Former Senator Jonathan Edwards (D-NC) says he opposes privatizing Social Security, raising
the retirement age or cutting benefits. Try to find anything about the issue on his website
(http://johnedwards.com/), though, and it's your blood pressure that will go up.
*"John Edwards: Favors a bipartisan effort with policy experts to address the issue. Opposes privatization. Suggested he's open to lifting or eliminating the cap on the amount of income that is taxed for Social Security. Said Social Security is a social contract with seniors. 'And we can't go out there and just yank it out from under them,' he said earlier this year on NBC's 'Meet the Press.'" (The State, 4/22/07)
*"I oppose diverting payroll taxes to private accounts but support offering matching accounts to workers on top of Social Security. I oppose raising the retirement age or cutting COLAs." (Project Vote-Smart, 2004 Presidential National Political Awareness Test)
*"Privatizing a portion of Social Security would cost the Social Security Trust Fund more than $1 trillion, making it even harder for us to meet our responsibilities to our seniors. This kind of step would also erode the most basic guarantee of Social Security, exposing millions of Americans to an impoverished retirement. But I do support efforts to increase retirement savings outside of Social Security. I've proposed matching $1 in private savings with up to a $1 refundable tax credit, up to a limit of $1,000 per couple, for Americans with low and moderate incomes. A family that saves the maximum under this plan starting at age 25 will have a nest egg of $200,000." (Associated Press, 2/25/04)
