Perry and Romney trade jabs on Social Security

TAMPA, Fla. — Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann is attacking Rick Perry’s decision to require that sixth-grade girls receive a vaccination to prevent the human papillomavirus. As governor of Texas, Perry signed an executive order mandating the HPV shots, though his decision was overturned by the state legislature.


Bachmann says that order amounted to a “government injection” that threatened the rights of parents.


Perry is standing by his decision to require the vaccines because they can prevent cervical cancer. Perry says supporting the vaccinations means supporting life.


Still, Perry says he would have changed the process he used to require the shots. Instead of using an executive order, Perry says he would have gone through the legislature.


Bachmann’s comments came as the Republican presidential candidates sparred at the second of three debates this month.


Texas Governor   Rick Perry softened his comments from a week earlier in California when he called the retirement program established in the wake of the Great Depression "a monstrous lie" to young people.


On Monday at the Florida debate, Perry called the Social Security system broken, but he said emphatically that anyone now receiving benefits or nearing retirement age would not have those checks curtailed.


"Slam dunk guarantee," Perry said, "that program is going to be there in place" for current retirees, adding it would be in place for "those individuals who are moving towards being on Social Security, that program's going to be there for them when they arrive there."


Asked by moderator Wolf Blitzer about Perry's position and how it might play in the general election against President Obama, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney reminded viewers that Perry had called the Social Security program unconstitutional.


"The real question is does Governor Perry continue to believe that Social Security should not be a federal program, that it's unconstitutional and it should be returned to the states or is he going to retreat from that view?" Romney said.


Perry said the United States needs to "have a conversation" about changing the way Social Security is financed for the future.


"We're having that right now, governor. We're running for president," Romney shot back.


Florida has the nation's largest proportion of elderly voters and is a critical state in the nominating process.