Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Press release from:
Alliance for Retired Americans
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
Social Security Works
Groups Denounce McClung for Plan to Privatize Social Security and Cut Benefits for Arizona Seniors
Say McClung Would Cut Benefits by Up to 50%
Tucson, Ariz. – Leaders of three prominent national organizations today condemned Ruth McClung, candidate for Arizona’s seventh congressional district, for her new campaign ad that claims Social Security has been raided and that Rep. Raul Grijalva is to blame for it. They demanded that McClung take down the false ad.
“McClung’s ad is filled with misinformation, deception and lies,” said Nancy Altman, Co-chair of Social Security Works and a former advisor to Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan when he chaired a commission to reform Social Security in 1983. “This ad appears to be a desperate attempt to hide the fact that McClung supports a radical plan to privatize Social Security and hand peoples’ hard-earned contributions over to Wall Street. On top of that, McClung’s plan would cut benefits by up to 50 percent.”
On her campaign website McClung endorses a plan sponsored by Rep. Paul Ryan, (R-Wisc.) that would radically change Social Security by creating private retirement accounts. To fund these accounts more than a trillion dollars would be drained from Social Security’s guaranteed benefit program, and benefits would be cut by up to 50 percent once the program is fully phased in.
“Raul Grijalvja has stood firm for no cuts in Social Security, including no increase in the retirement age, and no privatization,” said Barbara Kennelly, President of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. “Unlike former President Bush and other opponents of Social Security, he never has and never would call U.S. Treasury bonds held in trust for American workers and their families, IOUs. He respects the nation’s commitment to Social Security, and understands it as a sacred trust. Any implication otherwise is an outrageous lie.”
“Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva is a champion of seniors and of the Social Security program as a whole,” said Rich Fiesta, Director of Government and Political Affairs, at the Alliance for Retired Americans. “Rep. Grijalva has been central in the successful fight to ensure that Social Security pays all benefits in full and on time for every American who has earned them.”
Grijalva has led an effort in the U.S. House of Representatives to get members of Congress to stand against any attempts to cut benefits, raise the retirement age, or privatize aspects of the program. A letter he authored that was recently sent to President Obama opposing cuts to Social Security has 136 signatures.
According to the latest Trustees Report, Social Security ran a surplus of over $120 billion last year. It has never borrowed a penny from anyone, including China. Social Security’s $2.6 trillion are safely invested in interest-bearing U.S. Treasuries, backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Those who want to cut Social Security benefits rather than honor those bonds are the ones who would be raiding Social Security if they had the chance.
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