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Tele-Scare Spotlight
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
The Truth About AFSCME

On February 15, 2005, the Americans Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees called your homes and charged that Ginny wanted to privatize Social Security.  They went on to say that if the "Bush plan" was in place, your Social Security benefits would be cut by 50 percent.

Their call was factually incorrect and wildly misleading. 

Ginny set the truth straight about her efforts to strengthen Social Security with the press release attached below. 

THE REAL DEAL ON REP. BROWN-WAITE
AND SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM

 (WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Representative Ginny Brown-Waite (FL-05) today issued the following statement in response to another round of false and misleading phone calls to 5th District residents by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, as well as a statement by Rep. Steny Hoyer, the House Minority Whip. 

“Once again, the fear mongers, Pollyannas and outright liars are smearing, distorting and attacking my position on Social Security,” said Rep. Brown-Waite.  “I think it is cowardly that instead of facing the Social Security problem with legislative proposals and ideas, “leaders” like Minority Whip Steny Hoyer and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees only denigrate and tear down the ideas of others.”

“The last time I checked, there are only two comprehensive bills in Congress that deal with strengthening Social Security.  Both were introduced by Republicans, with only one principled Democratic Member willing to stand up to his leadership and support reform.  Where are the ideas of the Democrats?  What have they done to move the debate forward in a positive and thoughtful manner?  The answer is that they do not have one, and are unwilling to come to the table.  It is impossible to enact reform if nearly half of Congress has blinders on and is unwilling to accept the reality that changes need to be made.”

“Further, I resent the intimation by Mr. Hoyer that I am opposed to President Bush and his ideas for Social Security reform.  As I have said in every public and private conversation to date, I have not ruled out any future structural reforms, as long as current and near retirees are protected.  It is the height of irresponsibility to me that I am supposed to back or oppose proposals that have not even been brought before Congress.”

“This issue is too important to my constituents in Florida for me to ignore as the Democrats would have us do.  When Congress finally does vote on reforms, the President’s plan may or may not be part of the solution.  We may see other proposals that work better to guarantee present benefits and strengthen the program for future generations.”

“At the end of the day, the Democratic Party lacks credibility on the issue of Social Security reform.  The public and our constituents do not buy their arguments, and neither should members of the media.  I challenge Steny Hoyer and automatic opposition groups like the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees to come up with good ideas and realistic estimates of the costs of reforms, instead of making up numbers and statistics to scare seniors and hard-working Americans.”