NY TIMES: Obama Criticizes McCain on Social Security

[BigBearJohn]

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Senator Barack Obama delivered an ominous warning to Florida voters on Saturday, suggesting that Senator John McCain would “gamble with your life savings” by investing Social Security money in private accounts that could be affected by the roiling financial markets.

While Mr. McCain has not called for a full privatization of Social Security, he has supported the concept of allowing individuals to invest part of their payroll taxes in stock and bonds, and he has pledged to consider all options to prevent the program from going insolvent. But the idea has taken on a new air of political vulnerability because of the upheaval on Wall Street, which Mr. Obama sought to seize on as his campaign intensified its efforts in Florida.

“If my opponent had his way, the millions of Floridians who rely on it would’ve had their Social Security tied up in the stock market this week,” Mr. Obama told an audience here. “How do you think that would have made folks feel? Millions would’ve watched as the market tumbled and their nest egg disappeared before their eyes.”

A spokesman for Mr. McCain, Tucker Bounds, accused Mr. Obama of trying to scare voters. In a statement, Mr. Bounds said, “John McCain is 100 percent committed to preserving Social Security benefits for seniors and Barack Obama knows it — this is a desperate attempt to gain political advantage using scare tactics and deceit.”

The debate over Social Security, which has been unfolding for weeks between the two candidates, took on fresh urgency as the government on Saturday presented details of a $700 billion rescue of the nation’s financial system. The bailout plan changes the landscape of the presidential race and places the proposals of both candidates under higher scrutiny.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/us/politics/21campaign.html?_r=1&ref=us&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

[faithfulcitizen]

1. K & R! GOBAMA.

[BrainStorm]

2. Interesting that we can afford a trillion dollar buyout to keep Wall Street "banksters" from a fall

but we can't afford a trillion dollars over 20 YEARS to keep Social Security afloat.

I'm still trying to figure that one out.

[BigBearJohn]

9. ironic, ain't it?

[BrainStorm]

11. But then, the American people are not nearly as important as the foreign investors

who gambled with money that nobody had.

[napi21]

3. Fact Check is saying that's a false ad, but I disagree with FC!

I know I've heard McNuts say he was in favor of letting people voluntarily put at least some of their SS $$ into the private accounts (Stock Market!).

[ProSense]

6. Factcheck.org is

full of bull

[Pirate Smile]

4. Ahhhhh, that is beautiful, and you can tell it scares the crap out of the McCain campaign. It puts

them big time on the defense. They know they are highly vulnerable on this topic. I can't wait for more ads.


Tucker - waahhhh - Obama is trying to scare people. Schmidt - any investing would be of only a small portion and completely optional.

Heh:evilgrin:

[nichomachus]

5. They've got you on tape, John

But a rarely-seen video in a new documentary released by the group Progressive Accountability, a portion of which was handed over to the Huffington Post, shows this simply isn't true. McCain has in fact argued that privatization is necessary to maintain Social Security into the future.

"Without privatization, I don't see how you can possibly, over time, make sure that young Americans are able to receive Social Security benefits," McCain declares at a December 2004 event in New Hampshire.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/20/mccain-claimed-privatizat_n_127984.html

[grantcart]

7. It starting to look a lot like Florida

[Top Cat]

8. Yes We Will...

[me b zola]

10. Hey McCain, see what happens when you lick the third rail?

I'm beginning to think of Obama as the Road Runner and team McCain as Wiley Coyote. Beep-beep MOFOs.