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Santorum commits Republican sacrilege: Attacks Ronald Reagan (Barf Alert)
The Daily Caller ^ | January 5, 2012 | Jamie Weinstein

Posted on 01/05/2012 7:24:42 AM PST by Kaslin

BRENTWOOD, N.H. — Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum committed one of the gravest sins in Republican politics on Wednesday evening by knocking the revered former President Ronald Reagan at a packed town hall meeting.

While addressing America’s entitlement crisis at his first New Hampshire event since his stunning near-victory in the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday, Santorum said Reagan contributed to the entitlement crisis by pushing Social Security’s sustainability issues down the road instead of dealing with them head-on in the 1983 bipartisan deal to fix Social Security.

“If Rick Santorum gets elected and we do what I said that we need to do, which is to deal with the entitlement programs now, not 10 to 20 years from now,” Santorum said.

“You’ll know — unlike Ronald Reagan who maybe was a better politician than me — you’ll know that it was Rick Santorum that worked together and got the American public to gather together to fix this problem. Why? Because it is our problem.”

Santorum was walking the audience through what he called the “ancient days of yesteryear” in a interminable and incredibly detailed response to a questioner. He explained that in the 1983 deal Reagan brokered with Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil to fix Social Security, the retirement age was moved back to 67, but that change wasn’t slated to be enacted until the politicians responsible were out of office.

“This was the brilliance of the politicians that did this,” Santorum said sarcastically.

“They were absolutely brilliant. They passed a bill that didn’t take affect for 20 years so nobody blames them. It was brilliant. They increased the Social Security age by two years back in 1983 and it didn’t start phasing in, it doesn’t fully phase in for almost 40 years. And so Ronald Reagan did that. Most people have no idea — no one associates Ronald Reagan with raising the retirement age. Why? Because all of the people it affected were nowhere near retirement and they didn’t know about it.”

To another questioner, he continued his critique of Reagan for the Social Security deal.

“You know, I love Ronald Reagan, but if I would point to one thing during his administration that he did a serious wrong, it was this bill — it was this Social Security fix,” Santorum said.

“He bought the idea of increasing taxes now — that’s always what the left wants to do — increase taxes now, reduce benefits later. And that’s exactly what the bill did.”

Later Santorum invoked Reagan positively while explaining his plan to get rid of the tax code and create a new system with two rates: 10 percent and 28 percent.

Santorum said he chose 28 percent as the top rate, “Because that’s the top level Ronald Reagan put in place, and if it is good enough for Reagan on taxes, it’s good enough for me.”


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
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I posted the Barf alert because #1 the author did not show proof that Santorum did attack Ronald Reagan, nor could I find any article or video on it
1 posted on 01/05/2012 7:24:45 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin
You know if a post is from the Daily Caller, it just screams credibility (sarc).
2 posted on 01/05/2012 7:28:31 AM PST by Rational Thought
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To: Kaslin

SMEAR

Mitt Romney's propaganda people are very busy this week.

3 posted on 01/05/2012 7:31:17 AM PST by Cringing Negativism Network (ROMNEY / ALINSKY 2012 (sarcasm))
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To: Kaslin
Reagan himself admitted mistakes. He said the saddest moment of his presidency was when our marines were killed in that terrorist incident in Lebanon and his worst mistake was bugging out shortly afterward rather than dealing with it.

He also regretted the debt problems which he did not fix, but noted that was a conscious decision to make them a lower priority than winning the Cold War.

Ronald Reagan was not God and would be offended if anyone said he was. He just happened to be the most capable president this country produced in more than the last century.

4 posted on 01/05/2012 7:31:23 AM PST by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: Kaslin

Why that dirty SOB. Get a rope! /sarc


5 posted on 01/05/2012 7:31:23 AM PST by writer33 (Mark Levin Is The Constitutional Engine Of Conservatism)
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To: Kaslin
They passed a bill that didn’t take affect for 20 years so nobody blames them. It was brilliant.

Or maybe because it's best to give the citizens such changes will affect time to make adjustments in their retirement plans. Santorum's not making as great a point here as he seems to think.

I hope he becomes competitive beyond Iowa, but this one won't help him with many voters.

6 posted on 01/05/2012 7:31:31 AM PST by Will88 (I>)
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To: Kaslin

I agree the headline doesn’t match the story. It could just as easily be titled “Rick Santorum offers reasonable critique of 1983 law.”


