2012 Nebraska Senate Debates: on Social Security

Bob Kerrey: We must keep our commitments & do right for the future

KERREY: What she's saying, basically, is that if you're over 40, you're not going to have to participate in the solution. The question is not: Are we going to keep our commitments? But the question is: Are we going to do the right thing for our future? The most moving moment of my political career was in Lincoln, Nebraska, on 6 June 1994, with men who had landed on the beaches of Normandy 50 years earlier. And we celebrated them as heroes, not because they avoided risk but because they took risks. And the question is: Are we going to be remembered in the same fashion? And if we do it the way Senator Fischer is talking about, I promise you, we won't.

FISCHER: Well, I wasn't in government when those commitments were made.

Bob Kerrey: Entitlements are $60 trillion liability; must do something

KERREY: We've got a commitment we can't fund. And it's simple math. It's a $60 trillion unfunded liability with $400,000 worth of debt for every single person in the workforce. We made a commitment that we can't keep. And the question is, what are we going to do about it? And if we don't do something about it, we'll end up like Greece relatively soon.

Bob Kerrey: Raise payroll cap & raise retirement age to 69

The two also disagreed on how to reform federal programs like Social Security and Medicare. Kerrey's plan would expand the payroll tax to higher income levels and would gradually increase the age of eligibility for benefits to 69 in 2075. Fischer's plan would increase the retirement age for people who are now younger than 40 and would limit benefits for the wealthy.

Kerrey said "there's a grain of truth" in comments that America has become an entitlement nation. While he doesn't view Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries as "moochers," Kerrey said, those programs amount to a $60 trillion unfunded liability that works out to "$400,000 worth of debt for every person in the workforce."

Deb Fischer: Don't change benefits for people over the age of 40

KERREY: What she's saying, basically, is that if you're over 40, you're not going to have to participate in the solution. The question is not: Are we going to keep our commitments? But the question is: Are we going to do the right thing for our future?

Deb Fischer: Raise retirement age & limit benefits

The two also disagreed on how to reform federal programs like Social Security and Medicare. Kerrey's plan would expand the payroll tax to higher income levels and would gradually increase the age of eligibility for benefits to 69 in 2075. Fischer's plan would increase the retirement age for people who are now younger than 40 and would limit benefits for the wealthy.

Both candidates strived to take cautious, balanced positions when asked whether America has become an entitlement nation. Fischer distanced herself from Mitt Romney's statement in which he said 47% of Americans don't pay income taxes and many feel entitled to government support; Fischer said, "People sometimes need help and government should be there for them."

Deb Fischer: Look at means testing & higher retirement age

Fischer spoke about possible changes to Social Security, while noting many lawmakers won't take a stand on the topic. "We need to look at means testing. We need to look at (raising) the eligibility age," she said.