Romney steps up Social Security attacks on Perry
MIAMI – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney significantly turned up his rhetoric on Social Security this morning, trying to stem the rise of rival Rick Perry by pointedly contrasting their positions on a cherished program for retirees.
Romney also began to outline his own prescription for the program, saying he would raise the retirement age and slow benefits for wealthy recipients, as he spoke at a town hall here under signs on two large projectors that read: “Reform & Strengthen Social Security.’’
“There’s an entirely different alternative proposed by Governor Perry,’’ Romney told an audience of about 75 at a Doubletree Hotel ballroom. “He said, by any measure, Social Security is a failure. I disagree. I think by the measure of the tens of millions of people who rely on Social Security, it’s a success.’’
“I want to protect it,’’ he added. “I want to save it. I want to make sure that its there for coming generations. I think it’s a good thing. I don’t think everything that comes out of Democrats is good, but this came out of FDR, I think this one’s pretty darn good.’’
Romney also mocked the Texas governor’s suggestion to turn the 76-year-old federal retirement program over to states. As he did, the large projector screens switched to a new message: “Six Questions to Ask Rick Perry About His Social Security Proposal.’’
“What would be the cost of having 50 different social security systems?’’ said Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts. “Let’s say you’d been a person who’d moved to four or five different states? Would you get four or five different checks every month? And what happens if one of them didn’t make it?’’
Romney’s visit here comes ahead of a crucial few days in the Republican presidential contest, and in a state that is playing an increasingly large role in the race. Nine GOP candidates will debate tomorrow on Fox News Channel in their third debate in 15 days. On Friday, they will address a conservative conference in Orlando, and a straw poll will be taken on Saturday.
Under the backdrop, Social Security is likely to play an increasingly large role, particularly in a state whose retirees have significant sway in elections.
Perry’s campaign responded to Romney’s comments almost immediately, tagging the former governor a “liberal’’ and saying he was simply trying to scare voters into supporting him.
“Mitt Romney’s own book compared Social Security to a criminal enterprise,’’ Ray Sullivan, the Perry campaign’s communications director, said in a statement. “Now Mr. Romney is again sounding like a Democrat, distorting the truth and trying to scare senior citizens. As he has so many times in the past, Mr. Romney seems to forget he’s a Republican.’’
He also reiterated that Perry would protect benefits for those who are at or nearing retirement.
Romney this morning also began making an explicit argument to primary voters that he stands the best chance to defeat President Obama – even while Perry may be the one who at the moment is most inspiring the Republican electorate.
“I’m going to be a Republican candidate who can win. And I say that with significance,’’ Romney said. “It’s one thing to get the base of our party. I want to have the base firmly and solidly behind me and my vision of believing in American and in American principles. But I also want to get independents and women generally and a lot of Democrats to say, “Yeah he’s a pretty good guy, too.’ That I’ve got to do.’’
And as proof that he could work with Democrats, Romney referred to his weekly leadership meetings held at the Massachusetts State House with Democratic lawmakers (“We had snacks and refreshments, and then we talked about the challenges the state faced,’’ he said).
When talking about his electability, Romney said he would not alter his positions for political gain – a statement that comes with some irony for someone who has been criticized for being politically flexible and switching his own opinions in the past.
For example, he campaigned for office in liberal Massachusetts in 1994 and 2002 as an abortion-rights supporter; he ran for the GOP nomination in 2008 and again now as a more conservative abortion opponent.
“I think the American people recognize we’re at a point of crisis,’’ Romney said. “They can tell when people are being phony and pandering to an audience. And you’ll see that in politics; you’re not going to see that in my campaign. …I can’t guarantee that I’ll win every election, but I can guarantee I’ll be proud of the campaign I run, and the positions I believe in are the positions you’ll hear about.’’
At a brief press conference after the town hall, Romney rebuffed a question of whether he was referring to Perry as a “phony.’’
“I have no names for you, sorry,’’ he said. “I’m not going to get into characterizing anybody.’’
But it was clear that he was trying to draw out the contrast on Social Security, the issue that has dominated the last two debates.
“Social Security can’t keep on going forever the way it is,’’ Romney said, echoing the thrust – but not the tenor – of some of Perry’s comments. “All those that are current retirees, or in their late 50s or early 60s, they don’t have to worry. We’ve got plenty of funds to care for all of those people for the rest of their lives.
“But those of you who are in your 20s, and 30s, and 40s, and early 50s, probably need to recognize that somehow the system will change down the road,’’ he added. “For younger people, not for older people.’’
He also endorsed two ideas that he suggested he would implement if elected: raising the retirement age, and slowing the growth of cost-of-living increases for wealthier recipients.
“Look, we’re not going to raise taxes,’’ he said. “We’re going to slow rate of inflation down and calculate it the benefits of high income soc security recipients. And over time we’ll increase the retirement age by a modest amount, a year or two.’’
In an area heavily populated with Hispanic immigrants, a question on immigration came from an unlikely source: a London financial consultant who can neither vote for Romney nor donate to his campaign.
“I love legal immigration,’’ Romney said to applause. “At the same time, I know that to protect legal immigration, and potentially to even expand it as time goes on, you have to stop illegal immigration.’’
He said he would have a fence, more border patrol agents, and would crack down on employers who hire those they know are in the country illegally.
“By the way, there are some big differences on this as well,’’ Romney said. “Governor Perry, for instance, opposes the fence, opposes the Arizona law.’’
Romney also outlined a point system that could be used for immigrants to obtain citizenship – earning points, for example, for graduating from high school, speaking English, or having family in the United States.
‘You decide what are the attributes that you’re looking for, and you provide points on that basis,’’ he said, without specifically endorsing the policy. “And people can then go on the web and see where they are, and how many people are ahead of them.’’
Romney also said ties with Latin American countries should be strengthened, when won another round of applause.
“It’s hard for me to understand how it is that we have such interest in what’s happening in Asia, and such interest in what’s happening in Europe, and such interest in the rest of the world … and pay so little attention to what’s happening here in our immediate region,’’ Romney said. “I can’t imagine how we’ve ignored Latin America for so long with so much at stake.’’
He said that, if elected, he would appoint an envoy who had specific responsibility for Latin America, charged with pursuing more trade agreements and focusing on human rights issues.
It was Romney’s first town hall in Florida, a state that is poised to be one of the early-voting states in the Republican primary. The state is also hosting next year’s Republican National Convention, and will again be a major battleground in the general election.
“I joke that the most awkward and embarrassing questions are often the most interesting,’’ Romney noted at the beginning of the meeting, but few questions seemed to make him squirm.
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