On Bill Bennett’s radio show yesterday, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina — who is currently a leading economic adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — said that McCain is interested in “taking on finally the reform of Medicare and Social Security.” “He is absolutely convinced that this must be tackled in his term as president,” [...]... lire la suite
Lien du post: http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/17/mccain-social-security/
On Bill Bennett’s radio show yesterday, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina — who is currently a leading economic adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — said that McCain is interested in “taking on finally the reform of Medicare and Social Security.” “He is absolutely convinced that this must be tackled in his term as president,” [...]
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Halfway through a two-week economic tour, Senator Barack Obama turned the topic to Social Security on Friday, sharply criticizing Senator John McCain for his stance and suggesting that Mr. McCain is a flip-flopper. “My opponent in this general election, John McCain - his idea of Social Security amounts to four more years of what was attempted and failed under George W. Bush,” Mr. Obama said, referring to Mr. McCain's previous support of private accounts within Social Security. “Yesterday, he tried to deny that he ever took that position, which leads us to wonder if he had a change of heart or a change of politics.” Speaking alongside his wife, Michelle, and the state's Democratic governor, Ted Strickland, Mr. Obama laid out his plan for Social Security and retirement, which calls for an adjustment of the cap on the payroll tax, and to eliminate income tax for senior citizens making under $50,000 a year. Mr. Obama told the crowd that the “tax cuts for the rich” that Mr. McCain has proposed would provide “essentially no benefits to the vast majority of senior citizens.” The McCain campaign quickly issued a statement responding to Mr. Obama's speech, saying that Mr. Obama's tax proposals would raise taxes for some senior citizens “Barack Obama likes to think that his tax increases will only hit a few Americans, but in truth, his economic plan will be a disaster for everyone, especially seniors,” said Tucker Bounds, a McCain spokesman.
Yesterday, despite his clear record on the issue, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told a crowd in Nashua, NH that he has “never” been for the privatization of Social Security. At another town hall in Pemberton, NJ today, McCain tried to push back against criticism of his position on the issue by telling the crowd, “I [...]
In a speech to senior citizens in Ohio yesterday, Obama unveiled his new position on Social Security. The Associated Press tries to make sense of it, with the assistance of Obama staffers, here. Obama proposes an increase in Social Security taxes. Here is how he described it to his audience in Ohio: Here's where I would start. Right now, the Social Security payroll tax is capped. That means that most middle-class families pay the payroll tax on every dime that they earn. But, once you get to $102,000 per individual, then you're no longer paying the payroll tax. And what that means is, is that while you, most of the people here, paid Social Security on every dime you ever earned, you've got billionaires and millionaires who are paying only a tiny fraction -- paying payroll tax on only a tiny fraction of their income. I've got a friend in Omaha -- you may have heard of him -- named Warren Buffett. He's worth $56 billion. You know, if he's only paying the first $100,000, that is .000001 percent of his income is he paying Social Security. I may have lost a couple of zeroes in there. There is a reason, of course, why the income on which we pay Social Security taxes has always been capped. The Social Security program was intended as a safety net, not as a wealth redistribution program. Since the amount of benefits one can receive is capped, it has always been considered fair to cap the income on which the tax is paid as well. This makes no sense. If it is unfair for someone making $100,000 to pay Social Security taxes on all of his income while "billionaires" likewise pay only on their first $100,000 of income, then why isn't unfair for the $100,000 guy to pay taxes on his whole income, while the $200,000 earner pays Social Security taxes only on the first half? The incoherence of Obama's approach to Social Security doesn't stop there. He rails ritually against private accounts: Now, my opponent in this general election, John McCain, his idea on Social Security amounts to four more years of what was attempted and failed under George Bush. He said that he supports private accounts for Social Security, in his words, along the lines that President Bush proposed. *** But let me be clear: Privatizing Social Security was a bad idea when George Bush proposed it; it's a bad idea today. When Obama goes on to outline his own plan, however, it turns out that the centerpiece (along with a tax increase) is nothing other than private accounts: Finally, we're not going to help people reach a secure retirement unless we encourage savings. But today, personal savings is at an all-time low, as the average American has seen their wages or incomes flat-line or even decline, at the same time as costs for everything are going up. *** And that's why I've proposed an automatic workplace pension. There's going to be no red tape or complicated forms. Employers will provide a direct deposit of a small percentage of each paycheck into your account. You can add to it, or you can opt out of it at any time. And so it's going to be optional. *** And employers will have an easy opportunity to match employee savings. If you switch jobs, your savings will roll over into your new employer system. If you become self-employed, you'll be able to control your account. *** And we'll also help middle-class families start their own nest egg by matching 50 percent of the first $1,000 saved, a match that will be directly deposited into your savings account, a tax cut that will truly encourage savings.... Are private accounts a good idea? Of course they are. Obama is planning for his own retirement through his 401(k) plan and related private accounts, not Social Security, as is probably every single person with whom Obama is acquainted. But it is incoherent and dishonest, even by Obama's standards, to denounce private accounts in one breath and propose them in the next.
During his town hall event in New Hampshire yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) got into a verbal back and forth with a voter over his support for Social Security privatization. McCain told the man, “I’m not for, quote, privatizing Social Security. I never have been. I never will be.” Watch it: But McCain’s record begs to [...]
In an interview published in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) abandoned his plan for Social Security, in which he proposes “supplementing the current Social Security system with personal accounts.” Instead, McCain told the WSJ that “as part of Social Security reform, I believe that private savings accounts are a part of [...]
On ABC’s This Week today, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) falsely claimed that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) “is not for the private accounts to take the place of social security.” “He’s for what Bill Clinton used to call Social Security plus,” said Lieberman. Lieberman didn’t disagree, however, when host George Stephanopoulos pointed out that McCain had “disputed [...]
On Sunday, ABC’s George Stephanopoilos asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) about his plans to fix Social Security. McCain said repeatedly that “everything has to be on the table” regarding possible reforms — including a payroll tax increase: STEPHANOPOULOS: So, that means payroll tax increases are on the table, as well? MCCAIN: There is nothing that’s off the [...]
In honor of the 73rd anniversary of President Franklin Roosevelt’s signing of the Social Security Act, the New Mexico Democratic Party attempted to sing “Happy 73rd Birthday to Social Security” outside of a McCain campaign office, “only to have the birthday cake thrown in the trash by the campaign”: While McCain supporters screamed, “Obama sleeps with [...]
During an interview with the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) contradicted himself in a matter of minutes regarding Social Security. When asked how he would “fix Social Security,” McCain first said, “You’ve got to say look, everything is on the table.” But then, minutes later, when asked if he [...]