Sharron Angle Retreats to Underground Bunker to Avoid Discussing Extreme Social Security Agenda
One week after primary, Self-proclaimed “battle-tested” candidate refuses to talk to reporters
LAS VEGAS – Sharron Angle has been the Republican Senate nominee for a week and she is already in hiding. Either unable or unwilling to defend her extreme and dangerous agenda to kill Social Security, Angle has repeatedly refused to speak to reporters, even as local seniors have harshly criticized her Social Security agenda. And after meeting with Republican leadership in Washington DC yesterday, Angle immediately rushed away from reporters, refusing to answer their questions.
***NEW VIDEO: Sharron Angle runs and hides to avoid Social Security questions
Following the meeting, GOP campaign chief John Cornyn said Sharron Angle would not take questions from the press for “a few weeks” so she could prepare. Cornyn’s statements are particularly ironic, as Angle spent the entire primary campaign touting herself as the only “battle-tested” candidate that was ready to take on Sen. Reid.
Right away, top Senate Republicans were quick to distance themselves from Angle’s radical plan to abolish Social Security – a dramatic step beyond even George W. Bush’s failed efforts to privatize the system in 2005. Even ultra-conservative Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, generally a supporter of Social Security privatization, said Angle’s plan to eliminate the program was too extreme for him to support.
Within hours of Angle’s meeting, a number of both conservative and centrist Senate Republicans said they outright rejected or couldn’t enthusiastically get behind Sharron Angle’s candidacy or her dangerous policy agenda.
“Sharron Angle is hiding from both local and national media because her dangerous plan for Social Security would devastate tens of thousands of Nevadans and destroy the most successful anti-poverty program in the history of this country,” said Reid campaign communications director Kelly Steele. “While Sen. Reid has fought to protect and strengthen Social Security, including killing George W. Bush’s efforts to privatize the system, Sharron Angle made crystal clear – before she took to her underground bunker – that her commitment to dismantling Social Security was an important and non-negotiable component of her dangerous and extreme agenda.”
BACKGROUND ON ANGLE’S AGENDA FOR SOCIAL SECURITY
Sharron Angle Would “Phase Out” Medicare And Social Security. During a May 2010 debate on Face to Face, Sharron Angle said, “We need to phase Medicare and Social Security out in favor of something privatized.” She later added, “Going forward we need to phase it out, give people an opportunity to either opt into the old system or go for a new system where they have their own healthcare savings account or they have their own retirement savings account which is portable and goes with them from job to job and for those who are entering the workforce right now they come on to the new system so it’s a phased-in system so it’s something [inaudible] privatize.” [Face to Face Debate, 5/19/10]
Angle: Social Security Is “Hard To Justify.” In a May interview with KNPR, Angle said, “It’s very difficult…to justify social security. As you know F.D.R. put it in as an insurance policy for those who were needy. My grandfather would not even take his social check because he said he was not up for welfare, he had planned for his retirement, so he wouldn’t take it. But, since then we have gotten into this whole mindset that it’s an entitlement.” [KNPR, State of Nevada, 5/19/2010]
Angle: “The Idea Of Privatizing And Getting Out Of Medicare And Social Security Is Not Up For Grabs.” In June 2010, Talking Points Memo reported, “In an interview from three weeks before the Nevada Republican primary, Sharron Angle made it clear that getting rid of Medicare and Social Security is a non-negotiable issue for her … Going on in the interview, Angle talks about how as a Senator she would work with other legislators to formulate a proper solution for her idea, haggling over the details and implementation of privatization without giving up on the main idea itself: ‘The idea of privatizing and getting out of Medicare and Social Security is not up for grabs.’” [Talking Points Memo, 6/14/10]
Angle’s Plan For Social Security And Medicare Means Putting Those Programs Completely Into The Hands Of The Private Sector. In a May 2010 interview, Angle discussed her plan for future Social Security beneficiaries as she “phases out” Social Security and Medicare. She said, “We need to offer them the option of a private system, a private retirement private healthcare system,” and added, “Whenever I say privatize, I don’t mean governmental privatization I mean actual free market privatization. For those who are now working but have paid a lot into the Social Security system, they would have that choice into opting that old system or transferring their stuff to a new system. Those who come in line who are new wage earners would have the private system to work with. So it would be a phased in privatizing of that.” [KNPR, State of Nevada, 5/19/2010]
Angle On Medicare: “We Need To Phase It Out.” In October 2009, the Review-Journal reported, “As for Medicare, she (Angle) said the entitlement program popular with seniors will eventually grow too costly to maintain… ‘We need to phase it out,’ she said.” [Las Vegas Review-Journal, 10/21/2009]
Nevada Republican Strategist: Angle’s Call For Eliminating Social Security Is “Completely Out Of Step” And “Politically Unpalatable.” In May 2010, Lowden Campaign Manager Robert Uithoven told the Associated Press that Angle’s plan for Social Security “is completely out of step. In a state that has a huge number of retirees, it’s not a proposal Nevadans ... would back.” He later told Politico on “(Angle’s) views on issues such as ‘the full elimination’ of Social Security are politically unpalatable — to win Democratic and independent voters in a closely contested general election.” [Associated Press, 5/27/2010; Politico, 6/5/2010]
Sharron Angle Retreats to Underground Bunker to Avoid Discussing Extreme Social Security Agenda
One week after primary, Self-proclaimed “battle-tested” candidate refuses to talk to reporters
LAS VEGAS – Sharron Angle has been the Republican Senate nominee for a week and she is already in hiding. Either unable or unwilling to defend her extreme and dangerous agenda to kill Social Security, Angle has repeatedly refused to speak to reporters, even as local seniors have harshly criticized her Social Security agenda. And after meeting with Republican leadership in Washington DC yesterday, Angle immediately rushed away from reporters, refusing to answer their questions.
