Candidates trade jabs over future of Social Security

Indiana 9th District candidates continue to spar over their positions on the future of Social Security.

Incumbent Democrat Baron Hill criticized Republican candidate Todd Young’s claim that Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme” during a speech Monday at a senior center in New Albany. Hill also said Young has failed to tell voters where he stands on Social Security.

“He apparently has decided that his best strategy on Social Security is to simply say nothing,” Hill said. “The voters of the 9th Congressional District deserve better. They deserve a congressman that will be up front with them instead of ducking questions.”

Those words sparked a series of responses from Hill’s opponents. All four candidates battling for Indiana’s 9th District seat spoke with The Tribune in phone interviews Tuesday.

Libertarian candidate Greg Knott said Social Security is not what Hill described, but he also said it’s not a Ponzi scheme.

“I don’t think Social Security fits that definition,” Knott said. “It is a rip-off.”

“That’s an irresponsible statement,” Hill said of Young’s remarks in a phone interview. “To say that is the same old political rhetoric. It scares senior citizens.”

Just as Hill has challenged opponents to pledge to protect Social Security, Knott challenged Hill to support what’s called The Roadmap for America’s Future.

That is a Republican proposal developed by Rep. Ryan Paul, R-Wis., that would give Americans investment options for their retirement funds available to congressmen and federal employees in the Thrift Savings Plan.

Hill has questioned why Young will not say whether he supports that plan.

Young’s campaign manager, Ryan Burchfield, said Tuesday that The Roadmap for America’s Future is under study by the campaign.

“Right now we’re looking at the Paul Ryan plan,” Burchfield said. “The thing that Todd wants to have done is verification that the plan’s numbers can make Social Security solvent. If we can verify that they are good numbers and that the last-ditch effort to make this plan work is raising taxes, then he (Young) could sign on.”

Write-in candidate Jerry Lucas of Jennings County agrees with Young’s decription of  Social Security as a Ponzi scheme.

A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment scam that pays investors with other investors’ money. The scam is named after Charles Ponzi, who was charged with defrauding people in the 1920s.

Lucas says steps must be taken to ensure those who are filing for Social Security claims are entitled to them.

“We’re going to have to clean it out,” Lucas said. “There’s no such thing as solvent Social Security. It has become a cash hole.”

Young stressed he opposes raising taxes to fix Social Security.

“That’s Mr. Hill’s solution for everything,” Young said. “That’s not where you begin.

“The program is fatally flawed,” Young added. “We have to work to make it sustainable for the long term. We have to ensure that those retirees get what they were promised.”

Knott is a proponent of the FairTax — a plan that replaces federal income taxes with one flat-rate national sales tax. Knott says the FairTax would provide a “good solution” because it’s revenue-neutral and eliminates payroll taxes.

“It would replace the funding mechanism for one that’s more sustainable,” Knott said. “Will Baron Hill take my challenge and bring justice to Social Security? I would like to put the ball back in his court.”

Young said Hill is trying to make Social Security a campaign issue to distract constituents from his votes on health care and President Barack Obama’s stimulus package, which have come under fire from some residents in the 9th District.

“His recent voting record isn’t popular,” Young added.

“That’s not the point,” Hill said. “It (Social Security) is an issue. He’s avoiding the questions. Voters have a right to know.”

Young, as he did during the primary election against GOP candidates, invites Hill to participate in a discussion of any issue in a debate format. When asked whether he would be willing to debate Social Security with Young, Hill had a single-word response: “Yes.”