Mark Warner on Social Security Democratic Jr Senator; previously Governor

Opposes privatizing social security

As he's done throughout the campaign, Gillespie repeatedly accused Warner of being a rubber stamp for President Barack Obama's administration and criticized Warner's vote in support of the Affordable Care Act, which Gillespie said is hurting Virginia's economy. "I will not be a blank check for the president; I will be a check and balance on the president," Gillespie said.

Warner called Gillespie "the major cheerleader" for former President George W. Bush's unsuccessful bid to privatize social security, a move he said would be disastrous for Virginia's seniors.

Bi-partisan commission on entitlements, with binding outcome

Warner: As chairman of the National Governors Association, I helped formulate a bi-partisan plan to slow the growth of entitlement health care costs, and I'll bring the same approach to Washington. Social Security benefits are the bedrock of retirement for most Americans. It's estimated that without Social Security, more than 50% of seniors would be living in poverty and for two-thirds of the elderly, Social Security provides the majority of their income. I support a bi-partisan commission similar in structure and process to the BRAC commission, which seeks to reduce the influence of politics and special interests and concludes with a simple "up" or "down" vote on its ultimate recommendations, to explore commonsense ideas that will keep the Social Security program secure and solvent.

Rated 79% by ARA, indicating a mixed record on senior issues.

Scoring system for 2014: Ranges from 0% (supports privatization and other market-based reforms) to 100% (supports keeping federal control over Trust Fund and Social Security system).

About ARA (from their website, www.RetiredAmericans.org):

The Alliance for Retired Americans is a nationwide organization, founded in May 2001, with now over 4.2 million members working together to make their voices heard in the laws, policies, politics, and institutions that shape our lives. The mission of the Alliance for Retired Americans is to ensure social and economic justice and full civil rights for all citizens so that they may enjoy lives of dignity, personal and family fulfillment and security.

• Alliance members visit the polls in record numbers. We use the power of our membership and our Congressional Voting Record to educate and mobilize seniors to elect leaders committed to improving the lives of retirees and older Americans.
• We are effectively warding off cuts to our most important social programs like Social Security and Medicare. Our Human Chain Against the Chained CPI events in the summer of 2013 took place in more than 50 cities and mobilized support for stopping this cut to earned Social Security benefits.
• We blocked the privatization of Social Security with our Social Security "Truth Truck" delivering 2.1 million petitions to Members of Congress and other tactics.
• The Alliance makes its voice heard on the issues that matter not just to current retirees, but to all Americans who hope to retire one day. We were a leading voice in recent debates considering changes to Medicare, like replacing guaranteed benefits with a voucher system, and remain so in 2014.