It is politically incorrect for anyone to say anything critical of the so-called “Greatest Generation,” but Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has never been one to let convention get in the way of speaking his mind.

On Tuesday, Issa suggested that despite the heroism of the “Greatest Generation,” they are responsible for spawning many of the programs that have caused many of today’s financial problems.

“The Greatest Generation created many of what the private sector would call Ponzi schemes,” Issa said at an Association of Government Accountants conference in San Diego, according to the Federal Times.  “They created Social Security, they created Medicare on their watch, [they] created Medicaid.”

Issa said all of these programs were created ”without resources or funding.”

“A generation that was doing many things right–coming out of World War II–also planted the seeds for all the problems we have today,” Issa said. 

Tom Brokaw famously dubbed  those who “endured the Great Depression, helped win World War II, and went on to create the most prosperous society the world had ever known" as the "Greatest Generation" and wrote two books profiling members of that generation.