7 posted on 01/05/2012 7:31:50 AM PST by Question Liberal Authority (I also think that Obama should be defeated.)
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To: Kaslin

Most conservatives know Reagan was not perfect. For some reason, the MSM has been led to believe we think he was.


8 posted on 01/05/2012 7:33:37 AM PST by rintense
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To: Kaslin

Well based on this article, what Santorum said was a legit criticism, OTOH trying to discuss SS at that time was death for a politician.


9 posted on 01/05/2012 7:33:51 AM PST by Leto (Damn shame Palin didn't run, The Presidency was Her's for the taking)
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To: Kaslin

“He bought the idea of increasing taxes now — that’s always what the left wants to do — increase taxes now, reduce benefits later. And that’s exactly what the bill did.”

That quote is accurate. I heard Santorum say it last night at a town hall broadcast on C-Span.

That said, the headline is over the top. Citing a disagreement over one aspect of one bill from 1983 is hardly “sacrilege”


10 posted on 01/05/2012 7:35:47 AM PST by RIRed
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To: Kaslin
“You know, I love Ronald Reagan, but if I would point to one thing during his administration that he did a serious wrong, it was this bill — it was this Social Security fix”

Unless Ronald Reagan has been designated by the GOP as a diety, beyond all criticism, Santorum's comment on a specific issue does not warrant the Daily Caller's histrionic headline. In the meantime, Santorum's specific claim can be discussed, debated, or refuted with substantive evidence.

11 posted on 01/05/2012 7:35:54 AM PST by Carl Vehse
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To: Kaslin

Oh. And Reagan himself would probably agree with what Santorum said last night.


12 posted on 01/05/2012 7:36:51 AM PST by RIRed
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To: Kaslin
RE :”While addressing America’s entitlement crisis at his first New Hampshire event since his stunning near-victory in the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday, Santorum said Reagan contributed to the entitlement crisis by pushing Social Security’s sustainability issues down the road instead of dealing with them head-on in the 1983 bipartisan deal to fix Social Security.
“If Rick Santorum gets elected and we do what I said that we need to do, which is to deal with the entitlement programs now, not 10 to 20 years from now,” Santorum said.

This is exactly true. He did do that by raising FICA taxes and changing/reducing some benefits, and then spent the newly created surplus as did both Bush's and Clinton.
That is not to say that Santorum or any Republican will do better than Reagan did 30 years ago. Look at the recent congress/Obama action on SS FICA taxes,.

13 posted on 01/05/2012 7:37:38 AM PST by sickoflibs (You MUST support the lesser of two RINOs or we all die!)
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To: Kaslin

Here goes the “take down Santorum” crowd.

So far, if we look at recent history, they win.


14 posted on 01/05/2012 7:37:59 AM PST by dforest
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To: Rational Thought
Santorum's past is fair game, but stuff like this and the made up "black" people comment is pure nonsense.

I rarely listen to O'Reilly, but I had it on Sirius last night driving, and I heard him put those words in Santorum's mouth as if it were fact. I'm glad Santorum pushed back and denied it. I just had to shake my head. They've done this with George Allen, Rick Perry, and now Santorum.

15 posted on 01/05/2012 7:38:05 AM PST by GOPyouth ("We're buying shrimp, guys. Come on." - Dear Leader)
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To: Kaslin
obvious Romney smear campaign...
16 posted on 01/05/2012 7:38:09 AM PST by FreedomProtector
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

“Mitt Romney’s propaganda people are very busy this week.”

There is no rest for the wicked.


17 posted on 01/05/2012 7:39:27 AM PST by Psalm 144 (Voodoo Republicans: Don't read their lips - watch their hands.)
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To: Kaslin

“that” was an attack on Reagan?
LOL!

man, last 48 hours I hear nails being pounded all around Santorum but I don’t see any jello stuck to the wall


18 posted on 01/05/2012 7:42:15 AM PST by silverleaf (Common sense is not so common- Voltaire)
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To: Kaslin

Yawn.....

Rise to the top to challenge RINO Romney and Marxist Obama and expect to see baseless attacks.


19 posted on 01/05/2012 7:44:41 AM PST by Proud2BeRight
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To: Vigilanteman

“Ronald Reagan was not God and would be offended if anyone said he was. He just happened to be the most capable president this country produced in more than the last century.”

Agreed. His greatest mistake though was not Beirut, it was allowing a smaller man to ride his coattails.


20 posted on 01/05/2012 7:45:10 AM PST by Psalm 144 (Voodoo Republicans: Don't read their lips - watch their hands.)
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