Politics

The Real GOP Agenda: Republicans Can?t Hide From Their Calls to Privatize Social Security

By Speaker's Press Shop

No matter how hard they try, Congressional Republicans cannot hide from their effort to privatize Social Security. As Think Progress points out, it?s in their book.

Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy of California, House Republican Chief Deputy Whip and self-described ?Young Gun,? recently told The Wall Street Journal ?no one has a proposal up to cut Social Security.?

Really? According to the Wall Street Journal, the book, ?Young Guns? ? which Mr. McCarthy co-wrote with House Republican Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia and Ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee Paul Ryan of Wisconsin ? ?spells out what Republicans might do if they are in charge? and includes the GOP proposal to privatize Social Security and end Medicare as we know it.

Furthermore, Mr. Cantor told the Wall Street Journal that he not only supports Congressman Ryan?s proposal to privatize Social Security but:

it would not be in our book if I did not embrace the concept of what Paul is talking about.

Maybe Mr. McCarthy skipped pages 125-138 of his own book. But most likely he is just trying to hide his and other Congressional Republican support for privatizing Social Security.

Americans rejected the Bush-Republican effort to privatize and cut Social Security in 2005. Imagine if those efforts had succeeded, and when seniors saw trillions of dollars of their own investments wiped out in the Bush financial meltdown on Wall Street, the would have also taken sharp losses in the monthly Social Security benefits. Democrats are committed to preserving this bedrock promise and protecting retirement security for American workers and their families.

Full post as published by The Gavel on September 22, 2010 (boomark / email).