When talking about the Tea Party movement, the largest number of respondents said that the movement’s goal should be reducing the size of government, more than cutting the budget deficit or lowering taxes.
And nearly three-quarters of those who favor smaller government said they would prefer it even if it meant spending on domestic programs would be cut.
But in follow-up interviews, Tea Party supporters said they did not want to cut Medicare or Social Security — the biggest domestic programs, suggesting instead a focus on “waste.”
Some defended being on Social Security while fighting big government by saying that since they had paid into the system, they deserved the benefits.
Others could not explain the contradiction.“That’s a conundrum, isn’t it?” asked Jodine White, 62, of Rocklin, Calif. “I don’t know what to say. Maybe I don’t want smaller government. I guess I want smaller government and my Social Security.” She added, “I didn’t look at it from the perspective of losing things I need. I think I’ve changed my mind.”
via Poll Finds Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated – NYTimes.com.
Funny thing about Social Security is that you don’t pay into the system for you own benefits. It is now and always has been an inter-generational wealth transfer. Your contributions go to pay for current retirees.
It would be nice if all the Social Security recipients in the Tea Party would stop and think about the implications of cutting taxes and government expenditures. Would they be willing to see their Social Security checks and Medicare benefits shrink? Or do they think someone else should bear the burden?
The bit about cutting waste is just silly. There’s not enough there to cut to make a dent in the deficit. The drivers of the deficit are the two largest entitlement programs: Medicare and Social Security. The larger issue is Medicare. Health reform was the first baby steps towards dealing with ever increasing medical costs endemic to our bizarrely inefficient health care delivery system. The Affordable Care Act=deficit reduction.
If you really care about deficit reduction and are intellectually honest about it, you need to go after where the big buck are spent. In addition to the entitlement programs, that would be military spending. An additional point would be the cost of the tax cuts passed under George Bush, which disproportionally benefited the wealthiest Americans. Call it what it was: welfare for the wealthy.
