Social Security marks the battle lines for CNN/Tea Party Debate

A battle over Social Security launched last week between the top two GOP presidential contenders doesn't show any signs of quieting down as candidates prepare for round two at the first-ever CNN/Tea Party Republican Debate on Monday night.

The debate, which will take place at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa, will also give the six other candidates on the stage a chance to change what many are portraying as a two-person race between Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

It all started Wednesday night at a debate at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Perry, the new guy in the race and the current front-runner in the national polls, and Romney, the previous front-runner in the GOP battle, sparred over jobs and Social Security.

Perry stood by earlier comments that Social Security is a "Ponzi scheme" and that it was a "monstrous lie" to tell young workers that the 74-year-old pension system would be there when they retire. Romney fired back, saying that "under no circumstances would I ever say by any measure it's a failure. It is working for millions of Americans, and I'll keep it working for millions of Americans."

Since then, both candidates have swung at each other through e-mail and social media. In a radio interview, Romney went a step further.

"If we nominate someone who the Democrats can correctly characterize as being opposed to Social Security, we would be obliterated as a party," he said.

Perry's team fired back, noting that in Romney's policy book "No Apology," the former Massachusetts governor compared the management of Social Security to a felony.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/09/12/debate.teaparty/

Social Security marks the battle lines for CNN/Tea Party Debate

Social Security marks the battle lines for CNN/Tea Party Debate

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