americans as horrifying. And we must, as a people, get put back in the box. Get this government back to the limited form that our founding fathers sought. Let the states, whether it is how to run Medicaid, how to run the pensions." (Fox's "On The Record With Greta Van Susteren," 11/8/10)

Perry Called Social Security A Program "That We Don't Need." PERRY: "I think every program needs to stand the sunshine of righteous scrutiny. Whether it's Social Security, whether it's Medicaid, whether it's Medicare. You've got $115 trillion worth of unfunded liability in those three. ... And I think we should have a legitimate, honest, national discussion about Washington's continuing to spend money we don't have on programs that we don't need." (Andrew Romano, "Rick Perry On The Record," The Daily Beast, 8/12/11)