United States Senate runoff election in Louisiana, 2014/Social Security
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December 6, 2014 |
November 4, 2014 |
Bill Cassidy  |
Mary Landrieu  |
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Bill Cassidy |
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Cook Political Report: Lean R[1] Sabato's Crystal Ball: Likely R[2] |
• Connections to Pres. Obama • Social Security • Media • Voting analysis and trends |
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Sen. Mary Landrieu, a strong supporter of Social Security, was critical of Rep. Bill Cassidy's support for raising the age at which an individual receives Social Security benefits from 65 to 70.
Cassidy voted for the budget proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan, H.Con.Res.96. According to the Republican Study Committee, "This budget would slowly phase in an increase in the Social Security full-retirement age. The full retirement age would continue the current-law’s gradual increase of two months per year beginning in 2022 until the full retirement age reaches 70."[3]
During an October debate Cassidy defended his vote saying, "This was previously done by Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan, and the fact that people don't talk about it is because it happened so — it just didn't hurt anybody. If you pick an age in which someone's 40 now, and they would become eligible [for Social Security] at 67 and a month. If they're 39 they become eligible at 67 and two months. ... They have time to plan for their change in retirement, but for those who are currently on, those about to be, nothing changes."[4]
After the debate Landrieu spokesman Fabien Levy said, "Congressman Cassidy went further than anyone could have anticipated Tuesday night by advancing a bogus, out-of-touch claim that raising the Social Security eligibility age just wouldn’t hurt anybody."[4]
Landrieu's campaign then created the website 70WillHurt.com, which featured video clips of Cassidy's comments, the comments of Louisianians worried about not receiving their benefits at 65 and Landrieu's campaign ad "Never", which attacked Cassidy's record on Medicare and Social Security.
Below are statements made by Landrieu and Cassidy on Social Security.
Mary Landrieu
| “ | For 79 years, Social Security has been one of our country’s great successes. Seniors in Louisiana and across the country worked their whole lives at labor-intensive jobs that built our nation’s roads, produced our nation’s energy and drove our nation’s economy for decades. Many of them also bravely served our country in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. They held up their end of the bargain, and I will continue to fight to make sure we keep the promise of a strong and thriving Social Security program that will always be there for them,” Sen. Landrieu said. “Social Security continues to be important, not only to Louisiana’s seniors, but to our state’s economy, and I pledge to do everything I can to keep the program strong for another 79 years and beyond.[5] | ” |
| —Mary Landrieu, https://web.archive.org/web/20141118003548/http://www.landrieu.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=4635 | ||
Bill Cassidy
During a debate, Cassidy said that he supported revising the age at which individuals receive social security benefits. He did not argue for changing the age for those near retirement, but he did argue for raising the age for younger workers, whom he believed would have time to plan for a later retirement. His full explanation can be seen below:
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See also
- United States Senate runoff election in Louisiana, 2014
- United States Senate elections in Louisiana, 2014
- United States Senate elections, 2014
- United States Senate
- Louisiana elections, 2014
- United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana, 2014
- U.S. Senate delegation from Louisiana
- United States congressional delegations from Louisiana
- Mary Landrieu (D)
- Bill Cassidy (R)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2014 SENATE ELECTION RESULTS BY RACE RATING," accessed November 3, 2014
- ↑ Sabato's Crystal Ball, "2014 Senate Races," accessed November 24, 2014
- ↑ rsc.woodall.house.gov, "RSC Back to Basics FY2015 Budget," accessed November 20, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 TalkingPointsMemo, "Will Social Security Attacks On Bill Cassidy Save Mary Landrieu?" accessed November 20, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
