John McCain: " Social Security Is A Total Disgrace"

So much for the third rail and the long-surviving institution created by the New Deal. At least as far as Republicans go that is. George Bush tried to privatize Social Security three years ago and at that point he lost all respect from the majority of Americans. Now John "McSame" McCain is not only following in George's footsteps, but he wants to take it even further because he feels that the entire program is "total disgrace."

From The Carpetbagger Report:

It’s possible John McCain decided he doesn’t really want to be president after all. It’s a tough, demanding job, and maybe McCain came to the conclusion he’s just not up to the task. It seemed like a good idea to him last year, but maybe he bit off more than he could chew. It’s too late for McCain to bow out, but he can ensure his defeat by saying the most breathtakingly dumb things imaginable.

Take Social Security, for example, one of the most popular and successful government programs in American history. McCain recently said he supports privatizing the system. Then he said, he doesn’t want to privatize the system. Then he said he would privatize the system, he just doesn’t want it to be called privatization.

Listening to him talk, it sounded as if John McCain, after more than a quarter-century in Congress, simply didn’t know how the Social Security system works. And this week, McCain proved that he simply doesn’t know how the Social Security system works. Here’s what he told a town-hall audience in Denver on Monday:

“Americans have got to understand that we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers in America today. And that’s a disgrace. It’s an absolute disgrace, and it’s got to be fixed.”

OK, let’s take a deep breath here. Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system. Current workers pay into the system to provide benefits for retirees, and when those workers retire, the next generation will pay their benefits. That’s what Social Security is. That’s how it works. That’s how it’s always worked.

And as Carpetbagger notes, this isn't the only time he has said this. If this is his opinion, then he wants to permanently end Social Security as we know it. The funds that pay for the system would disappear and the greatest social safety net we have ever created in the United States would be no more.

Unbelievably the media is not even bothering to call him out on this....so we have to, and so does Barack Obama. I can't wait for this to come up at one or all of the debates this fall. If it gets mentioned on national television, all I can say is that would be the end of John McCain.