Alex Lawson vs. Mitt Romney on the Future of Social Security
Senator Romney: When I lost my election for President, a number of people came to me and said, “What do you think about forming a think tank?” It seems like failed politicians are anxious to stay involved in the process of government and think tanks are the way to go. I don’t know, how many hundreds, thousands, of think tanks we have. And I said, you know, I don’t think the problem in Washington is trying to come up with the answers. I don’t think we need people to solve for numbers, because there’s so many people that are doing that. The problem is how to get something done. We don’t need more think tanks; we need more “do” tanks. How do you get something done? How do you get something accomplished? And, you know, Senator Sanders, makes a wonderful plea, which many, many people agree with: the need for helping our seniors and providing better benefits for them, and so forth, but recognize, this bill has no chance whatsoever, of receiving a single Republican vote, in either House. So it will not be passed. And he knows that. As a matter of fact, you all recognize that, given the fact that for any legislation of scale to be passed requires Republicans and Democrats to work together. That’s the nature of our democracy. We have a 50/50 Senate. Half of the American people voted for Republicans; half voted for Democrats. To get something done requires bipartisanship. So any proposal that’s brought forward that is only supported by one party is a messaging bill. It’s a campaign bill. It may be a fundraising bill. But one thing it’s not, is about to become a law. So if you want to have a law, you have to see if there’s a way to get people working together. Now, our challenge was Social Security. Like Medicare and the Highway Trust Fund, it is exemplified by that chart, which is: Social Security trust fund runs out of money in 2034. That’s a problem. It’s a problem for Social Security recipients. And, of all the people who noticed it, the Washington Post said, “The Medicare and Social Security disaster that Washington is doing nothing to fix.” It’s not that the think tanks don’t have proposals, or that partisans on either side of the aisle can’t come up with answers. It’s that we’ve not taken action that actually can result in a solution. So I would suggest that we find a way to actually get something done. Now, I am pleased that my good friend Senator Graham spoke about the TRUST Act and gave me some credit for that. It was introduced by myself and Senator Manchin, Republican and Democrat. Senator Warner is also on it. Your organization, sir, continues to say that it is designed to cut benefits. Why do you say that? Do you believe Senator Warner and Senator Manchin want to cut benefits?
Alex Lawson: So, is that a question?
Senator Romney: Yeah.
Alex Lawson: Well, I’m basing it on, we were basically formed to fight –
Senator Romney: No, no, I asked a question! The question is, do you believe that Senator Warren, excuse me, that Senator Warner, and Senator Manchin want to cut benefits? By the way, we have five Democrats who signed up on the TRUST Act because it does this: it says, look, let’s get groups together, half Republican, half Democrats, to work together, to see if they can find a solution to save Social Security. And both sides have to agree. Both sides have to agree. [pointing to witnesses] No, I get to decide who I ask the questions to…both sides get to agree, have to agree, in order for it to go to the floor to be voted on. So it’s bipartisan. And every single person has said, under no circumstances will we cut benefits. And yet, you, in your documents, your organization keeps saying that we want to cut benefits, that we’re going to cut benefits in the night. Untrue! Why do you say that?
Alex Lawson: If you’re not going to cut benefits, then you’re going to do it all on the revenue side, which would be something that we support, but going on the history of commissions in this town…
Senator Romney (from the background): Ahhhhhhhh.
Alex Lawson: …what happens when politicians get behind closed doors, is they talk about things that are deeply unpopular, like cutting Social Security.
Senator Romney: We get behind closed doors? We don’t just meet in hearings like this. We have meetings, private meetings, all the time. We get together and discuss things all the time. We had meetings last night. We have meetings right now on gun legislation, we had meetings last night on the Electoral Count Act, we have meetings all the time. Behind closed doors? That, that we then have hearings, then there are votes in public, so the idea is to have people come together, Republicans and Democrats, to see if we can find a solution. If we don’t do that, we will not save Social Security. You realize, you’re a group dedicated to saving Social Security, but you realize that if we don’t come up with a bipartisan solution, we will not save it. Do you understand that?
Alex Lawson: I recognize that the problem is a 23% benefit cut that you keep bringing up, but the solution Republicans put forward is a 23% benefit cut, so that’s not a solution. It’s just the problem, sooner.
Senator Romney: Boy, that was not an answer. The Social Security Trust Fund goes away by 2034, at which point benefits are cut automatically. I’m not for that. I’m trying to keep that from happening. I don’t want that to happen. But if we don’t come up with a bipartisan solution, that’s what will happen. That’s what you’re for if you oppose bipartisanship. What solution do you have, to actually solving Social Security, on a bipartisan basis?
Alex Lawson: We would ask millionaires and billionaires to…
Senator Romney: No, no, no…
Alex Lawson: …to pay the same rate as the rest of Americans, and not cut one penny of benefits.
Senator Romney: I understand what your answer is. This is back to the think tank versus the “do” tank, what would you do to get bipartisanship? How are you going to get bipartisanship to work together?
Alex Lawson: I would like the American people, who bipartisanly, overwhelmingly, don’t want to see their benefits cut, I would like Republican politicians to have to answer to them…
Senator Romney: We do!
Alex Lawson: …about why their…
Senator Romney: Every election, we do every election, and the people who have elected us have said work on a bipartisan basis to find a solution. We can do that, we will do it, and I’ll tell you, the disingenuous attack on Republicans is something which, by the way, just as Senator Graham said, what your approach is, (it’s) making it harder for us to find a solution to save Social Security, and that’s something that desperately needs to be done. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
