Colorado Congressional Candidate Ed Perlmutter to Deliver Democratic Radio Address

(Washington, D.C.) – Democratic congressional candidate Ed Perlmutter delivered the national Democratic response to the president’s weekly radio address. Perlmutter is running against Republican Rubber-Stamp-In-Training Rick O’Donnell and his address will be the eighth by a Democratic congressional candidate this cycle. Perlmutter focused his remarks on Social Security, the past and future attempts by George Bush, Rick O’Donnell and the Republican Congress to privatize it, and Rick O’Donnell’s 1995 comments advocating “killing” Social Security. Top Republicans have made no secret about their plans to bring back Social Security privatization in 2007 and this impending push to privatize is what makes November’s election a critical choice for Colorado families.

Ed Perlmutter is a State Senator from Colorado who has fought for Colorado families his entire career. In 2001-2002 he was selected by his colleagues as Senate President Pro-Tem. He has been recognized for putting families first and for his leadership in carrying legislation promoting renewable energy, consumer protection and responsible growth. WHO: Colorado congressional candidate Ed Perlmutter

WHAT: Weekly Democratic Radio Address

WHEN: Saturday, September 23, 2006 (at various times across the country)

WHERE: Major radio networks, including ABC, AP, AURN, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, NPR, American Forces Radio, Voice of America, BBC, CBC, and Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Privatization is on the March:

82,000 Social Security Recipients in Colorado’s 7th District

1995: Rick O’Donnell Tries to Kill Social Security: “As we bury the rest of the welfare state in preparation for the 21st century, it is time to slay the largest government 'entitlement' program of all, Social Security. There is an even more important moral question raised by the government's role as chief provider in old age. It sends the un-American message that it is not your responsibility to take care of yourself.” [Denver Post quoting O’Donnell in 1995, 7/28/06]

2006: Rick O’Donnell Wants to Privatize Social Security: “O'Donnell said Monday he supports personal accounts for workers who pay into Social Security.” [Rocky Mountain News, July 11, 2006]

House Republican Leader John Boehner: “If I'm around in a leadership role come January, we're going to get serious about this.” [Washington Times, 7/31/06]

George W. Bush: President Bush recently told the Wall Street Journal that he plans to bring back his fight to privatize Social Security in January 2007. The Wall Street Journal reports aboard Air Force One, “He [Bush] had been saying that he hoped to revisit Social Security reform next year…” [Wall Street Journal, 9/9/06]

More Bush: “Now is the time for the Congress and the President to work together to reform Medicare and reform Social Security…If we can’t get it done this year, I’m going to try next year. And if we can't get it done next year, I’m going to try the year after that, because it is the right thing to do...Now is the time to solve the problems of Medicare and Social Security, and I want your help… I’d like to put this on your agenda, and let you know the White House and members of the Senate and the House are anxious to deal with this issue and get it done once and for all.” [Bush remarks to Manhattan Institute, 6/27/06]

Karl Rove: “I will point out that no president has made a more concerted or determined effort to reform Social Security, our nation’s largest entitlement. The president encountered enormous resistance to what were bold but practical reforms…But President Bush will continue to keep entitlement reform front and center on the nation’s political agenda.” [Rove remarks to the American Enterprise Institute, 5/15/06]

White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten: “Looking ahead to next year, he is trying to lay the groundwork for a renewed effort to reform Social Security and Medicare, the federal health-care program for seniors.” [Wall Street Journal, 6/17/06]

Louisiana Rep. Jim McCrery on the 2007 Agenda: “Looking at the lay of the land politically and substantively, it seems to me the more logical order would be Social Security, then tax reform, then healthcare reform.” [Congress DailyPM, 6/6/06]

House and Senate Republican Caucus Guidebook on Social Security Labels Privatization “Personalization” and “Reform”: “President Bush Has Set Forth Broad Principles to Guide Reforms.” [Saving Social Security: A Guide to Social Security Reform, Rep. Deborah Pryce, House Republican Caucus and Sen. Rick Santorum, Senate Republican Caucus, January 27, 2005]

Below is a transcript of Ed Perlmutter’s remarks:

Ed Perlmutter
National Radio Address
“Democrats are Committed to Protecting Social Security”

Good morning, and happy new year to those of you celebrating Rosh Hashanah. I’m Ed Perlmutter from Colorado and I’m proud to be joined here today by my parents.

My fellow Americans, the fight to protect Social Security is back.

Republicans from George Bush to Karl Rove to the Republicans in Congress have pledged, as recently as this month, to put Social Security back on the agenda early in 2007.

When Republicans say they are going to reform Social Security, they mean they are going to privatize it, and by privatizing it they’ll cut the guaranteed monthly benefit we have promised generations of Americans.

We can and we must stop them – right now, before it’s too late.

Just last year, Democrats stood up to President Bush and the Republicans in Congress, and fought back against this dangerous proposal and defeated it. It was defeated because the overwhelming majority of Americans know how risky it is to privatize Social Security. The GOP scheme would threaten senior citizens who worked hard, played by the rules, and simply seek to live their golden years with some financial stability and security.

Republicans in Congress have been consistent rubber stamps for the misguided policies of the Bush administration. Not only do they want to privatize Social Security, they are raiding the Social Security trust fund as well.

Let me give you an idea of where their priorities lie. At the same time that they are taking money from the trust fund that seniors and people with disabilities depend on, they are sending billions of dollars to special interests in giveaways that taxpayers are paying for. They are preventing Medicare from negotiating for lower drug prices and are doing nothing to stop oil companies from gouging Americans at the gas pump.

There has never been a more critical moment to ensure that we take our nation in a new direction.

My opponent and his Republican friends in Washington must be fans of the TV show Jeopardy. Because that’s the position they’ll put seniors in if they succeed in their plan to privatize Social Security.

Seniors all over America rely on Social Security every month and if the GOP plan passes, future generations could see their benefits slashed.

In my congressional district here in Colorado, there are nearly 82,000 Social Security recipients. Both here, and across the country, the number of retirees is expected to climb even higher in the next several years, making this fight to protect Social Security even more important.

Democrats are fighting to protect Social Security and future retirees are counting on us to succeed.

In the last 11 years, my opponent, like Republicans in Congress, has demonstrated very dangerous positions on Social Security. In 1995, when he worked for Newt Gingrich, he advocated “slaying” Social Security, and even called it “un-American.”

Let me be clear: committing ourselves to retirement security is about as American as Congress can get.

In 1995, my opponent advocated abandoning seniors and today he is abandoning the truth. I will not cut benefits for retirees and in Congress, I will fight to guarantee retirement security for seniors here in Colorado and all across the country.

Right now, on issues ranging from Medicare to gas prices, college tuition and the war in Iraq, President Bush and Republicans in Congress are taking us in the wrong direction. We need new leadership in Washington to right our course so that our government gets back to the business of fighting for families.

If you are like most Americans, and you want to change the direction our country is headed in, you have to start by changing the people you send to Congress. That is why this election is so very important.

When I get to Washington I will continue the fight that I have waged for families here in Colorado. I will work hand-in-hand with Democrats and Republicans to try to heal the partisan divide raging in Congress because seniors and their families are counting on us.

I’m Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, thanks for listening.