2006 AARP Senate candidate questionnaire

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Health Care     Alan Schlesinger: Answer is increased competition.     Bob Casey: Medicare Part D program is fundamentally flawed.     Bob Corker: Let competition determine Rx prices, not negotiation.     Claire McCaskill: Opposes annual limit on federal Medicare spending.     Harold Ford: Let Medicare negotiate prescription drug prices.     Ned Lamont: Health care is a fundamental right of every American.     Rick Santorum: Little or no benefit from negotiating Medicare Rx prices.     Robert Menendez: Don’t choose between filling prescriptions and refrigerator.     Thomas Kean Jr.: Include prescription drug coverage in Medicare.

Social Security     Alan Schlesinger: Invest Social Security in Mortgage paper.     Bernie Sanders: Despite GOP rhetoric, Social Security is NOT going bankrupt.     Bob Casey: Privatization drains money from guaranteed benefits.     Bob Corker: We must preserve benefits exactly as promised.     Bob Corker: Support automatic payroll deductions for IRAs.     Claire McCaskill: Diverting revenue to private accounts eliminates guarantee.     Conrad Burns: Soc.Sec. needs fixing; question is how.     George Allen: Only supports reforms that do not adversely affect benefits.     Harold Ford: Privatization will not enhance solvency.     James Webb: Opposes using Social Security taxes for private accounts.     Jon Tester: Privatization would end in massive debt or deep cuts.     Lincoln Chafee: Don’t put Soc. Sec. benefits at risk.     Maria Cantwell: Absolutely oppose payroll taxes to create private accounts.     Mike Dewine: Only consider privatizing as part of complete reform package.     Mike McGavick: No phase out of Soc.Sec.system; voluntary accounts ok.     Ned Lamont: Soc. Sec. is an insurance policy, not an investment plan.     Pete Ashdown: Opposes using Social Security taxes for private accounts.     Richard Tarrant: There is no Social Security Trust Fund.     Rick Santorum: Supports privatization if voluntary.     Robert Menendez: At forefront of fighting privatizing our “sacred compact”.     Sheldon Whitehouse: Don’t put Soc. Sec. benefits at risk.     Sherrod Brown: Privatizing undermines Social Security’s finances.     Thomas Kean Jr.: No privatization; but bipartisan cooperation needed.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Alan Schlesinger Republican Senate Challenger (2006) Connecticut Bernie Sanders Democratic Presidential candidate Bob Casey Democratic Sr Senator; previously state treasurer Pennsylvania Bob Corker Republican Jr Senator Tennessee Claire McCaskill Democratic Sr Senator; previously state Auditor Missouri Conrad Burns Former Republican Senator (MT, 1989-2007) Montana George Allen Republican Harold Ford 2010 Democratic Primary Challenger; previously US Rep (TN) New York James Webb Former Virginia Senator; Democratic Presidential candidate Jon Tester Democratic Jr Senator Montana Lincoln Chafee Rhode Island Independent Rhode Island Governor Maria Cantwell Democratic Jr Senator Washington Mike Dewine Ohio Republican candidate for Governor Mike McGavick Republican challenger (2006) Washington Ned Lamont Connecticut Democratic Candidate for governor Pete Ashdown Former Democratic challenger (2012) Utah Richard Tarrant Republican Challenger (2006) Vermont Rick Santorum Republican Presidential candidate Robert Menendez Democratic Jr Senator; previously Representative New Jersey Sheldon Whitehouse Democratic Jr Senator Rhode Island Sherrod Brown Democratic Sr Senator Ohio Thomas Kean Jr. Former Republican challenger (2006) New Jersey