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Jeff Flake on Social Security
Republican Representative (AZ-6); Senate challenger
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Transition younger workers into personal savings system
The Senate Conservatives Fund has developed a questionnaire that we require candidates to complete before we consider an endorsement. A candidate's answers to these questions will reveal whether they consistently apply conservative principles to their
positions on important issues. - Will you support efforts to reform Social Security by transitioning younger workers into a system built upon their personal savings, which cannot be raided by the politicians in Washington?
Source: 2012 endorsee questionnaire from Senate Conservatives Fund
, Jun 6, 2012
Nobody's talking privatization; ensure solvency after 2026
Q: Privatizing Social Security: is that something that might work in the future?A: We've got to find a way to ensure, first, that the system that is in place now remains solvent for those who've relied on it their entire lives, that we don't
pull the rug out from under those who planned on this. With the Ryan budget, we do that. We say if you are at or near retirement, anybody 55 years of age or older, the system would not change.
For those who are under that, we've got to do some things, we've got to recalculate benefits in a way that will make the system solvent over time and also continue to raise the retirement age beyond what it's going to in
2026 (67 years). The bottom line is, unless we change and reform it, it's not going to be there, so we've got to do it. But I don't think anybody's talking about privatization.
Source: The Sahuarita Sun on 2012 Arizona Senate debates
, May 29, 2012
Voted YES on raising 401(k) limits & making pension plans more portable.
Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act of 2001: Vote to pass a bill that would raise the amount individuals may contribute to traditional and Roth Individual Retirement Accounts and to 401[k] plans and make pensions plans more portable
Reference: Bill sponsored by Portman, R-OH;
Bill HR 10
; vote number 2001-96
on May 2, 2001
Rated 30% by the ARA, indicating an anti-senior voting record.
Flake scores 30% by the ARA on senior issues
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. The Alliance believes that all older and retired persons have a responsibility to strive to create a society that incorporates these goals and rights and that retirement provides them with opportunities to pursue new and expanded activities with their unions, civic organizations and their communities.
The following ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization's preferred position.
Source: ARA website 03n-ARA on Dec 31, 2003
Rated 0% by ARA, indicating a pro-privatization stance.
Flake scores 0% Alliance for Retired Americans
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.
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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.
Source: ARA lifetime rating on incumbents of 113th Congress 14_ARA on Jan 1, 2013
Page last updated: Aug 29, 2021