Obama uses Columbus stop to tout support of Social Security system

Jim Provance

Jun. 13, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- COLUMBUS -- Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama Friday used a Columbus retirement home as the backdrop for his call to raise payroll taxes on wealthier Americans to shore up the Social Security system.

He promised there would be no cut in benefits and no increase in the retirement age, and he vowed to exempt the first $50,000 in Social Security income from taxation.

And he attacked his Republican opponent, John McCain, for supporting private individual retirement accounts that could be invested outside the frugal Social Security system, an idea that failed to gain traction when President George Bush proposed it.

"Privatizing Social Security was a bad idea when George Bush proposed it. It's a bad idea today," Mr. Obama told about 40 senior citizens who braved high temperatures at Oakleaf Village in north Columbus.

"It would eventually cut guaranteed benefits by up top 50 percent," he said. "It would cost $1 trillion that we don't have to implement on the front end, permanently elevating our national debt. And most of all, it would gamble the retirement plans of millions of Americans on the stock market. Imagine if your Social Security right now were tied up in Dow Jones."

Making his first campaign stop in battleground Ohio since he lost the state's Democratic primary to Hillary Clinton, the Illinois senator appeared with his wife, Michelle, and Gov. Ted Strickland, a former Clinton supporter.

The current cap on the maximum income subjected to Social Security taxation is $102,000. Mr. Obama has proposed subjecting all income over $250,000 to taxation to fuel the trust fund. Those earning between $102,000 and $250,000 would be protected from the increased taxes.

"Most middle-class families pay this tax on every dime they make, while millionaires and billionaires are only paying on a very small percentage of their income," he said.

Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com, or 614-221-0496.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0203-25980896