Group launches ads accusing GOP of planing to privatize Social Security

Americans United on Monday will begin running ads against a GOP plan for Social Security, which they say amounts to privatization.

The five-figure buy will start the group’s mobilization effort in 10
battleground states to pressure lawmakers to oppose the plan.

“There is danger,” the ad states. “Wall Street’s congressional allies John Boehner, Paul Ryan and Michele Bachmann are planning a sneak attack on Social Security and Medicare. Their plan: Bring back George W. Bush’s privatization plan, cut guaranteed benefits and replace them with a risky investment scheme so Wall Street can get its hands on the Social Security trust fund.” 

The group has hired staff in Nevada, Colorado, Missouri, Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Washington and New Hampshire to combat the Republican plan it deems the “Roadmap to Ruin.”

House Republican Chief Deputy Whip Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) on Sunday discounted the idea that his party was trying to reform the trust fund and said Democrats were using the issue to distract voters from the fact that the economy is teetering on the edge of a double-dip recession on their watch. 

“This is a scare tactic to try to get off jobs,” he told CNN’s State of the Union. “Social Security isn’t a fundamental problem. We should be able to sit down with both parties and start talking to make sure we secure it.”

Americans United is taking aim at the “Roadmap to America’s Future,” a plan put forward by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). The proposal diverts funds from Social Security into private accounts that can be invested in certain products.

The group will also call on lawmakers to oppose raising the retirement age.