SAN DIEGO | Politicians of all stripes pay homage to the Greatest Generation, as newsman Tom Brokaw dubbed the men and women who endured the Great Depression, helped win World War II, and went on create the most prosperous society the world had ever known.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., offered a less reverential footnote today, attributing the origins of today’s fiscal crisis to entitlement programs fostered by some of those same people.
“The Greatest Generation created many of what the private sector would call Ponzi schemes,” Issa said at an Association of Government Accountants conference here. “They created Social Security, they created Medicare on their watch, [they]created Medicaid.” All of that, Issa continued, “without resources or funding.”
“A generation that was doing many things right–coming out of World War II–also planted the seeds for all the problems we have today.”
Issa, who gave the morning keynote address at the conference, voiced that view in response to a question from an audience member.
13 Comments
Our Grandparents fought and sacrificed for your (Darrell Issa) right to to act like an ignorant dumb arse. You should thank them.
what a mental midget! This guy is a thug and a punk. We can do a lot better. Vote for Tetalman for congress.
we need your support
what a mental midget! This guy is a thug and a punk. We can do a lot better.
The Geatest Generation were no push over Darrell Issa. While you complained, 500,000 of them died to establish an idea that Democracy could survive. UNtil 1945 Democracy was not yet a t form of government. The Soft Sons of Democracy Will have Their Noses Bloodied on the Beaches of Europe and VOTE TO WITHDRAW ACROSS the wide oceans. …..my father’s 101st airborne won two Presidential Unit Citations, he came home was sucessful in the family business, elected to the Florida Legislature were he started the first new state university in the 20 th century. In congress he was honored to conduct the floor flights for most of what the baby cries about. He became Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. When the lunatics took over the house, he called the lunatic leadership a bunch of NAZI. Tom BROKAW tell the story of Sam Gibbons in the introduction to the Greatest Generation. Though he was southern he had a 100% voting approval of the NAACP during Civil Rights, he opposed Vietnam by drawing bill to remove funding once he determined that there was no possible strategy to WIN that war in any meaningful sense. He left Congress after repairing the Reagan disastrous VODOO ECONOMICS and the largest annual surplus in American history to pay down the debt in total by 2007. The bankers screamed that paying off our debt would destabilize te WORLD ECONOMY. Tha lunatics claim that voting for a tax cut is a tough vote. None sense, their is no easier or cowardly thing to do.
Hotwire Hank is all talk and absolutely no action.I would like so see him say that face to face with WW ll vets of any age. Opinions are like bellybuttons-every body gots one.
The Greatest Generation was too young to have created Social Security.
How did this guy get ELECTED?
Keep talking dirtbag. It makes it easier for your opponent to get elected. This generation of politicians have absolutely no right to criticize anyone for anything. Their rampant partisanship, greed and unethical behaviour has set a low point for politicians in our great nation.
Darrell Issa I assume voted for both the Iraq & Afghanistan debacles. What did he sacrifice for sending young people to 2 wars? His friggin’ taxes didn’t even have go up…first time ever during war-time.
You aren’t fit to shine my WWII dad’s shoes, Darrell. Sit down and let your elders teach you a thing or two about sacrifice and giving a leg up to the poor & old with Medicare & Medicaid. You with the Cadillac federal health plan.
You are an idiot. The generation you are referring to has had the best life yet. They have gone thru the Depression, learned to save and saw man walk on the moon. It is scary to read your comments. You need to be concerned with the generation growing up now with no morals or manners. Regroup your thoughts and concentrate on the future.
None of these personal attacks on Rep. Issa serves as a refutation of his assertions. Why is Bernie Madoff in prison today for running a billion dollar Social Security system? He paid initial investors with money from later contributors. All of the programs mentioned face insolvency in the very near future. Denying a problem doesn’t make it cease to exist.
Unfortunately for reality, the fact is the projected insolvency for social security is in 2033 and medicaid around 2024.
In the future, yes, but not the very near future.
However, future changes will need to be adjusted to all these programs which will probably mean sacrifice by current dependents which will be a difficult challenge.
Without resources or funding?? How ignorant! That’s what payroll taxes were for! However, Cong. Issa along with his congressional pals, spent all the money allocated for these programs. For what? Why, more wars, and to payoff foreign countries who hate us anyway!! Vote this guy OUT!