Green Retirement Blog

Speaking via satellite to an AARP gathering this past Saturday, both presidential contenders Barack Obama and John McCain, addressed the issue of retirement. The nominees agreed that Social Security needs to be strengthened and protected.  Obama presented to the group, his proposals on Social Security and Medicare reform, while McCain promised to set-up a bi-partisan commission to study the issue and present their findings.

Senator Obama warned that a McCain administration would endanger Social Security.  This past March, a Wall Street Journal article reported that “McCain’s top aides were considering cost-of-living adjustment cuts and raising the retirement age as part of their Social Security plan.” McCain has not endorsed or rejected those ideas.

Obama accused McCain of pushing the un-popular Bush plan of privatizing Social Security. “Privatizing Social Security was a bad idea when George Bush proposed it, and it’s a bad idea today,” Obama said.

Obama’s solution to fixing Social Security, involves expanding the Social Security payroll tax to incomes of $250,000 (in about a decade), from the current ceiling of $102,000.  And, Obama proposes eliminating federal income taxes, for seniors earning less than $50,000 per year.  The Obama campaign claims that this proposed tax cut, would result in an average savings of $1,400 per year, for nearly 7 million seniors and retirees.

McCain, on the other hand, vowed to protect Social Security, and create a commission.

If it appears that Obama has clear proposals, while McCain has none, it is because that is precisely the situation.  A visit to the respective candidates websites, to discover their positions on retirement, is quite revealing.  Sen. Obama’s website, lists several plans to help seniors and retirees, with everything from prescription drugs, to heating oil, and expanding workplace pension accounts.

A visit to John McCain’s website reveals nothing.  Not only is Retirement not a core issue for the McCain campaign, the only mention of any sort of plan for retirement, is tucked away deep in the website and is contained in one paragraph:

Retirement Tax Cut:

John McCain Will Act To Lower Medicare Premiums. Seniors face a growing threat from higher Medicare premiums that tax away their Social Security and retirement savings. John McCain has proposed comprehensive, pro-market health care and Medicare reforms to reduce health care costs and control increases in premiums – while delivering high-quality health care.

That’s it, that is all John McCain has to offer retired Americans, and Americans planning for retirement. A promise to Lower Medicare Premiums. Compared to Obama’s extensive list of proposals, John McCain’s stance on retirement, can only be described as “pathetic”.

If you take the one issue of retirement, and cast your vote on which candidate has the most to offer, the choice is clear and obvious - Barack Obama is the better candidate when it comes to retirement.

Which is quite frankly, very odd, when you think about it.  One would expect that the 72 year old candidate, would have a better grasp on the issue of retirement and the concerns of retirees, over a 46 year old candidate who is 16 years away from Social Security eligibility.

Update:  Sam Stein, of the Huffingtonpost.com has a great article on John McCain and the privatization of retirement, link here.

Full Disclosure: The author is neither a Democrat, nor a Republican, but is a member of the Green Party.

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