McCain Claimed "Privatization" Was Necessary For Social Security

With the financial world in an unpredictable crisis, the political debate has shifted sharply to the efficacy of turning government programs over to the private market.

In particular, the Obama campaign has begun highlighting John McCain's support for privatizing Social Security, the venerable government institution known as a third rail of politics.

Appearing in Florida on Saturday, the Democratic nominee warned voters that his opponent's plan would leave the retirement security of senior citizens at the whims of an erratic market.

"I know Senator McCain is talking about a 'casino culture' on Wall Street," said Obama, "but the fact is, he's the one who wants to gamble with your life savings and that is not going to happen when I'm President of the United States."

The McCain campaign has responded to these and other attacks by accusing Obama of fear mongering, repeatedly denying that the Arizona Republican ever supported privatization in the first place.

"He's not ever talked about outsourcing Social Security into the private sector," senior adviser Steve Schmidt told reporters Thursday. "What people talk about with regard to personal accounts is giving the American people an ability to have a greater return on an investment -- it could be bond funds, for example."

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.

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"Americans have got to understand that we are paying present day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers in American today. And that's a disgrace. It's an absolute disgrace and it's got to be fixed," he declared on the campaign trail this year.

The footage, part of a documentary called Third Term and narrated by Democratic strategist Paul Begala, is pretty cut and dry, and as such, damaging in the current electoral environment. And there are many other similar quotes out there. This March, for instance, McCain declared: "I'm totally in favor of personal savings accounts...along the lines that President Bush proposed." (Personal savings accounts, it should be noted, became the messaging that Republicans turned to after privatization performed poorly).

And so, McCain and his aides have been handed an uphill challenge this week. Faced with voters concerned about turning over their benefits to an unstable market and an opponent eager to engage in a Social Security debate, the Senator has been left trying to gloss over his past support for privatization and avoid a political minefield.

"We have to have some straight talk for America," said McCain on Wednesday. "The Social Security system is going to go broke. It will not be there for present day men and women who are working. And we have to fix it and we have to do it in a bipartisan fashion."

Watch the full video below.

Comments

[research]

The Rich are afraid of the simple fix for Social Security:

Remove the income cap.

I thought you GOP wanted a flat tax?

Oh right, just another lie.

[PADebbie]

Heck YES! To the flat tax! But you know what would happen just like every thing else the Dems can get their hands on.........they would determine that the flat tax rate will have to go higher.....the goods you buy and raising the recreational taxes.......if you can gaurentee me that the GOV. could NOT put there hands all over this..........then BRING IT ON!

[arthur2008]

It is hard to imagine how John McCain could show more contempt for the American people -- or the welfare of the nation he pretends to serve.

[Gem4Obama]

Here's the real kicker from Democracy Now:

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/17/us_seizes_control_of_aig_with

MICHAEL HUDSON: These are the people who sang, “There’s no money for Social Security. We’re going to have to privatize it. We’re going to have to turn over your Social Security to Bear Stearns, to AIG”—to the very people who have shown how they’re mismanaging money. Imagine if the Republican program had gone through and Social Security had been privatized and these were the jokers who were managing your Social Security. They’d stick you with the losses.

So, these are his constituency. He knows he’s not telling the truth. He’s not paid to tell the truth. He’s pretending that it’s a crisis that has to be bailed out, that it’s the financial system.

*****AMY GOODMAN: They’ve always said that Social Security can’t be bailed out, but that it’s going broke.*****

MICHAEL HUDSON: They’ve already spent $5 trillion in the last two weeks to double the size of the national debt by taking over Fannie Mae. How can they bail out the gamblers, how can they bail out Wall Street and not—and claim that the Social Security system doesn’t really exist? They’ve used the Social Security money basically for the bailout. There it goes. They’ve made a choice. The choice is to bail out Wall Street against the people.

[abouttime]

McCain is pathetic. Sorry, but his views sre twisted and hypocritical. He is incompetent at best.

[Tobiasism]

Must get this on Florida TV.

[usacicsass]

Social security will collapse - why? Because it is controlled by bureaucrats who don't have a clue about how money works. I'll hold on to my thriving investments and gloat as I watch the social security system flop.

[BillCarson]

This is a joke, right?

[wsblake]

oh, you mean he was for it before he was against it-? wasnt that the clever refrain we had to hear from rethugs all during the kerry campaign back in '04?

[Bluesue]

WSJ interview March 3, 2008 - Was he speaking some sort of code that we just can't interpret? Some excerpts:

A centerpiece of a McCain presidential bid in 2000 was a plan to divert a portion of Social Security payroll taxes to fund private accounts, much as President Bush proposed unsuccessfully. Under the plan, workers could manage the money in stocks and bonds themselves to build a nest egg and, at retirement, also receive reduced Social Security payments from the government. Proponents say the combination of the nest egg and government payouts could give a retiree more than the current system, but opponents say the change would undermine the Social Security system.

and

Asked about the apparent change in position in the interview, Sen. McCain said he hadn't made one. "I'm totally in favor of personal savings accounts," he says. When reminded that his Web site says something different, he says he will change the Web site. (As of Sunday night, he hadn't.) "As part of Social Security reform, I believe that private savings accounts are a part of it -- along the lines that President Bush proposed."

http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB120451614688707083.html

[christabor]

I agree! The infusion of money into the market would be great for the economy. They wouldn't need our tax money to supply to capital needed to support these companies.

[Bluesue]

What? Are you being serious? Isn't enough that our 401(k)'s have suffered huge losses? You would also want part of your social security to be as vulnerable?

