Mike Huckabee on Medicare at Tonight's CNBC DebateBOULDER, Colo.- Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee made a full-throated defense of Social Security and Medicare while other candidates proposed cuts, in a GOP debate dominated by these issues. He also touted his unique record defeating the Clinton Machine and called for cures for diabetes, heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's.
The following are excerpts from this evening:
"Tell me what's different between the government and Bernie Madoff, who sits in prison today for doing less than what the government has done to people on Social Security and Medicare in this country."
"Today, Congress decided to take another $150 billion away from Social Security so they can borrow more money. That makes no sense!"
"Let's quit blaming people for Social Security. It's like them getting mugged then saying we're going to mug you some more and you just have to "get over it." No sir! We need to honor our promises. This is not a matter of math. This is a matter of morality."
"[Social Security and Medicare is] money that people have had confiscated out of their paychecks. Everytime they got a paycheck the government reached in and took it out before they ever saw it. Now we're going to blame the people?"
"If we means test Social Security then the government decides whether I deserve money or not..The government has no business."
"You know how much money we spent on polio last year? We didn't spend any. You want to fix Medicare? Do what we did on Polio. Focus on the diseases that are costing us trillions of dollars: Alzheimer's, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Eradicate these and you've fixed Medicare."
"I've spent a lifetime in politics fighting the Clinton Machine...I'm the only guy who has consistently fought the Clinton Machine every election. Not only did I fight them, I beat them. Not only did I fight them and win, I lived to tell about it!"
"I refuse to walk my five grandchildren through the charred remains of a once great nation."
