Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), one of the co-sponsors of Rep. Paul Ryan’s Social Security-slashing budget proposal, went on Fox today to advocate privatizing both Social Security and Medicare.
Blackburn never used the word “privatize.” But her idea to change the entitlement programs so people have separate accounts with their money is privatization.
“We need to make sure that individuals get the money out that they have placed in,” she said. “This is one of the reasons we have had the discussion over and over for our younger earners of having accounts that have their Social Security number and their information on it, so you have that personal account.”
The Fox host, Stuart Varney, then said, “It was roundly rejected when President Bush suggested doing just that.”
When asked by Varney how Republicans could reform entitlements without cutting benefits or raising taxes, Blackburn called for “cutting back the bureaucracy that surrounds the program,” and said many town hallers have suggested just that.
“You don’t necessarily have to have benefit cuts,” she said.
