Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson: South Carolina's Seniors Won't Find a Friend in Mitt or Fred

October 24, 2007 -- Washington, DC - While both Republican presidential candidates are skipping this week's AARP forum on issues affecting seniors, South Carolina voters will get a firsthand look at how dangerous Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney's policies would be for seniors in the Palmetto State and across America. Not only do both candidates support President Bush's failed plan to privatize Social Security, which the American people already flatly rejected, but they have both gone even further by supporting cuts in Social Security benefits that would increase the number of seniors living in poverty.

While he opposed cutting Social Security benefits while running for Senate in Massachusetts, smooth talking Mitt Romney has since flip-flopped on the campaign trail and now says he is considering "deep cuts" in benefits.

Fred Thompson, whose inability to articulate a clear vision for the future of America has hurt him with voters, recently outlined a plan to slash benefits. After co-sponsoring legislation to create personal savings accounts while in the Senate, Fred now proposes cutting benefits to seniors by 24% if implemented next year and deepening those cuts to 40% by 2050. [Washington Post, 10/12/07]

"Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson surely know their ideas on Social Security aren't going to win them many new friends. It's probably why they're both ducking an opportunity to talk with seniors at an AARP debate. But after years of incompetent leadership by the Bush Administration, voters are looking for a president who will tackle the issues facing our country, not one who will recycle President Bush's failed plans. Republicans should know by now that following Bush's lead is a recipe for failure," said DNC spokesman Damien LaVera.

ROMNEY FLIP-FLOPS, SETTLES ON BUSH'S FAILED PLAN
Romney Does Not Have a Plan to Fix Social Security
Romney Does NOT Have a Plan to Fix Social Security; Might Consider Cutting Social Security Benefits. Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said, "Governor Romney has not put out a specific plan with regard to Social Security,but he has stated his opposition to raising taxes." Fehrnstrom said Romney might consider cutting benefits to "high income individuals," but Romney hasn't said who fits that definition. [Boston Globe, 10/15/07]
Another Mitt Romney Flip Flop
Old Mitt: Romney Said He Would NOT Cut Social Security to Balance Federal Budget. In 1994, when Mitt Romney ran for U.S. Senate, he said he would not cut Social Security to meet his goal of balancing the federal budget. Romney said, "I don't think you go back and rewrite the contract the government has with people who've retired, but I do think there's a wide range of action we can take on entitlement programs: government pensions is one, our whole welfare system is another, and I think Medicare and Medicaid costs could be brought down by much more aggressive management." [Boston Globe, 10/17/94]

New Mitt: Romney Weighs Deep Cuts in Automatic Benefit Programs. Romney is weighing a cut in the top individual tax rate from the current 35 percent; a reduction in the corporate income tax; and deep cuts in automatic-benefit programs such as Medicare and Social Security. [Bloomberg, 2/7/2007]

ROMNEY EMBRACES BUSH'S PRIVATIZATION PLAN
Romney Praised Personal Accounts for Social Security. Mitt Romney supported the notion of personal accounts for Social Security recipients, a key component of President Bush's Social Security reform plan that failed in Congress. Romney said it would be a good idea to use the Social Security trust fund to allow personal accounts, which could earn higher rates of return for beneficiaries. Romney said, "Personal accounts would be a big plus." [New Hampshire Union Leader, 6/7/07]

Romney Intrigued by Idea of Gradual Reduction in Benefits and Privatization. Romney aides say he is intrigued by the ideas of Democrat Robert Posen who served on Bush's 2001 Social Security Commission. Posen's plan calls for "progressive indexation" that maintains the current Social Security benefit formula for the poor while providing gradual benefit reductions for wealthier individuals. The plan also allows people who receive reduced benefits to put as much as 2 percent of their pay into private investment accounts. [Salt Lake Tribune, 2/7/07]
Romney Supports Cuts in Benefits & Raising Retirement Age
Romney: Big Beef on Spending Cuts is in Entitlements. Larry Kudlow asked Romney, "Where's the beef on the spending cuts?" Romney answered, "Well the big beef of course is in entitlements. We're going to have to make sure that we honor our promises to seniors, but we reform the long term trajectory of Social Security for the 20, 30, 40-year-olds in Medicare and Medicaid." [Romney for President Press Release, 10/9/07; CNBC Debate Coverage, 10/9/07]

