Obama, McCain spar over social security

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama accused Republican rival John McCain of wanting to privatize social security, cut cost-of-living adjustments or raise the retirement age to receive benefits.

Obama, speaking on Saturday to a group from the AARP via satellite from Newark, N.J., said that McCain and the Republicans' plan for social security "would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement."

{mosads}"John McCain said that the way Social Security works is, and I quote, 'an absolute disgrace,'  Wrong," Obama said. "For millions of Americans, it’s the very difference between a comfortable retirement and falling into poverty.  More than half of seniors depend on it for more than half of their income.  And as the first baby boomers become eligible for benefits this year, there are steps we can take to secure its future for generations to come."

Obama went on to accuse McCain of "embracing George Bush's failed privatization scheme."
 
"Privatizing Social Security was a bad idea when George Bush proposed it, and it’s a bad idea today," Obama said. "It would take the one rock-solid, guaranteed part of your retirement income and gamble it on the stock market.  That’s why I stood with AARP against this plan in the Senate, and that’s why I won’t stand for it as president."

Obama went on to say that McCain has talked of cutting the program's cost-of-living adjustments or raising the retirement age. Obama said his plan would help keep the program solvent by raising taxes on those making more than $250,000, stressing that 99 percent of Americans will see no tax increase.

Obama added that he would eliminate income taxes for retirees making less than $50,000 a year.

The McCain campaign vigorously disputed Obama's characterization of McCain's plans for social security, accusing Obama of wanting to raise taxes and noting that the Illinois senator once said "everything should be on the table" when discussing social security reform.

“ John McCain has always promised to fiercely protect social security benefits and Barack Obama's willingness to recklessly misinterpret the facts to scare seniors for political points is the divisive type of behavior that has ruined Washington and shows why Obama is the absolute wrong man to fix it," Tucker Bounds, a McCain spokesman, said in a statement. "John McCain isn’t just talking, he’s actually urged a compromise to fix social security and maintain benefits."