Smart, Thoughtful Mike Pompeo Acknowledges That the Constitution Puts Limits on Federal Power! And He Wants to Abolish the Department of Education!
The next presidential race is on. One probable candidate is former CIA Director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He just released a new book: "Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love." Pompeo must be a smart guy. He graduated first in his class at West Point. Then he went to Harvard Law School. Interviewing him makes it clear that he is smarter and more thoughtful than most politicians.
We talked for an hour about immigration, defense, education, tariffs, entitlement reform, pandemics and more. We disagree about a lot. Pompeo knows I'm a libertarian and would disagree with him about a lot. But he agreed to talk about ... anything. Then he repeatedly said things that surprised me.
Pompeo calls himself a "deficit hawk." I give him a hard time about Republican hypocrisy, pointing out that under Trump, Republicans increased the deficit.
"Guilty as charged," Pompeo replies. "My party has been no more serious about actually delivering solutions to this problem than the Democrat Party."
That's surprisingly honest.
He also doesn't dodge the fact that Social Security and Medicare are going broke.
"The math suggests that somehow these trust funds run out about the time my son Nick will turn to Social Security."
"What do you do?" I ask. "Raise retirement ages?"
"There's nothing that should be off the table," he answers.
That's brave. Voters vilify politicians who admit that Medicare and Social Security are unsustainable and must be changed if they are to survive.
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