Today marks the 76th anniversary of the first Social Security check, but you likely won’t hear any of the Republican senate candidates marking the occasion. Despite facing a contentious election environment, GOP Senate contenders have only offered plans to cut Social Security benefits using the same failed ideas time and time again, including raising the retirement age and partially privatizing Social Security.
The GOP’s failure to offer real solutions on Social Security is just one more example of the GOP putting special interests like the Kochs ahead of the millions of Americans that rely on earned benefits to make ends meet.
Here’s how Republican Senate candidates plan to weaken Social Security:
- Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey voted to make it easier to privatize Social Security, and supported a similar plan to the George W. Bush administration’s efforts to privatize Social Security.
- Illinois Senator Mark Kirk supported the Simpson-Bowles Plan that would have raised the Social Security retirement age.
- Missouri Senator Roy Blunt said “I am not opposed to the concept of private accounts at all,” when talking about privatizing Social Security. The senator also advocated for a Social Security plan that would raise the retirement age.
- New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte voted against making it harder to privatize Social Security and agreed that lawmakers should consider raising the retirement age.
- North Carolina Senator Richard Burr voted against expanding Social Security benefits and against making it more difficult to privatize Social Security.
- Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson called Social Security a “legal ponzi scheme” and voted for establishing private Social Security accounts.
- Nevada Senate candidate Joe Heck proposed privatizing Social Security and called the earned benefit a “pyramid scheme” and later refused to apologize for his comments.
Published: Jan 31, 2016