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Chris Murphy on Social Security

Senate Challenger; Democratic Rep. (CT-5)

 


To do nothing about entitlements is irresponsible

When asked about what she would do to shore up Social Security and Medicare, McMahon said federal lawmakers need to ''sit down and put those issues on the table and go through them all and debate them and have the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) score them and to see what economically makes sense and how we're going to move forward, protecting our benefits and making sure that both Social Security and Medicare are there for the long term,'' McMahon said. ''To do nothing is irresponsible.''

Murphy has accused McMahon of wanting to ''sunset'' or phase out Social Security after 10 to 15 years for a review, pointing to taped comments she made to a group of tea party activists earlier this year when she used the word sunset. He has also accused McMahon of supporting proposals to privatize Medicare. McMahon has denied both accusations and repeated that she would not support a budget that cuts funding to either program.

Source: Boston Globe coverage of 2012 CT Senate debate , Oct 18, 2012

Earnings cap for Soc.Sec.; and means-testing for Medicare

Murphy has called for increasing the cap on how much money goes into Social Security by having the wealthiest Americans pay more in Social Security taxes. On Medicare, the congressman has said the federal government should continue streamlining the system and reward medical outcomes rather than the number of procedures. If that doesn't deliver enough savings, he has said there should be means testing for Medicare for the very wealthy.
Source: Boston Globe coverage of 2012 CT Senate debate , Oct 18, 2012

Raise debt ceiling instead of privatizing Social Security

Murphy said he voted to raise the debt ceiling and he would do it again. The congressman said Republicans wanted to hold the economy hostage as part of the debt ceiling discussion and privatize Social Security.
Source: New Haven Register on 2012 CT Senate debate , Mar 3, 2012

Sponsored keeping CPI for benefits instead of lower "Chained CPI".

Murphy co-sponsored Resolution on CPI

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION expressing the sense of the Congress that the Chained Consumer Price Index (CPI) should not be used to adjust Social Security benefits.