NorthWest Florida Republican

Senator Obama has a problem. It is one that he frequently accuses Senator McCain of having. He exaggerates the truth. Sometimes to the point of just out-right lying.

In his campaign stop in Daytona Beach Florida, Senator Obama told a crowd of supporters that Senator McCain voted to privatize Social Security and that their benefits would have been tied up in the Market.

Obama said that “if my opponent had his way, the millions of Floridians who rely on it would’ve had their Social Security tied up in the stock market this week.” – Newsweek

He has also pushed an ad that claims Senator McCain supported Bush proposals to do just that.

The ad goes on to claim that the Bush (and McCain) plan would cut “benefits in half.” This is a rank misrepresentation. Nobody now getting benefits, or even close to retirement, would have seen any reduction in benefits or cost-of-living adjustments under the plan Bush proposed in April, 2005.

Who was he trying to scare here? If anyone knows anything about these proposals they would know that what Senator Obama is saying is just completely untrue.

A quick check with Fackcheck.org quickly debunks this entire line of argument with Senator Obama.

Maybe Senator Obama is worried that his Senior voters will defect to Senator McCain. Worried enough that he has to scare them into voting for him. Claim that their retirement could get cut in half if they vote for McCain.

Of course, if you take a look at the proposals you would know that anyone currently on Social Security would not even be affected by the proposals. Even then some people close to retirement wouldn’t even be affected. And still more, you would have to opt in to the more risky part of the Social Security proposals. Social Security as we know it now will still remain Social Security. Just some would have the opportunity to make a more realistic retirement income with opting into the stock market portion. Of course they would also have a more realistic opportunity to fail as well. Want to feel safe? Stay with just the Social Security Account.

Perhaps the better reality of the entire situation is that their retirement could be in jeopardy if they vote for Obama. He has absolutely no plan on Social Security and just recently changed his website to remove some wording that would have precluded him from changing the retirement age or lowering the benefits received.

Ed Morrissey over at Hot Air makes more of a point on this.

But while Obama spent his time in Florida frightening old people, his webmasters made some interesting changes to his policy page. Slate noticed it yesterday:

Barack Obama is such a hard-core wonk, his camp grinds through policy day in, day out. That may be a great quality to have in a president—but it’s not necessarily a smart strategy for a presidential candidate just weeks before an election.

And this week the Obama campaign modified his position on a sensitive issue: Social Security. Compare the current “Seniors & Social Security” page with the previous version. Now, tell me why, oh why, would the Obama campaign decide to delete the following sentence: “[Obama] does not believe it is necessary or fair to hardworking seniors to raise the retirement age.” Is he trying to stoke anxiety about his position on Social Security?

Why indeed? That does not seem like a random act of space-saving on a cluttered website. Is Obama about to reverse himself on Social Security and back an increase in the retirement age? It’s one of the more substantial points of agreement among economists as a way to extend the program’s solvency, and it makes sense as Americans get healthier and have longer, more productive lives.

Scared yet? You should be if Senator Obama is elected. Who knows what he will really do. His words say one thing but his actions say something entirely different.

Just another lie in a long list of lies from the left.