Bart Stupak: “congressional Republicans unveiled their own Social Security privatization plan last week, stating repeatedly that their…”

“congressional Republicans unveiled their own Social Security privatization plan last week, stating repeatedly that their proposal would protect the Social Security trust fund. It is an interesting comment considering the fact that Republicans have raided $670 billion from the Social Security trust fund over the last 4 years alone to help pay for their giant tax breaks for the wealthiest elite. The majority party seems to forget that during the Clinton years, we ensured Social Security trust funds were locked away so they could not be used by the Federal Government. That quickly changed after President Bush came to town, and now congressional Republicans are being disingenuous by attempting to sell their Social Security proposal as a way to prevent the trust fund from being raided in the future. Republicans are simply misrepresenting their proposal. When asked last week how the government would fund the programs now being funded by the Social Security trust fund money, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. McCrery), Social Security Subcommittee chairman, said that the cash can still be used the way it is now. In other words, despite their rhetoric, Republicans would continue to raid the Social Security trust fund. Americans should not be fooled by this latest privatization proposal. If the President and Republicans are serious about saving Social Security, let us pay back what we owe on Social Security now. ____________________”