Rick Perry, the Republican Governor from Texas whose anti-gay Christians-only prayer rally drew a scant 30,000 people in a state as big as Texas and in a stadium that holds more than twice that crowd, has decided that Social Security and Medicare are unconstitutional. That’s right, Perry just grabbed the third rail of politics with both hands, and 30,000 Evangelicals at a prayer rally aren’t going to vote for a man for president who might save their souls but not their healthcare or their rent money. Remember, “keep your government hands off my Medicare?”
READ:Â Rick Perry: Evolution Is A Myth And Same-Sex Marriage Should Be Illegal
Perry, whose 2010 book, “Fed Up!” was the basis of this Newsweek/Daily Beast interview published today, but given last fall (no idea why…)  says, “I didn’t write the book and say anywhere in it, I got all the solutions.”
Just what America wants — a president who doesn’t have answers, but wants to take away senior citizens’ safety net.
Fortunately, Perry also says in the Newsweek/Daily Beast interview, “Not going to run for president. Not going to be a vice-presidential candidate.”
Whew! Finally. A man of his word!
“I don’t think our founding fathers when they were putting the term “general welfare†in there were thinking about a federally operated program of pensions nor a federally operated program of health care. What they clearly said was that those were issues that the states need to address. Not the federal government. I stand very clear on that. From my perspective, the states could substantially better operate those programs if that’s what those states decided to do.”
WATCH:Â Rick Perry Speech At Anti-Gay Prayer Rally The Response (Video)
But when asked, “What did the Founders mean by ‘general welfare’?,” Perry fumbles. “I don’t know if I’m going to sit here and parse down to what the Founding Fathers thought general welfare meant.”
Um, ok…
If that’s not enough to convince you, try this.
“Whether it’s Social Security, whether it’s Medicaid, whether it’s Medicare. You’ve got $115 trillion worth of unfunded liability in those three. They’re bankrupt. They’re a Ponzi scheme. I challenge anybody to stand up and defend the Social Security program that we have today—and particularly defend it to a 27-year-old young man who’s just gotten married and is trying to get his life headed in the right direction economically. I happen to think that the Progressive movement was the beginning of the deterioration of our Constitution from the standpoint of it being abused and misused to do things that Congress wanted to do, and/or the Supreme Court wanted to implement. The New Deal was the launching pad for the Washington largesse as we know it today. And I think we should have a legitimate, honest, national discussion about Washington’s continuing to spend money we don’t have on programs that we don’t need.”
And the few “solutions” Perry offers — freezing spending for a year and ending earmarks — even he of Cs and Ds in college — admits are “simplistic.”
In addition to Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid, Perry also wants to gut the 17th Amendment, which removes the right of the state legislatures to elect Senators, and places that role directly into the peoples’ hands. So much for a small government, right?
And let’s not forget Perry believes whole-heartedly in the 10th Amendment, unless it has to do with same-sex marriage or healthcare.
Oh, and then there’s this death sentence for Perry: a path to legal citizenship for people in America “illegally.” Whoops!
Â