Koster Continues Decade-Long Fight To Privatize Social Security

Everett, WA – During his 2010 campaign, John Koster has reiterated his desire to privatize Social Security – a cause he first took up over ten years ago.

“John Koster just doesn’t get it,” said Brooke Davis, Larsen’s Campaign Manager. “For families in Northwest Washington, Social Security is the promise of a guaranteed benefit during their retirement. Koster’s plan removes the guarantee and cuts the benefit, gambling their retirement security on the whims of Wall Street.”

At a campaign event on February 16 of this year, Koster acknowledged his support for privatization going back at least a decade: “I advocated for those ten years ago,” Koster said. Koster believes “individual retirement accounts will work.” According to the Center for American Progress Action Fund, “These plans would carve out private accounts from Social Security and inevitably cut guaranteed benefits that keep millions of seniors out of poverty.”

“At a time when working families are struggling and every little bit counts when it comes to retirement security, John Koster is advocating a risky scheme that would gamble retirement savings on the stock market,” Davis said.

Here’s what the American Association for Retired Persons (AARP) says about privatization plans like Koster’s: “Some people have recommended taking some of the money people pay into the system and diverting it into private accounts. Because less money would then be flowing into Social Security, the guaranteed and inflation-adjusted lifetime benefits would be put at great risk for cuts. Any new private account would be subject to the risks of the market.”

A group backing Koster’s campaign has an even more extreme approach: the Republican Liberty Caucus wants to eliminate Social Security and Medicare entirely.

“In these tough economic times, anyone concerned about their retirement security should be just plain terrified of John Koster’s plan to privatize Social Security,” Davis said.