Sharron Angle Tells Biggest Lie Possible on Her Social Security Position
Angle Claims She “Never” Said End Social Security, “Always” Wanted to Save the Program
Angle tells right-wing bloggers her position on Social Security is the exact opposite of her actual position, lies about her past statements on the issue
LAS VEGAS – You’d almost have to think Sharron Angle and her new DC handlers were unaware of the existence of print and video evidence of her record on Social Security. That’s how unbelievable her latest statement is. After nearly two months of tanking in polls as Nevadans learned of her extreme and dangerous agenda to kill Social Security – an agenda so far outside the mainstream that even top Republicans say it’s unsupportable – Angle took a new tack over the weekend: say your position is the exact opposite of what it actually is and lie about having ever said anything different in the past.
Speaking to the RightOnline conference in Las Vegas Saturday, Angle concluded her brief comments on Social Security thusly:
“I’ve never said that I wanted to eliminate, I’ve always said I want to save Social Security”
That is not a typo, a misprint, or a transcription error – that’s what she said. Of course, Angle’s plans for Social Security had been unequivocal until the June 8th primary, expressed or described by the following phrases (all citations below):
- “Angle wants to wipe out Social Security”
- “Going forward we need to phase it out”
- “We need to phase Medicare and Social Security out”
- “It’s very difficult…to justify Social Security”
Again, those statements are Sharron Angle discussing Social Security in her own words.
As to Angle’s new claim that she’s “always said I want to save Social Security,” there too she’s simply lying. Discussing the program in a candidate debate on Face to Face with Jon Ralston, Angle made her position clear:
Angle: “We need to phase Medicare and Social Security out in favor of something privatized. We know that the government never gives us…”
Ralston: “So don’t fix it? You’re saying ‘don’t do anything to fix it.’”
Angle: “I’m saying it can’t be fixed, it’s broken.”
And quite the opposite of “always” saying she wanted to “save Social Security,” Angle told Las Vegas station KNPR back on May 19th of this year that “getting out of Medicare and Social Security is not up for grabs.”
***WATCH VIDEO: Angle vs. Angle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chSOf52JT2A
“Sharron Angle’s extreme and dangerous agenda to kill Social Security has become so politically toxic for her tanking campaign that she and her new DC handlers have adopted a new strategy – look directly at the camera and just flat-out lie,” said Reid campaign communications director Kelly Steele. “While Sen. Reid has consistently and successfully fought Republican efforts to weaken or privatize Social Security, Sharron Angle’s plan would devastate tens of thousands of Nevadans and destroy the most successful anti-poverty program in the history of this country. That’s why she’s now pretending she’d do the exact opposite of what she’s actually proposed.”
Background: Angle on Social Security in Her Own Words
Associated Press: “Sharron Angle Wants to Wipe Out Social Security.” According to the Associated Press, “Sharron Angle wants to wipe out Social Security…” [Associated Press, 6/1/2010]
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 Said Social Security Is “Hard To Justify,” Likened Social Security To Welfare. In a May 2010 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 Security 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: “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]
