Texas Gov. Rick Perry used to be pretty frank when it came to the countrys Social Security system. In his fiery anti-Washington book, Fed Up!, published last fall when he had no plans to run for president, Mr. Perry called the program, which turned 76 on Monday, a crumbling monument to the failure of the New Deal.
He suggested the programs creation violated the Constitution. The program was put in place, at the expense of respect for the Constitution and limited government, he wrote, comparing the program to a bad disease that has continued to spread. Instead of a retirement system that is no longer set up like an illegal Ponzi scheme, he wrote, he would prefer a system that will allow individuals to own and control their own retirement.
But since jumping into the 2012 GOP nomination race on Saturday, Mr. Perry has tempered his Social Security views. His communications director, Ray Sullivan, said Thursday that he had never heard the governor suggest the program was unconstitutional. Not only that, Mr. Sullivan said, but Fed Up! is not meant to reflect the governors current views on how to fix the program.
