BOSWELL: MCCAIN, JUST LIKE BUSH, WANTS TO PRIVATIZE SOCIAL SECURITY

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Des Moines, IA – On the eve of the 73rd anniversary of Social Security, Congressman Leonard Boswell criticized Senator John McCain for wanting to privatize the Social Security benefits that 558,000 Iowans rely on.

Social Security has been hailed as the most effective anti-poverty program in our nation's history, but John McCain and his Republican friends are dusting off their dirty tricks and scare tactics to push for more of the same failed Bush economic policies and push Americans towards private accounts.

“Senator McCain has been quite clear, offering more of the same failed Bush economic policies and saying personally that he believes that the way Social Security works is a ‘disgrace,’” said Congressman Leonard Boswell. “Well, the people of Iowa disagree. It’s time to say no to the same old politics that put Wall Street profits ahead of Iowa families."

According to a report from the Campaign for America’s Future released last week, McCain’s privatization plan would put 82,000 Iowans in greater risk of falling into poverty.

“This election the choice is clear: Senator McCain, who wants to privatize Social Security, or Senator Obama who will work with Congress and the American people to ensure we honor America’s promise to us all, that we can someday retire in dignity,” Boswell added.

The full report by the Campaign for America's Future can be found at: http://assets.ourfuture.org/documents/perils-of-privatization/iowa.pdf.

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The John McCain Record on Social Security

A centerpiece of McCain's presidential bid in 2000 was a plan to divert a portion of Social Security payroll taxes to fund private accounts, much as President Bush proposed unsuccessfully...McCain's 2008 presidential campaign Web site takes a different view, proposing "supplementing" the existing full Social Security system with personally managed accounts. Such accounts wouldn't substitute for guaranteed payments, and they wouldn't be financed by diverting a portion of Social Security payroll taxes...Asked about the apparent change in position in the interview, McCain said he hadn't made one. "I'm totally in favor of personal savings accounts," he says. When reminded that his Web site says something different, he says he will change the Web site. (As of Sunday night, he hadn't.) "As part of Social Security reform, I believe that private savings accounts are a part of it -- along the lines that President Bush proposed." [Wall Street Journal, 3/6/08]

In 2006, McCain voted for the Bush's Social Security Privatization Plan. The proposal would have shifted Social Security’s annual surpluses into a reserve account that would be converted into risky private accounts. [S.C.R. 83, Vote #68, 3/16/06]

In 2003, McCain Voted Against Protecting Social Security in Favor of Bush’s Tax Cuts. The proposed amendment would have eliminated most of President Bush’s tax cuts and placed the surplus revenue into Social Security trust funds. [S.C.R. 23, Vote #58, 3/18/03]

In 2000, McCain Voted Against Increasing Social Security Survivor’s Benefit. The proposed amendment would have increased the Social Security survivors' benefit to at least 75 percent of the benefits their parents would have received. It also dedicate interest savings from paying off the national debt to Social Security. [H.R. 8, Vote #192, 7/14/00]

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