All this would be is a gift to the financial industry in generating fees. Much like the medicare presecription drug benefit was a gift to big pharma and the insurance industry.

[kluvlaw]

How is using SOCIAL SECURITY TAXES to prop up an imploding, greedy, and self serving segment of our economy NOT using "tax money?"

You may want to think before typing...seriously. That argument was too funny.

[BillCarson]

Yeah, let's mindlessly dump Social Security taxes into the stock market and see what happens. Great idea.

[MrKINOKO]

Yeah...let's let Joe Sixpack "manage" his money...just like he managed to get high in high school and not finish, mangaed to get that job (career?) as a grease monkey, and like he may or may not manage to get to the library once in a while to use the public-access computer to manage his social security. Sounds like an excellent way for "we the Sheeple" to finally implode into 1932 redux. Then Hanoi John and his Palinites can really kick off World War 3...as soon as they create the latest incantation of Hitler/Kai­ser/Stalin­/Mao.
I got news for you, Mr. McCain...anyone who is capable of "managing" their retirement money is ALREADY DOING SO, via Roth IRA, 401K, Ameritrade, et al. Those incapable of doing said are living check to check working at Pep Boys or Papa John's....and that's just the way it is in America. If there is no social security, FDIC, REAL homeland security...then why do we even need a "Government"? What purpose does it serve? To formulate, then "kill" Terrorists? To invade sovereign nations? To surveil it's citizens? To create UNICOR (Google it, kids...it's scary)? What?

[DavidBlackburn]

Let's not forget the 2005 bankruptcy bill that screwed a lot of Americans.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0312-03.htm

[uclafan]

Obama turns out crowd of 20,000 in Jacksonville FL, on Sat...8000 turned away but stayed outside the gates to listen...

McCain campaigned in same spot on Monday and only pulled in 3000...

http://www.jedreport.com/2008/09/20000-come-out-for-obama-rally.html

[uclafan]

Pictures from Republican Country

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/20/182714/678/140/604993

[grizhead63]

What a beautiful sight! We should also give some credit to Say-Ruh for the incredible turnout.

[hexham]

I loved the Lincoln quote Obama used:

"If you don't stop ly ing about my reputation, I'll start telling the truth about yours."

[gretchenart]

If all income was taxed for social security, any potential problems would be solved. The bailout currently helps the corrupt corporations continue to gamble with our money, but does nothing to roll back the higher interest rates and subprime loan results on the masses, so that home foreclosures will continue to skyrocket while the fat cats gett fatter.

[abby4ever]

Mc Cain is going to both re gulate and de regulate

Mc Cain is going to both remain a mav erick and change

Mc Cain is going to both keep his lob byist friends around him and abo lish gr eed

Mc Cain says Ob ama was wrong to attend an elit ist fund raiser even though he attended one of his own the month before

Mc Cain is using the eco nomic crisis for po litical gain and bawling out Ob ama for using the eco nomic crisis for po litical gain

Mc Cain is against the priva tization of social security even though he's for it

Mc Cain is going to make Was hington clean as soon as he's finished running a dir ty campaign

Mc Cain calls everyone his friend, even his ene mies

[DaOne]

He's the original Two-Face

[Raisean]

They should have put McCain in The Dark Knight instead of Heath... Do get me wrong Heath was awesome, it's just that It's a little more natural for McCain.

[SirReal1]

John McCain: I was for it, before I was against it, before I was for it, before I wasn't sure what I thought!

I'm John McCain and I'm pretty sure I approve this message.

[HadEnoughCrap]

I'm John McCain and what was the question again?

[Raisean]

Namenda and Aricept will be his best friends!

[SirReal1]

McCain and the "straight talk, double talk express" are on a track to nowhere.

Like every other "privatization" venture they have enacted, they start off with what "looks like" a small, reasonable, voluntary step; Once that is accomplished they move on to mandatory, ill-advised, profit generating (for those who already have most of your money) steps that expose the entire enterprise to the whims of market volatility.

My Brother-in-law took an "early retirement" from a major corporation back in the early 90's (at age 57), he was given a considerable "package" in the form of a one time "buy-out" which was put into stocks, then, Black Monday hit.

His retirement fund, nearly $1 Million, was reduced to about a quarter of its value, overnight. It never recovered, and neither did he.

He and my sister now live in a "fixed-rent, subsidized apartment complex" after defaulting on their Mortgage when they could no longer pull any value out through re-financing their $250,000.00 home.

He STILL votes Republican, and wonders why his standard of living continues to decline.

[milman1]

I am a democrat and will always be a democrat, but the opinion the democrats are without blame is as ridiculous as McCain claiming Obama is responsible for the lending situation. Likewise, people who gambled on appreciation to turn a profit are responsible.

I hope all those who claimed deregulation is socialism and the market will never act contrary to it's profit interest are proud to be republicans.

How long until the lobbys and special interest begin the whine about deregulation and free market principals.

[SCG]

Supply-side deregulation were Republican pushed ideas since at least Reagan.Many democrats cooperated through the years, but to claim this was a shared impetus, isn't the record.

Republicans are amazingly bipartisan when assigning blame for disasters.

[debrouillard]

How can gambling be responsible? For one person to make a profit,another has to lose.

Just as in this very moment, Some people have suddenly become Billionaires,i.e made profit.Would then also ranked this as Responsible Gambling?

If you doubt that a few more Billionaires were created last week,just wait for the next edition of Forbes Magazine. The whole notion of Gambling is Greed and Greed is the cause of all the worlds trouble.
Gambling is greed,Especially when u start gambling other people's money without their knowledge and then make them pay when you lose.