Mike Huckabee and the GOP's Small ‘Save Social Security’ Caucus
Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee addresses the crowd at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida, on August 29, 2012 during the Republican National Convention (RNC).
Photographer: Mladen Antonov/AFP/GettyImagesIn the middle of Mike Huckabee's presidential announcement, his populism took him to a land many Republican candidates fear to tread.
"There are some who propose that to save the safety nets like Medicare and Social Security, we ought to chop off the payments for the people who have faithfully had their paychecks and pockets picked by the politician, promising them that their money would be waiting for them when they were old and sick," said Huckabee. "My friend, you were forced to pay for Social Security and Medicare. For 50 years, the government grabs the money from our paychecks and says it'll be waiting for us when we turn 65. If Congress wants to take away someone's retirement, let them end their own congressional pensions, not your Social Security."