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Come on! Some of the public may not be ready to hear such rhetoric. Some of the public appreciates a straight shooter. Perry needs to drill home the fact that seniors 55 and above will not see ANY changes in their SocSec. Most younger Americans understand SocSec will not be there for them unless changes take place asap.

I agree with Perry. I don't believe in the entire Social Security system personally, but if I wanted to be elected to office I'd never say it. Sorry, the vast majority of old folks will not agree with Perry's characterization of Social Security. And for many/most, it is their single biggest concern. You threaten social security at all, and old folks will crawl out of the woodwork to vote against you. I don't like it, but it is what it is. We're just not even close to ready for that "adult conversation" people keep claiming we're nearly ready to have - on ANY entitlement really.

We are still completely addicted to the social welfare state and my hunch is it will have to pretty much collapse before it can ever be dealt with.

So what you're saying is, Perry (and others) need to continue playing a form of political jujitsu and keep on deceiving seniors into believing that conservative GOPers want to end their personal security blanket.

I couldn't disagree with you more.

Reagan preached privatization and personal accounts for two decades. He settled for the Greenspan Commission.

Bush43 preached privatization and personal accounts for several years, only to see his reform plan get brutalized from those on the left and the right.

While it won't be easy, its time to address the issue of entitlement reform. Reagan didn't threaten seniors and neither did Bush43. No threats have been made against seniors by Perry.

Its time to touch the third rail of politics. Lets stop being afraid to do what is necessary. First to have serious discussions about reform and then to actually reform all entitlements. Preferably, before they go bankrupt and along with them, the country soon thereafter.