Fox News did a piece on where the five first tier candidates stand in regards to Social Security:

_ Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani: Supports private accounts. Opposes higher taxes. Favors bipartisan commission to propose changes. “I would rule out a tax increase”

_ Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: Supports private accounts. Opposes higher taxes. Open to a reduction in promised benefits to future retirees at higher income levels. “I’m prepared to be entirely bold, but I’m not prepared to cut benefits for low-income Americans.”

_ Sen. John McCain: Supports private accounts. Says obligations can be met without raising taxes. “As president, I’ll submit a plan to save Social Security, and I’ll ask Congress to do the same.”

_ Former Sen. Fred Thompson: Supports reduction in promised benefits to future retirees. Supports voluntary private accounts, with the government matching funds contributed by individual. Opposes raising taxes. “The status quo is not having a Social Security system as we know it.”

_ Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee: Supports private accounts. Would allow retirees who don’t need their benefits the option of a tax-free lump sum payment that goes at their death to children or grandchildren. Would allow higher benefits for seniors who delay retirement beyond 70. “The president had the right idea, but he used the wrong word.”

In Massachusetts, which passed a mandatory insurance law last year, high costs are forcing the state to let more than 10 percent of the uninsured off the hook because they won’t be able to afford the premiums.Experts say the affordability problem is not going away. Medical inflation means the gap between what most people can pay and what health care truly costs gets wider every year.

The Bakersfield Californian

Romney likes to tout this as one of his grand successes as Governor of the Peoples’ Republic of Taxachusetts, but it’s a crock. As the article points out, the costs are inflating and the state is now giving a sizable amount of people a pass on the mandate rather than the $1,000 fine that was supposed to penalize those who did not abide by the new freedom stealing law.

The Christian News Wire notes two different statements that Huckabee has made in the past concerning his Federalist approach to abortion. One is below:

“The issue divides strongly committed pro-life and pro-choice Republicans but is not a central issue to most other Republicans. A possible platform revision long under discussion would say the Republican Party, ‘unlike the Democratic Party, does not stand for abortion on demand and is basically a pro-life party.’ In the spirit of federalism, the proposed GOP revision also would replace the abortion amendment with a statement saying the issue should be left up to the individual state legislatures to deal with as each sees fit. ‘That’s exactly what we have looked for, and if it’s left up to the states, more of them are going to put some restrictions on abortion,’ Arkansas Lt. Gov. Mike Huckabee said in an interview after appearing on a conference panel yesterday.” (Ralph Z. Hallow, “Conservatives Hold Fire On Abortion,” Washington Times, 2/12/95).

I agree with Huckabee on this. The chances of the Federal Government passing an outright ban on abortion is a pipe dream and there are a lot of people in the pro-life community who need to come to that realization. The best approach is that being advocated by Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson, to overturn Roe and return the decision to the states. From there pro-life advocates can begin to lobby for bans on a state by state basis and actually make some progress instead of following the all or nothing approach.

Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson proposed an income tax plan Sunday that would allow Americans to choose a simplified system with only two rates: 10 percent and 25 percent.

Thompson’s proposal, announced on “Fox News Sunday,” would allow filers to remain under the current, complex tax code or use the flat tax rates.

Asked whether the plan would cut too deeply into federal revenues, the former Tennessee senator and actor said experts “always overestimate the losses to the government” when taxes are cut.

“We’ve known for years any time we have lowered taxes and any time we’ve lowered tax rates, we’ve seen growth in the economy,” Thompson said.

Thompson added that money would be saved by his Social Security reform plan. He proposed that workers younger than 58 receive smaller monthly Social Security checks than they are now promised. Individuals could contribute 2 percent of their paycheck to a personal retirement account, an amount that would be matched by the Social Security trust fund.

The retirement plan “faces up to the fact that Social Security is going bankrupt and we’re going to have to do something about it,” he said.

Thompson proposed permanently extending tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003, reductions that would end after Dec. 31, 2010 unless Congress acts.

Charlotte Observer

This is a pretty good idea and I think Thompson is approaching these issues the right way. The tax cuts he proposes are enough to give another boost to our economy and help middle and lower income families, but not so outrageous that the Democrats will have to be resuscitated with a defibrillator. He also puts up a nice plan to ease into private accounts for Social Security where it might be more palpable for those who opposed the Bush plan. Something has to be done on S.S. and the Democrats and a handful of RINOs simply aren’t up to it. Maybe Thompson could reach a middle ground by introducing these proposals as president.