The 2012 Presidential Race - the Safety Net falls apart?

This is one of the many things that I hate about the modern political debate - the Republicans all want to eliminate government, and particularly to defund many social safety net programs at the federal level. At the same time, their purported leading Presidential candidate had this to say in an interview with CNN:

“I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there,” Romney told CNN. “If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich, they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of the America, the 90 percent, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling.”

Really - what sort of safety net will be left if and when the federal programs that make it up are descimated to preserve the upper-income tax brackets tax cuts that are now a decade old. Really?