Issue Position: Preserving Social Security

Issue Position

Social Security is a commitment to America's seniors we must uphold. This program cannot and should not be privatized. Those who have worked their entire lives with the understanding that Social Security will be there for them when they retire must be able to count on this promise. For those in or near retirement, all benefits must be protected, including not raising the retirement age or taxes as these would alter the agreement our nation has with its seniors.

A 2009 report by the Social Security trustees shows that by 2016, Social Security will start paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes. This date is a year earlier than was projected in 2008 due to unsustainable government spending and misguided policies. We will hit a crisis point by 2037 when the Social Security trust fund will be depleted.

The biggest threat to Social Security today is the anti-job growth and high spending agenda my opponent, Scott Murphy, has voted for in Washington. With government spending out of control and unemployment unacceptably high with fewer workers paying into the system, the federal government is forced to borrow more from a Social Security program that simply isn't taking in as much revenue. The first step to preserving Social Security and putting our country back on a path to fiscal stability is to stop the big-government tax and spend agenda Congressman Murphy has embraced in Washington.

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