In 10th, Social Security an issue

Republican congressional candidate Tom Marino is taking heat from his opponent for comments he made Monday that appear to be advocating for elimination or reduction of Social Security benefits for future generations.

Marino’s camp tried to explain the remarks on Tuesday, but the spokesman for the campaign of U.S. Rep. Chris Carney, D-Dimock, said the audio of the entire interview makes it hard to sweep the comments under the rug.

On a Sunbury radio station Monday, Marino was asked about what specifically needs to be cut in government spending.

He told the host of WKOK’s “On The Mark,” “Let me address the Social Security that you’re on. You have paid into it. I am paying into it. And my generation, like you did for the generation before you, we’re paying for your Social Security. You paid for the generation’s before you Social Security. My generation and probably the generation that follows me, we are going to have to step up to the plate and say, ‘We’re not going to get Social Security.’

“But we’re going to pay into it to get this debacle squared away. So if I have to sacrifice my Social Security to get it squared away, because we can’t take Social Security away from people that are on it now. They are dependent on it. It is a fixed income. And for someone to say well we’re going to cut Social Security to the seniors, we cannot do that.”

Josh Drobnyk, spokesman for Carney, who will square off against Marino on Nov. 2, seized on the remarks Tuesday, blasting the former U.S. attorney for even hinting at Social Security benefits for those about to retire being impacted.

“He’s saying that people a few years away from Social Security are going to see cuts if he’s elected. That’s what he’s advocating. It’s outrageous,” Drobnyk said.

Drobnyk said that Marino, who is four years away from being eligible to collect Social Security, perhaps has a different perspective of the importance of Social Security because he’s done so well financially.

“It is absolutely shameful that Tom Marino wants to cut Social Security for those about to begin receiving benefits,” Drobnyk said. “He wants to eliminate Social Security for families that have been paying into the program for decades and have been counting on it to help pay the bills. Well, it’s easy for Tom Marino to say, considering he earned $281,000 last year and owns two vacation homes in Florida.” That data was detailed in Marino’s personal financial disclosure reports released earlier this year.

In the radio interview, which lasted about 45 minutes and expounded on several issues from border defense to the wars in the Middle East, Marino spoke of big government spending that needs to be reeled in. He was asked about government cuts that can specifically be targeted.

The interviewer brought up issues with the Social Security account, and Marino said that he “will certainly protect with every fiber in my body what the seniors are on now and my generation is going to take the hit.”

He said that people of his generation and the next will have to keep paying into the fund to support those currently receiving the benefits but if spending keeps going the way it is, without changes, who gets Social Security and how much they get will have to change. “It would have to be cut from my generation to pay for it,” Marino added.

Marino, of Lycoming Township, Lycoming County, issued a release saying his remarks on the radio program were aimed at “what may happen to Social Security if nothing is done to fix it.” A request to interview Marino was declined by the campaign.

But Drobnyk said there was no prefacing his statements to that regard on the radio show.

Jason Fitzgerald, a spokesman for Marino, said Marino has been clear in previous speaking engagements about where he stands on Social Security. He said that Marino “should have prefaced it (his radio statements) by saying this is what will happen to Social Security if nothing is done to fix it.”

“When you don’t speak from a script, from time to time the intent of your comments can be misconstrued. What he said, he said. But I can assure you he has absolutely no plans to cut Social Security.”

Drobnyk issued a rebuttal release saying: “Tom Marino can try to walk back and spin his comments on Social Security all he wants. But his radio interview speaks for itself. It is crystal clear where Tom Marino stands on this issue.”

Marino said, “As your next congressman, I will fight to save Social Security for future generations. Shortly after Labor Day, I will be introducing a plan which will make Social Security solvent. This plan will include banning the use of Social Security funds for any other budget item.”

That, said Fitzgerald, is a big reason why Social Security is facing the problems it is.

“We haven’t been in Washington the past four years creating this problem.” Fitzgerald said, referencing Carney’s time in office.