The Associated Press: on Social Security
Jack Conway:
Sue banks to recover Great Recession public pension losses
One of Kentucky's public pension systems lost $69 million because it unknowingly purchased risky mortgage-backed securities in the run up to the 2008 housing market crash.
But now, the system got $23 million of those losses back in an unprecedented settlement with Bank of America and its related companies.
Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway announced the settlement along with the federal Department of Justice and attorneys general from five other states.
The $23 million settlement covers $21 million in losses the retirement system suffered specifically from securities purchased from Bank of America and its subsidiaries Countrywide and Merrill Lynch.
Source: Associated Press on 2015 Kentucky gubernatorial race
Aug 22, 2014
Mike McFadden:
Discuss raising the eligibility age for social security
In an Associated Press interview, McFadden endorsed the concept of a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally, and expanded background checks for gun sales.
McFadden also says there should be a discussion of raising the eligibility age for social security and Medicare. He's opposed to federal tax increases and abortion.
Source: Associated Press on 2014 Minnesota Senate race
Jul 23, 2013
Angus King:
Opposes GOP budget plan as threat to Social Security
He saved his most heated comments, however, for the Republican budget plan--often known for its architect, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. "It's a disaster. In a finite number of years, seniors will be back to where they were in 1955.
I don't know what they're thinking. Except, I think that proposal represents a strain of thinking that goes back to--they want to get rid of Social Security and Medicare."
Source: Steve Peoples, Associated Press, on Salon.com
Apr 9, 2012
John Boozman:
Private accounts should be looked at as an option
Lincoln criticized Boozman's past support of allowing workers to invest their Social Security taxes in private accounts , saying it would privatize the system and hurt retirees. She also criticized Boozman for co-sponsoring legislation that would replace
the federal income tax with a national sales tax. "The 23 percent sales tax is just a bad idea for Arkansans," Lincoln said. "It is replacing your federal income tax with a 23 percent consumption tax on anything you purchase, anything from your
bread to your tires to your home to your car."
Boozman defended his position on Social Security and said that private accounts should be looked at as an option.
Boozman said that he's open to the idea of the national sales tax and said it would simplify taxes for Americans.
"I think it's something that needs to be looked at. I would love to get rid of the IRS," Boozman said.
Source: Associated Press coverage of 2010 Arkansas Senate debate
Sep 10, 2010
Tom Coburn:
Black men are being penalized by the Social Security system
Coburn said black males are being penalized by the Social Security system “because they had a genetic predisposition to have less of a life expectancy.”
Source: OK Senate Debate, Associated Press
Oct 28, 2004
Betty Castor:
Oppose privatizing Social Security and retirement age change
Q: Do you favor the privatization of Social Security? CASTOR: I’m all for people investing for their retirement, but the proposal to take money out of the Social Security system and put it into the stock market would endanger Social Security because
investment choices would be severely limited by the federal government. Switching to a privatized system would cost money we simply do not have, given the deficit run up over the past four years. I am adamantly against spending Social Security money on
other items. I oppose privatizing Social Security, raising the retirement age or cutting benefits.
MARTINEZ: Social Security is a solemn promise that must be kept and I urge Congress to preserve that sacred trust. We must not change the rules for middl
-aged workers and seniors. Social Security must improve service with new business processes and use technology to become more efficient. We must work together to develop a system that will be solvent in the future. Finally, I do not support raising taxe
Source: Florida Senate Debate, Q&A by Associated Press
Oct 24, 2004
Mel Martinez:
Social Security is a sacred promise but plan future solvency
Q: Do you favor the privatization of Social Security? CASTOR: I’m all for people investing for their retirement, but the proposal to take money out of the Social Security system and put it into the stock market would endanger Social Security because
investment choices would be severely limited by the federal government. Switching to a privatized system would cost money we simply do not have, given the deficit run up over the past four years. I am adamantly against spending Social Security money on
other items. I oppose privatizing Social Security, raising the retirement age or cutting benefits.
MARTINEZ: Social Security is a solemn promise that must be kept and I urge Congress to preserve that sacred trust. We must not change the rules for middl
-aged workers and seniors. Social Security must improve service with new business processes and use technology to become more efficient. We must work together to develop a system that will be solvent in the future. Finally, I do not support raising taxe
Source: Florida Senate Debate, Q&A by Associated Press
Oct 24, 2004
Al Gore:
Open questions: future surplus & future discipline
| Bush | Gore |
|---|
- Allow investing an unspecified amount of payroll taxes in the stock market.
- Does not preclude decreasing guaranteed benefits for future retirees.
| Use the federal budget surplus
to pay down the debt and use the interest saved to keep Social Security solvent.- Subsidized retirement savings plan open to families earning up to $100,000 a year.
|
| Unanswered questions |
|---|
- Will the
government bail out people who make poor investment decisions?
- What about the costs of making the transition to & then maintaining the accounts?
- If some payroll taxes are diverted to private accounts, how will the government make up the difference
for current retirees?
| - What if future administrations don’t display the kind of fiscal discipline Gore’s plan requires?
- What if the projections of budget surplus money to pay down the debt doesn’t come true?
|
Source: Associated Press in Boston Globe, p. A10
Jul 5, 2000
George W. Bush:
Open questions: transition costs & bad investors bailouts
| Bush | Gore |
|---|
- Allow investing an unspecified amount of payroll taxes in the stock market.
