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John Ensign on Social Security

Republican Jr Senator (NV)

 


Supports privatizing Social Security

Those in today’s workforce are tomorrow’s retirees, and they deserve the opportunity to invest a portion of their Social Security payroll taxes in individual accounts.
Source: www.ensign4nevada.com , Sep 27, 2000

Voted YES on establishing reserve funds & pre-funding for Social Security.

Voting YES would:
  1. require that the Federal Old Age and Survivors Trust Fund be used only to finance retirement income of future beneficiaries;
  2. ensure that there is no change to benefits for individuals born before January 1, 1951
  3. provide participants with the benefits of savings and investment while permitting the pre-funding of at least some portion of future benefits; and
  4. ensure that the funds made available to finance such legislation do not exceed the amounts estimated to be actuarially available.

Proponents recommend voting YES because:

Perhaps the worst example of wasteful spending is when we take the taxes people pay for Social Security and, instead of saving them, we spend them on other things. Even worse than spending Social Security on other things is we do not count it as debt when we talk about the deficit every year. So using the Social Security money is actually a way to hide even more wasteful spending without counting it as debt. This Amendment would change that.

Opponents recommend voting NO because:

This amendment has a fatal flaw. It leaves the door open for private Social Security accounts by providing participants with the option of "pre-funding of at least some portion of future benefits."

Make no mistake about it, this is a stalking-horse for Social Security. It looks good on the surface, but this is an amendment to privatize Social Security.
Reference: Bill S.Amdt.489 on S.Con.Res.21 ; vote number 2007-089 on Mar 22, 2007

Voted YES on putting 90% of any budget surplus toward Social Security.

Vote to pass a bill to establish a 'Protect Social Security Account' to place 90 percent of any annual budget surpluses until a reform measure is enacted to keep Social Security solvent long-term.
Reference: Bill HR 4578 ; vote number 1998-464HR on Sep 25, 1998

Rated 20% by the ARA, indicating an anti-senior voting record.

Ensign scores 20% by the ARA on senior issues

The mission of the Alliance for Retired Americans is to ensure social and economic justice and full civil rights for all citizens so that they may enjoy lives of dignity, personal and family fulfillment and security. The Alliance believes that all older and retired persons have a responsibility to strive to create a society that incorporates these goals and rights and that retirement provides them with opportunities to pursue new and expanded activities with their unions, civic organizations and their communities.

The following ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization's preferred position.

Source: ARA website 03n-ARA on Dec 31, 2003

Reduce taxes on Social Security earnings.

Ensign signed the Contract with America:

[As part of the Contract with America, within 100 days we pledge to bring to the House Floor the following bill]:

The Senior Citizens Fairness Act:
Raise the Social Security earnings limit, which currently forces seniors out of the workforce; repeal the 1993 tax hikes on Social Security; and provide tax incentives for private long-term care insurance to let older Americans keep more of what they have earned over the years.
Source: Contract with America 93-CWA9 on Sep 27, 1994

Other candidates on Social Security: John Ensign on other issues:
NV Gubernatorial:
Brian Sandoval
NV Senatorial:
Dean Heller
Harry Reid

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Page last updated: Aug 07, 2014