Cynthia Lummis on Social Security

Comprehensive overhaul of both Medicare & Social Security

A: I have been a strong advocate for comprehensive reform to overhaul both our Medicare and Social Security systems to make them viable for the long-term while modernizing the programs to meet the needs of today's retirees. While in the US House of Representatives, I proposed changes to Medicare and Social Security but they would not have impacted anyone currently receiving benefits or those paying into the programs. If we do nothing beneficiaries will see automatic cuts when the trusts run out of money. Or, worse still, the programs will cease to exist--putting current and future generations of retirees at great risk. As a U.S. Senator, I will be a fierce advocate for tackling Medicare and Social Security reform today instead of continuing to kick the can down the road. It's too important to Wyoming seniors and future generations to not fix these critical programs.

Rated 2% by ARA, indicating a pro-privatization stance.

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.