Progress Illinois

Dan Seals, the Democratic candidate running for the 10th District Congressional seat, has released a new ad that delves into the views, and tax paying practices, of his opponent, Robert Dold. The ad hits the GOP candidate on reproductive rights, Social Security, and fiscal responsiblity. Watch:

Members of the Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans, the Illinois Main Street Alliance, and Citizen Action/Illinois met outside of Chicago's Four Seasons Hotel to protest U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) endorsement of 9th Congressional District Republican candidate Joel Pollack. Ryan is the architect of the controversial "Roadmap for America" plan, which would dismantle Social Security even though the program's trust fund is fully solvent until 2032. Katie Jordan from Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans doesn't agree with the plan:

In the 10th Congressional District, Democratic nominee Dan Seals has also taken a swing at GOP candidate Robert Dold for encouraging supporters to read up on Ryan's "Roadmap." Social Security, it seems, will play a key role in these Chicago-area campaigns this fall.

When U.S. Rep. Sandy Levin (D-MI) endorsed Dan Seals, the Democratic candidate in the 10th Congressional District race, yesterday's announcement of the decision quickly turned to the future of Social Security. Seals's GOP candidate Robert Dold has backed Social Security privatization in the past and more recently flirted with supporting Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan's radical "Roadmap" plan, which would cut Social Security benefits. Levin, who is chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means and has fought against such proposals in Congress, said that although he hasn't met Dold, he has "met the positions that he proposes and that he believes in." Levin went on to explain why no plan for Social Security privatization would work:

There can always be slight differences in privatization plans, but if you tear them apart, they are all the same. At the heart of it, it would move younger people away from insured benefit plans and put poeple in a substanial way dependent upon the stock market. And we've learned these last years how much in jeopardy this places a trust fund and also how much it places in jeopardy the people who have to rely on it. If those who are now on social security all had, instead of social security, 401(k)s, they would be in, frankly, difficult straits.

Seals echoed that sentiment and voiced his concern about the impact Social Security privatization would have on the federal deficit:

If you were to privatize Social Security, you would actually add trillions of dollars to the debt - and outstanding debt already stands at $13 trillion, so the notion that we can add another two trillion or more to it is simply unacceptable. I support protecting Social Security and I'm happy to have the endorsement of a committee looking to protect and preserve Social Security and Medicare and I'll continue to work to make sure this is a program that's solvent for years to come.

Considering the fact that Republicans have been filibustering any and every bill that would add to the federal deficit, like the recently-passed state aid bill, does Dold's support of such an expensive and unproven initiative make any sense?

In a State Journal-Register op-ed yesterday, the Illinois Federation of Teachers' Steve Preckwinkle reminded readers that Illinois teachers don't receive Social Security, so the pension changes that zoomed through the General Assembly two weeks ago are going to hit them extra hard:

Teachers gave up the option to be part of Social Security years ago because they believed in the fairness of the existing pension plan, which was jointly funded by teachers and the state. Illinois taxpayers save more than $700 million per year by not paying Social Security payroll taxes for 78 percent of all active employees in the five state-managed plans, including all public school teachers. Unfortunately, the state routinely skipped its payments, causing today’s mountain of pension debt. Teachers never missed a contribution.

So now we will look again at the Social Security option for new teachers. Under state and federal law, they still have the right to be covered. And yes, it will cost hundreds of millions of new taxpayer-funded dollars should they choose coverage. Sorry, General Assembly, but even you can’t skip out on Social Security taxes once your employees are part of the system.