Clinton camp on Obama & Soc. Security
Posted: Thursday, November 15, 2007 10:10 PM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Democrats
From NBC's Mark Murray
LAS VEGAS -- The Clinton campaign does its own fact-checking on Obama's position on Social Security
First, Sen. Obama said, regarding Social Security that everything was on the table and he didn't want to lay out his preferences beforehand. From ABC on May 17, 1007:
STEPHANOPOULOS: You've also said that with Social Security, everything should be on the table.
OBAMA: Yes.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Raising the retirement age?
OBAMA: Everything should be on the table.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Raising payroll taxes?
OBAMA: Everything should be on the table. I think we should approach it the same way Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan did back in 1983. They came together. I don't want to lay out my preferences beforehand, but what I know is that Social Security is solvable. It
is not as difficult a problem as we're going to have with Medicaid and Medicare.
Then, Sen. Obama took raising the retirement age and benefit cuts off the table. From an October 27, Obama release: Obama said he would strengthen Social Security by opposing any effort to create private accounts, raise the retirement age or cut benefits
But this month on Meet the Press, Obama put everything back on the table again:
MR. RUSSERT: But, Senator, you said last year—earlier this year that everything should be on the table for Social Security, including looking at raising retirement age, indexing benefits, and then suddenly you said, “No, no. Those aren’t off—on the table; I’m taking them off the table.”
SEN. OBAMA: Tim, that’s not—that’s not what I said. What I said was that I will convene a meeting as president where we discuss all of the options that are available. That doesn’t mean that as president I will not have strong opinions on how we should move forward…MR. RUSSERT: But in May you said they would be on the table.
SEN. OBAMA: Well, when I—I am going to be listening to any ideas that are presented, but I think that the best way to approach this is to adjust the cap on the payroll tax so that people like myself are paying a little bit more and the people who are in need are protected. That is the option that I will be pushing forward. But, look, even as president I’m not going to be able to get this done by myself, and that means that I’m going to be listening to any other ideas out there. It doesn’t mean, though, that I’m not going to have a strong position on it.
MR. RUSSERT: But they would be on the table?
SEN. OBAMA: Well, I will listen to all arguments and the best options, finding out what is it going to take to close that gap…
The Washington Post's Dan Balz concluded "Having challenged Clinton on Social Security, Obama now owes it to voters to explain his own evolution on the issue of benefit cuts this year -- and to provide a clearer sense of just how amenable he would be as president to endorsing a bipartisan solution that ultimately would entail dealing with both benefits and with taxes. He needs to say what is now on the table and what isn't."
