Posted on 09/14/2007 10:27:49 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
As Fred D. Thompson moves around the country delivering his folksy stump speech, he routinely makes his way through a laundry list of top concerns: national security, immigration reform, federalism and activist judges, among others.
But he seems most energized when he discusses the ballooning cost of entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, and what he calls a need for more fiscal responsibility and less government in Washington. It is a recurring campaign theme of his.
Mr. Thompson, a former Republican senator from Tennessee, made his greatest plea for the presidency, for instance, at the end of such remarks this week at a stop in Greenville, S.C., saying: “We’re going to be going through the Social Security surplus before long, along with the pork barreling and spending and the regular stuff that’s going on now, we’re seeing a demographic change.”
“No politician wants to face up to it,” he said. “We’ve got to send a message to Washington that we are better than that. And you can do that by electing a president who will blow the whistle on that irresponsibility for what it is — and I am that man.”
Audiences usually break into enthusiastic applause at this point, adding spark to a kickoff campaign tour that some analysts have seen as lackluster. But political analysts and others say Mr. Thompson’s focus on issues like entitlements and spending could be risky and, if discussed honestly and in-depth, carries the potential of alienating large segments of the population: the elderly who benefit from such programs and the workers whose payroll taxes may be increased to support baby boomers in their retirement.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Hey, this article has “folksy” in the first line!
I hate to be a fly in the Thompson ointment but he can make any conservative promise he wants. It’s unlikely Republicans will gain a majority in either of the two chambers of Congress. That said I don’t think we’ll dip beneath that magic number 40 in the Senate.
And the author of this article only used the word folksy once. Those darn editors at the New Times must be slipping.
He’ll have a veto pen, and as you say, the GOP probably won’t lose that many seats.
It’s unlikely Republicans will gain a majority in either of the two chambers of Congress.I think you're wrong there. The Democrats' hold on the House is tenuous and unsustainable given the national party's positions and where the freshmen Democrats hail from. A strong GOP candidate with coattails will wipe all the Democrat gains of '06 away, and then some.
Just rollover the amount of what everyone put into in Social Security into their own private 401(k) or IRA. Medicare should be gradually phased out & Medicaid should be completely abolished.
It's pretty funny how biased just this excerpt is--does ANYONE believe the NYT is somehow objective?
The thing about Thompson's theme about entitlements, though, is that it is one thing people may believe CAN be dealt with in DC. They aren't sure what to do about the war or terrorism--they're not experts in those areas--and they think "they're all guilty of it" when it comes to corruption.
But cutting spending? THAT they can get a handle on.
The problem, though, as the author accurately reports, is that for all the talk about "getting government off our back" and those other nice bromides is that even here on FR people want THEIR entitlements left alone--it's that other guy's entitlements that should be cut.
Whenever somebody calls Fred "folksy" everyone has to do a shot.
lol!
Thompson appears to be the only one addressing the entitlements, it will be interesting to see if he comes up with some concrete proposals. In fairness Romney addresses it in a roundabout way.. he argues for lower taxes, tort reform and streamlined government to increase economic growth, so we can afford more.
My proposal is take the percentage we tax people on income for social security.. Then divide it between all the recipients. If our economy does very well, the young make high incomes and so on, then the elderly will get more.. If we start getting overwhelmed by demographics then they will get less.
One thing all our main candidates seem to understand unlike the dems is we are on the right hand side of the laffer curve. Raising taxes simply isn’t an option to deal with spending shortfalls. As raising taxes would ironically lower revenues.
The word folksy is I am sure supposed to be a way to say you don’t take this person seriously. However, it is also a word that gives the Thompson Campaign a grass roots feel. It makes Thompson seem more approachable. This kind of tactic of using the term folksy to make Thompson seem less intellectual, will IMHO backfire on the authors of such drivel.
Seeking a theme? Not quite. He’s talked about entitlements for years. He thinks spending has gotten WAY out of control, and knows that Republicans have been just as much to blame as Democrats in the last few years.
Oh boy! A Fred Thompson drinking game! Let's make a list of the usual words and phrases:
folksy, lazy, no fire in the belly, gravitas, towering, slow, baritone voice...
Y'all got some others we can add to the list?
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
“Trophy wife”, “avuncular”, “lobbyist”, “down-home”, “B-movie actor”, “cancer-stricken” and etc...
Fred Thompson is talking about tackling entitlement programs and cutting the size of government. What other serious candidate is doing that?
There is no spoon.
You can’t add words!! We’ll all be soused 24/7!
“Hey, this article has “folksy” in the first line!”
Yes, it does. Which is an elite yankee code word for STUPID REDNECK!
When will true Rednecks have enough of this shiite!
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