Romney Supports Raising Retirement Age to Make-Up for the Social Security Shortfall. "Romney praised Bush's idea of personal accounts and said they would make up for some of the expected shortfall in the trust fund. He also said changing the retirement age could be considered, as well as basing the Social Security cost of living adjustment on a different inflation gauge." [New Hampshire Union Leader, 6/7/2007]
Romney's Against Raising Social Security Taxes
Romney Opposes Social Security Tax Increase. Mitt Romney's presidential campaign issued "The Romney Agenda," which laid out a blueprint for strengthening the economy. The agenda read: "Governor Romney Opposes Any Increase In Social Security Taxes. We can strengthen Social Security without resorting to higher Social Security taxes that will impact all Americans. Governor Romney will oppose any proposed increase in Social Security taxes." ["The Romney Agenda: A Conservative Blueprint to Strengthen the Economy," 10/9/2007]
Romney Plans to Evaluate the "Notch Babies" Policy
Romney Said He Would Assess Fairness of "Notch Babies" Policy. When questioned about "notch babies," who receive less social security benefits than others, Romney said, "I'll take a look at it. ... I'll see if there's something we can do to provide fairness." [News-Press, 10/7/07]

THOMPSON SUPPORTS BUSH'S PLAN AND WANTS TO GO EVEN FURTHER
Thompson's Plan For Social Security Would Results In A Loss of Benefits For Retirees. Thompson's plan for 'saving' Social Security is to replace the current system of indexing to wages "with a system indexed to the growth in inflation, which typically grows at a lower rate than wages," which would mean that "now-promised benefits could be cut for some workers by 10 percent in the short term and possibly much more in the longer term." Thompson's campaign acknowledged this and even provided an example: "a $40,000-per-year worker born in 1975 would receive $1,562 per month under the current system, compared with a $1,424 a month under Thompson's proposal." [Boston Globe, 10/15/07]

Thompson's Benefit Cuts Plan Would Most Adversely Affect Low Income Workers. According to the Congressional Budget Office, if Thompson's plan were enacted, "would have benefits 24 percent lower than promised under the current system if the change were implemented next year. Those eligible for benefits in 2050 would receive 40 percent less." In addition, the change Thompson is proposing "would be hard on lower-income workers, who rely heavily or entirely on Social Security in retirement." [Washington Post, 10/12/07]

. . .And Cause Poverty Among the Elderly. According to the Congressional Research Service, "if we were doing what Thompson wants, there would be 10 million elderly Americans living in poverty today instead of just three million." [MSNBC, 10/11/07]

Fred's Unpopular Plan Is Costing Him Valuable Congressional Support. The majority of Fred Thompson's Congressional endorsers do not support his plan to 'fix' Social Security by indexing benefits to inflation instead of wage growth. Thompson supporter Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), "said he was skeptical about any proposal that could cut benefits by as much as 25 percent." When asked if he agreed with Thompson's risky proposal, Rep. John Duncan Jr. (R-Tenn.), another supporter, said "No, I don't. . . I think there are other things we can do." And, "Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, is another Thompson supporter who said he would not support restricting projected Social Security benefits to the growth of inflation." [The Hill, 10/1/07]

Thompson Supported Bush's Failed Social Security Plan. Fred Thompson vigorously supports President Bush's plan to privatize Social Security. In 2000, when speaking to a group of Tennessee Republicans, he "applauded Bush for his plan to change Social Security," and in 2001 he appeared on CNN and defended the president's plan as providing a better return in the long run. [Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN), 8/22/00; CNN's Wolf Blitzer Reports, 3/24/01]

Thompson Co-Sponsored Legislation To Create Personal Savings Accounts. In 1999, Fred Thompson co-sponsored legislation that would allow Americans "to divert a portion of their payroll taxes to a personal savings account." [Fred Thompson Weekly Senate Column, 5/28/99, http://web.archive.org/web/19990902113121/thompson.senate.gov/052899.html]

Thompson Voted To Create Personal Retirement Accounts. Thompson supported a sense of the senate amendment that the Senate Finance Committee should report legislation that would include the establishment of personal retirement accounts. He also voted for a similar amendment that any federal budget surplus should be used for the creation of personal retirement accounts. [Senate Vote #56, 4/1/98; Senate Vote #77, 4/2/98]

Source: DNC

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