Dearborn, MI — During tonight’s 15th District Congressional Debate Republican candidate Dr. Rob Steele made some claims that were less than truthful.  Here is a fact check on Steele’s comments on budget deficit and Social Security.

SOCIAL SECURITY

Steele at October 20, 2010 debate: “I’ve never once talked about privatizing Social Security.”

STEELE to A2.com Ann Arbor Voters Guide: “The most important long term issue is social security and Medicare. They must be restructured for those under 35. Let them have their own accounts, with fractional contributions to the current system to get the current beneficiaries through. Have you ever spoken to a single 35yo who thought they would get social security?”

Source: http://www.annarbor.com/elections/voter_guide/2/michigan-congressional-district-15/rob-steele/

Rob Steele for Congress Facebook page:

Rob Steele for Congress: If there was actually money set aside and invested with real return people could get several times what they put in, unfortunately there is not.  The reason we need citizen legislators like me is to help protect SocSec from the career politicians who have made a ‘living’ of getting re-elected by stealing the money from the SocSec trust fund for use on pet projects and bridges to nowhere. Just another example of career politicians putting the needs of special interests and lobbyists ahead of the average citizen.

Rob Steele’s opinion seems to change faster than an investment on Wall Street can take a nose-dive!  First he was for privatization, now he claims to be against it.  Either Dr. Steele learned a thing or two about Social Security and the risk involved privatizing this important program or he realized that his positions on Social Security were scaring people.

FACTS:

Social Security is one of the most successful programs ever implemented.  1,905,342 in Michigan rely on Social Security.  Simple adjustments like raising the cap will take care of the financial shortfall that Social Security faces post 2037.  The 75-year Social Security shortfall is about the same size as the cost, over that period, of extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for the richest 2 percent of Americans (those with incomes above $250,000 a year). Folks cannot seriously claim that the tax cuts for people at the top are affordable while the Social Security shortfall constitutes a dire fiscal threat.

The Social Security trust fund has $2.5 trillion in reserves, invested in guaranteed Treasury bonds.  The funds were collected via payroll contributions from employers and employees specifically for Social Security and no other purpose.

Source: http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3261

DEFICITS UNDER BUSH ADMINISTRATION

Steele at October 20, 2010 debate: “ …people talk about the deficits under Bush, they exploded when Pelosi took over in 2006.”

FACT:

Congressman Dingell’s opponent suggested that deficits shot up under the George W. Bush Administration when Pelosi became Speaker in 2006.  At the height of the Bush Administration the deficit was $413B or 3.5 percent of GDP, a year after Democrats took control of Congress we brought the deficit down to $248B or 1.9 percent of GDP.  This is a result of instituting PAYGO, ensuring new spending is offset, and cutting waste and fraud in our programs through vigorous oversight.

If elected, Dr. Steele would make permanent the Bush tax cuts for the top two percent, which would add $700 billion to the deficit in just ten years.  This is the type of fiscally reckless agenda Michigan does not need.

Source: http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/107xx/doc10708/11-06-mbr.htm

WASTE, FRAUD AND ABUSE IN HEALTH CARE

Dr. Steele said during the debate that the Affordable Care Act does not address the problems of waste, fraud and abuse in the health care system.

FACTS:

The Affordable Care Act includes an unprecedented effort to fight waste, fraud and abuse in the healthcare system. The bill strengthens Medicare and Medicaid’s existing compliance and enforcement tools, reduces fraud and abuse and saves billions of tax payer dollars

Source: http://docs.house.gov/energycommerce/WASTEFRAUDABUSE.pdf

Dingell for Congress Campaign Manager Jason Ellenburg said about the debate: “Rob Steele showed he is a one-trick pony tonight and stuck closely to his talking points tonight, but when he did stray from his script, he got himself into some trouble with the truth.”