- Does not preclude decreasing guaranteed benefits for future retirees.
| Use the federal budget surplus
to pay down the debt and use the interest saved to keep Social Security solvent.- Subsidized retirement savings plan open to families earning up to $100,000 a year.
|
| Unanswered questions |
|---|
- Will the
government bail out people who make poor investment decisions?
- What about the costs of making the transition to & then maintaining the accounts?
- If some payroll taxes are diverted to private accounts, how will the government make up the difference
for current retirees?
| - What if future administrations don’t display the kind of fiscal discipline Gore’s plan requires?
- What if the projections of budget surplus money to pay down the debt doesn’t come true?
|
Source: Associated Press in Boston Globe, p. A10
Jul 5, 2000
Al Gore:
Use stock market for private investment, not Social Security
Gore said today that the stock market was an attractive place for Americans to invest over the long run but that it was the wrong place to seek a solution to Social Security’s problems. “The magnitude of the government’s stock ownership would be such
that it would at least raise the question of whether or not we had begun to change the fundamental nature of our economy,” Mr. Gore said. “Upon reflection, it seemed to me that those problems were quite serious.” Moreover, Gore said, he became convinced
that Wall Street’s ups and downs were large enough to create a risk that the government might be making a bad investment. During long stretches -- including from the late 1960’s to the early 1980’s, Wall Street was by no means
the one-way bet it has often been viewed as in recent years. He said any investment in the markets should “come on top of Social Security,” rather than as a replacement for it.
Source: Richard W. Stevenson and James Dao, Associated Press
May 24, 2000
Al Gore:
Switches view to no government investment in stocks
Gore backed away from his early support for allowing the government itself to invest in stocks on Social Security’s behalf. He said that his shift was driven by a recognition that allowing the government to become a big shareholder would create problems
and that the stock market had not generated as consistently strong returns as he had once assumed. Last year, Gore backed a plan under which the government would begin channeling hundreds of billions of dollars in additional money into Social Security
out of general tax revenues starting in 2011. Under the plan, half of the new money going to Social Security would be invested by the government in stocks, up to a maximum of 15% of Social Security’s total reserves.
Gore said he had been swayed in
part by criticism of the idea from Alan Greenspan, who opposed the plan on the grounds that politicians would not be able to resist using the government’s role as a shareholder to favor or punish certain industries or to meddle in corporate decisions.
Source: Richard W. Stevenson and James Dao, Associated Press
May 24, 2000
Al Gore:
Gore: Bush’s Social Security plan is risky privatization
Gore accused Bush today of devising a “secret plan” that could bankrupt the Social Security system. Gore asserted that Bush was quietly developing a “risky” plan to allow individual investment accounts in Social Security that would jeopardize millions
of taxpayers’ savings. “How does the Bush plan propose to deal with the bankruptcy of Social Security that his privatization scheme would cause? He doesn’t even bother to provide an answer.” Under Bush’s proposal, taxpayers would be allowed to invest
a small part of their Social Security payroll taxes in the stock or bond markets. Bush’s aides argue that such a plan would help taxpayers take advantage of the stock market’s historic growth.
But Gore asserted today that the plan would make the
system vulnerable to huge market fluctuations that could hurt millions of retirees. And as he has repeatedly done in recent days, he suggested that Mr. Bush was charting a course that was “reckless” and “irresponsible.”
Source: James Dao & Frank Bruni, Associated Press
May 4, 2000
George W. Bush:
Privatize Social Security to take advantage of stock market
Gore accused Bush today of devising a “secret plan” that could bankrupt the Social Security system. Gore asserted that Bush was quietly developing a “risky” plan to allow individual investment accounts in Social Security that would jeopardize millions
of taxpayers’ savings. “How does the Bush plan propose to deal with the bankruptcy of Social Security that his privatization scheme would cause? He doesn’t even bother to provide an answer.” Under Bush’s proposal, taxpayers would be allowed to invest
a small part of their Social Security payroll taxes in the stock or bond markets. Bush’s aides argue that such a plan would help taxpayers take advantage of the stock market’s historic growth.
But Gore asserted today that the plan would make the
system vulnerable to huge market fluctuations that could hurt millions of retirees. And as he has repeatedly done in recent days, he suggested that Mr. Bush was charting a course that was “reckless” and “irresponsible.”
Source: James Dao & Frank Bruni, Associated Press
May 4, 2000
Steve Forbes:
Use surplus to fund personal retirement accounts
Forbes wants changes in Social Security, with any surplus used to start a new system of personal savings accounts, or personal retirement accounts. He wants to take money in the Social Security trust fund “off-budget” so that Congress could not use it
for any other purpose. Forbes also advocates greater use of medical savings accounts that would allow people to set money aside for future care.
Source: Associated Press
Aug 13, 1999
Dan Quayle:
30% privately invested won’t affect Social Security system
Quayle says individuals should be given the chance to privately invest up to 30 percent of the money they now pay into the Social Security fund. “It would be their choice and it wouldn’t affect the Social Security system at all,” he said.
Source: Associated Press
Jul 7, 1999
Mike Huckabee:
No Congressional pensions; give them same deal as citizens
It is imperative that Congress learn that they have not been elected to be “princes of privilege”, but servants of the people. Congressional pensions should be eliminated altogether. Congressmen should be subject to the Social Security system and to the
same kind of Independent Retirement Accounts that other Americans have to experience. There are people in this nation who have worked 45 years and will earn a fraction of what the incumbent will receive after 18 years of Federal service as a Senator.
Source: Associated Press Questionnaire for AR Senate Debate
Nov 1, 1992
Page last updated: Feb 15, 2019