On Social Security, Rick Perry Protests Too Much: Ramesh Ponnuru

Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The increasingly sharp campaign-trail exchanges between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry about SocialSecurity reflect a long-running division among Republicans aboutthe program.

Perry, the governor of Texas, stands with those Republicanswho never made their peace with a universal pension program runby the federal government. Romney, the former governor ofMassachusetts, argues that the program is worthwhile but thatits growth needs to be reined in, and that Perry’s rhetoric willbackfire.