Thursday October 02, 2008
(Manchester, NH) —Today, at events in Nashua, Concord and Lebanon, former Governor and current candidate for U.S. Senate Jeanne Shaheen met with seniors to discuss the impact of the current economic crisis on Social Security and the consequences of privatization, had John Sununu succeeded in privatizing the program. In the House of Representatives, he co-sponsored legislation that would require workers under 55 to privatize some of their retirement savings and in the Senate, he has proposed three pieces of legislation that would have privatized Social Security.
"What has happened the last few weeks on Wall Street shows how dangerous and how wrong John Sununu is on Social Security," Shaheen said. "We cannot afford to gamble people's retirement security on a risky privatization scheme.
"If John Sununu and George Bush had succeeded in privatizing social security, the impact of the recent economic crisis would have been catastrophic for millions of Americans who rely on Social Security to keep them out of poverty.
"The way to strengthen Social Security is for Washington politicians to stop borrowing from it. Because of John Sununu and George Bush's reckless spending, our national debt has doubled to 10 trillion dollars, and they've financed their reckless spending by taking money out of the Social Security trust fund, and borrowing money from countries like China. And John Sununu's risky privatization scheme would add 2 trillion dollars to the national debt.
"We need a new direction in Washington. It's time we had leaders who put the interests of New Hampshire's families, not greedy hedge fund managers and investment banks, first. That's what I will do as your Senator."
Also at the events, Shaheen introduced the Social Security Guards, a group of New Hampshire voters from across the state who will travel across the state to set the record straight on Social Security and let seniors and their families know what's at stake in this election. At the event in Nashua, Social Security Guards Angie Kopka and Mike Atkins discussed why they are supporting Jeanne Shaheen.
"If you've been watching Wall Street lately and seen the stock market falling apart, you know that it's more important now than ever that we protect Social Security, and that's why it's so important that we help elect Jeanne Shaheen to the US Senate this November," Kopka said.
"When it comes to protecting our Social Security, the choice in the race for US Senate could not be more clear," Atkins said. "Jeanne Shaheen has a long record of speaking out against privatizing Social Security and fighting for our seniors, and she'll continue fighting for seniors as our Senator."
For more information, visit www.JeanneShaheen.org/issues
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