I am writing to correct a misquote in Monday’s coverage of the primary in the Republican Fifth District Congressional race. In that story, I was quoted as saying “I don’t want to cut entitlements.” The interview was conducted over the phone while I was walking the streets of Maumee, knocking on doors. Reception wasn’t perfect and the reporter and I apparently had a miscommunication.
In fact, there is nothing I would like to cut more than entitlements. I actually said that a freshman congressman would be naïve to think he or she is going to go to Washington and reform entitlements right away. What I want to do is go there and identify those things that can realistically be cut and get to work. I hope to create a culture of spending cuts, which doesn’t currently exist in Washington. After a few things are cut and we start to see it is not only possible to do so but necessary, then we can approach entitlements.
By the way, said entitlements do not include Social Security. Americans paid for Social Security through payroll confiscations over the years and this is the first debt our country needs to pay back – the one owed to its own citizens.
Any serious approach to balancing the budget and saving future generations from the avalanche of debt that Washington is creating will have to slash entitlements. Career politicians have created a situation where free benefits often pay more than employment. We can’t fix what they have done overnight, but we can start by voting out those who were complicit in causing this disaster.
— Todd Wolfrum, Van Wert, Republican candidate 5th Congressional District.
