Florida GOP Senate Candidate Wants Social Security
Investment Accounts, Higher Retirement Age
Marco Rubio also says Social Security benefits should be cut
for younger workers, AP reports
May 25, 2010 – The idea of investing Social
Security funds in the stock market, raising the age for receiving the
retirement benefits and cutting the benefits for younger workers were
proposed by a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Florida,
according to a report by the
Associated Press.
“Marco Rubio wants
Americans to work longer and retire later to places like
Florida,
a stand that has drawn criticism from his Senate rivals and unnerves
some in the Sunshine State where one out of every seven residents gets a
Social Security
check,” according to the AP story.
As the nation grapples with the fast-growing
insolvency of
entitlement programs, likely Republican nominee
Rubio
has proposed raising the retirement age and cutting
benefits to younger workers. Rubio wants to raise the full-retirement
age, which now ranges from 65 to 67 depending on a person's birth year,
until it reaches 70 in the next century. He would exempt people
currently over 55, the AP reports.
He also favors allowing workers to invest part of
their payroll taxes
on their own. That plan is similar to one that was advanced by former
President George W. Bush six years ago and proved so controversial that
Republicans then in control never brought it to a vote in
either House of Congress.
His likely Democratic opponent, Rep. Kendrick Meek,
said, according to
CBS 4, "social security doesn't face a crisis, it just faces
challenges. The trust fund is not going to be exhausted until,
projections have said, 2037. And Social Security can still meet it's
obligations by 75 percent of benefits promised even after that."
Independent Senate candidate, Governor Charlie
Crist, said he thinks the key could be the nation's roughly 14 million
illegal immigrants. He said many aren't paying into the system now and
if they applied for and received citizenship, they would have to start
contributing.
May 25, 2010 – The idea of investing Social
Security funds in the stock market, raising the age for receiving the
retirement benefits and cutting the benefits for younger workers were
proposed by a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Florida,
according to a report by the