Printable Version
August 14, 2006
Monday, August 14, 2006
Sorry, Rick Santorum: Social Security Turns 71 Today
Senator’s Career Marked by Drive to Destroy Social Security
For
Immediate Release
Contact: Amy Buffenbarger (202) 637-5178
August 14,
2006
amybuff@retiredamericans.org
Washington, D.C.— Social Security turns 71 today, despite all that Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum has done to try to destroy this crucial program, a leading advocate for seniors commented today.
Edward F. Coyle, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, is reminding the 2.4 million Social Security recipients in Pennsylvania that Santorum’s career-long crusade to “reform” Social Security, poses a grave threat to the economic security of current and future retirees.
As the Wall Street Journal noted in 2005:
“Mr. Santorum, the Senate Republicans' third-ranking leader and a nationally recognized conservative with White House ambitions, has emerged as the president's biggest backer on Social Security…. no one has privately pressed harder for wary Republicans in Congress to stick by the president and his private-accounts proposal -- and even to go for larger accounts."
This role is nothing new for Santorum. In 1994, he outlined his what he saw as future options for Social Security:
“You can raise taxes, you can cut benefits or you can push back the retirement age in the future… It is ridiculous that we have a retirement age in this country at age 65 today. ...Push it back to at least age 70… I'd go even farther if I could, but I don't think I could pass it.”
“Rick Santorum can use all the buzzwords he wants, such as saying he favors ‘private accounts,’ but retirees in Pennsylvania and throughout the nation are smart enough to know the truth about Rick Santorum’s real agenda,” Coyle said.
With both President Bush and senior Republicans on Capitol Hill pledging to put Social Security “reform” high on their 2007 agenda, Coyle said it is more important than ever for Pennsylvania workers and retirees to have a Senator who will fight for them. Santorum’s opponent in November, Bob Casey, opposes privatization of Social Security.
Over 300,000 members of the Alliance for Retired Americans reside in Pennsylvania.
The Alliance for Retired Americans is a grassroots organization representing more than 3 million retirees and seniors nationwide. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Alliance’s mission is to advance public policy that protects the health and economic security of older Americans by teaching seniors how to make a difference through activism. Learn more about the Alliance and its work at www.retiredamericans.org.