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Businessman: US Must Reform Entitlement Programs

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain told hundreds of conservative activists that the nation won't solve its financial woes until policymakers reform entitlement programs.

Cain says the conservative movement is gaining strength and will help Republicans take back the government from what he called radical socialism. Without naming any specific government programs, Cain says the country has "an entitlement spending crisis" that must be addressed.

Cain was among several potential GOP presidential candidates to speak Saturday at a conference in Des Moines sponsored by conservative Iowa Congressman Steve King. King says he wants to allow conservatives to shape the debate as Republicans begin seeking an opponent for President Barack Obama.

Cain spoke to the crowd after Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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