Perry for POTUS? I don't think so!

The looming fiscal crisis in Europe and continuing high unemployment at home combine to shape economic and financial practices in government and on Wall Street. We are deep in the doldrums and grasp at the slightest whiff of good news only to be further tortured by additional reports of job stagnation and sovereign debt.

Our Governor, Rick Perry, is now running second to Mitt Romney in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. This past week, he joined a spirited televised debate among leading contenders.

Oddly, the debate was sponsored by NBC News and Politico prompting many observers to wonder why the candidates agreed to answer questions from such staunchly democratic organizations. But they did and at one point Newt Gingrich chastised the NBC and Politico presenters for posing questions intentionally designed to generate internal fighting among the candidates.

Rick managed to alienate a large section of America by attacking our Social Security system. He referred to it as a Ponzi Scheme constructed on lies. He was making a valid point, but it was sensationalized and poorly articulated to the point where working Americans reacted against Rick instead of his criticism.

He will spend the remainder of his candidacy regretting and attempting to rectify this statement.

Immediately after his remarks, Romney cooly remarked that our SS system is important to America and does not need to be suspended, but rather improved. Social Security is one of the few government programs that sits well with the American people.

The flagrant abuse of SS funds collected by Government and then pilfered to finance this and that bill is a very sore issue. So are the large increases in the percentage taken from salaries.

When SS first began, deductions amounted to 2% of salaries or wages with 1% being paid by the employer. Today it is 12.4% of salary with both employee and employer still paying half. There is a limit, however, and annual earnings over $106,000 are no longer subect to the payroll deduction.

The viability of the system is projected to last until the early 2030's at which time there will be insufficient funding to finance payouts to retirees.