Bruce Guthrie in The Washington Times

On Social Security: Personal accounts if under 25; opt-out if under 50

A: First, we must keep our promises to our senior citizens. We have an obligation to provide them with the benefits that they expect. But the young people I talk to, the guarantee rings hollow with them. Here’s what we need to do. For those 25 and under, their contribution should go into a personal savings account that would accrue interest and grow over time. For the gap between 25 and 50, they can either opt-out and accept a lump-sum payment, or they can continue with the current system. The demographics have changed on this issue, and the Democrats and the Republicans have no plan.

On War & Peace: Iraq is in civil war; bring the troops home

McGAVICK: We have got to win the war against radical Islamic terrorism. To suddenly withdraw from Iraq would give our enemy heart, and would give them a staging ground for terrorism against us.

GUTHRIE: Currently in Iraq we have a civil war. The Sunnis and the Shiites are battling each other in a blood feud. Saddam’s dictatorship prevented that before. The only thing we can do to prevent that civil war from continuing is to set up a repressive regime that’s almost as bad as the one we took out. The Iraqis want to control their own country. Our brave soldiers are doing their best, but we need to bring them home as quickly as is consistent with their safety.

CANTWELL: We do need to change the course in Iraq. To say that we’re going to stay there as long as it takes, or even indicate that we’re going to have permanent bases, is the wrong message to the Iraqi government.