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John Neely Kennedy on Social SecurityDemocratic Senate Challenger (LA) |
Kennedy continues to broadcast an ad titled �Scary Mary,� a retort to her accusations that Kennedy would cut Social Security because he has endorsed the idea of voluntary private retirement savings accounts. The Republican ad states that �Mary Landrieu voted to allow illegal immigrants into the Social Security system.� The statement refers to the Senate�s 2006 debate over an immigration bill. The relevant portion deals with what kind of Social Security benefits a legal immigrant might be due for wages the immigrants earned before they established legal residence. Landrieu voted against a Republican amendment that would have prevented immigrants from receiving credit for Social Security taxes paid while their work status was not legal.
To mandate what would amount to �forced abandonment� of these systems for a quick infusion of funds into the Social Security system would be unconscionable. The proposals mandating Social Security coverage for public employees calculate that such action would only reduce Social Security�s financial shortfall by about 10 percent. To better put that in prospective, it means that Social Security�s solvency would be extended by only two years!