***NEW VIDEO: Sharron Angle runs and hides to avoid Social Security questions
Following the meeting, GOP campaign chief John Cornyn said Sharron Angle would not take questions from the press for “a few weeks” so she could prepare. Cornyn’s statements are particularly ironic, as Angle spent the entire primary campaign touting herself as the only “battle-tested” candidate that was ready to take on Sen. Reid.
Right away, top Senate Republicans were quick to distance themselves from Angle’s radical plan to abolish Social Security – a dramatic step beyond even George W. Bush’s failed efforts to privatize the system in 2005. Even ultra-conservative Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, generally a supporter of Social Security privatization, said Angle’s plan to eliminate the program was too extreme for him to support.
Within hours of Angle’s meeting, a number of both conservative and centrist Senate Republicans said they outright rejected or couldn’t enthusiastically get behind Sharron Angle’s candidacy or her dangerous policy agenda.
“Sharron Angle is hiding from both local and national media because her dangerous plan for Social Security would devastate tens of thousands of Nevadans and destroy the most successful anti-poverty program in the history of this country,” said Reid campaign communications director Kelly Steele. “While Sen. Reid has fought to protect and strengthen Social Security, including killing George W. Bush’s efforts to privatize the system, Sharron Angle made crystal clear – before she took to her underground bunker – that her commitment to dismantling Social Security was an important and non-negotiable component of her dangerous and extreme agenda.”
BACKGROUND ON ANGLE’S AGENDA FOR SOCIAL SECURITY
Sharron Angle Would “Phase Out” Medicare And Social Security. During a May 2010 debate on Face to Face, Sharron Angle said, “We need to phase Medicare and Social Security out in favor of something privatized.” She later added, “Going forward we need to phase it out, give people an opportunity to either opt into the old system or go for a new system where they have their own healthcare savings account or they have their own retirement savings account which is portable and goes with them from job to job and for those who are entering the workforce right now they come on to the new system so it’s a phased-in system so it’s something [inaudible] privatize.” [Face to Face Debate, 5/19/10]
Angle: Social Security Is “Hard To Justify.” In a May interview with KNPR, Angle said, “It’s very difficult…to justify social security. As you know F.D.R. put it in as an insurance policy for those who were needy. My grandfather would not even take his social check because he said he was not up for welfare, he had planned for his retirement, so he wouldn’t take it. But, since then we have gotten into this whole mindset that it’s an entitlement.” [KNPR, State of Nevada, 5/19/2010]
Angle: “The Idea Of Privatizing And Getting Out Of Medicare And Social Security Is Not Up For Grabs.” In June 2010, Talking Points Memo reported, “In an interview from three weeks before the Nevada Republican primary, Sharron Angle made it clear that getting rid of Medicare and Social Security is a non-negotiable issue for her … Going on in the interview, Angle talks about how as a Senator she would work with other legislators to formulate a proper solution for her idea, haggling over the details and implementation of privatization without giving up on the main idea itself: ‘The idea of privatizing and getting out of Medicare and Social Security is not up for grabs.’” [Talking Points Memo, 6/14/10]
Angle’s Plan For Social Security And Medicare Means Putting Those Programs Completely Into The Hands Of The Private Sector. In a May 2010 interview, Angle discussed her plan for future Social Security beneficiaries as she “phases out” Social Security and Medicare. She said, “We need to offer them the option of a private system, a private retirement private healthcare system,” and added, “Whenever I say privatize, I don’t mean governmental privatization I mean actual free market privatization. For those who are now working but have paid a lot into the Social Security system, they would have that choice into opting that old system or transferring their stuff to a new system. Those who come in line who are new wage earners would have the private system to work with. So it would be a phased in privatizing of that.” [KNPR, State of Nevada, 5/19/2010]
Angle On Medicare: “We Need To Phase It Out.” In October 2009, the Review-Journal reported, “As for Medicare, she (Angle) said the entitlement program popular with seniors will eventually grow too costly to maintain… ‘We need to phase it out,’ she said.” [Las Vegas Review-Journal, 10/21/2009]
Nevada Republican Strategist: Angle’s Call For Eliminating Social Security Is “Completely Out Of Step” And “Politically Unpalatable.” In May 2010, Lowden Campaign Manager Robert Uithoven told the Associated Press that Angle’s plan for Social Security “is completely out of step. In a state that has a huge number of retirees, it’s not a proposal Nevadans ... would back.” He later told Politico on “(Angle’s) views on issues such as ‘the full elimination’ of Social Security are politically unpalatable — to win Democratic and independent voters in a closely contested general election.” [Associated Press, 5/27/2010; Politico, 6/5/2010]
