In response to Russ Feingold pointing out that his millionaire opponent Ron Johnson regularly calls Social Security a Ponzi scheme, Johnson takes an interesting tack. He admits it.
"Guess what's coming in Russ Feingold's negative campaign? He's gonna tell you I said Washington treats Social
Security like a Ponzi scheme.
"You know what? I did say that...because it's true.
Then goes on to give the worthless IOUs myth that Republicans continue to use to in their justification for various schemes to gut Social Security, in Johnson's case, privatization.
In stark contrast to Sen. Feingold’s support of Social Security, Ron Johnson has referred to Social Security as a "ponzi scheme" [WisPolitics luncheon, 7/26/10] and he has also stated he supports privatizing Social Security and making the program vulnerable to fluctuations in the stock market, stating, "I’m certainly not opposed to taking a look at some privatization." [Brookfield Chamber of Commerce, 6/21/10]
If Ron Johnson had his way and Social Security was privatized, over one million Wisconsinites who currently receive Social Security benefits would be at risk of seeing their benefits slashed – and ending up in poverty – based on fluctuations in the stock market.... While Ron Johnson may be able to enjoy his golden years in fine form thanks to the millions he made from marrying into the right family, many others won’t be so fortunate, and so the least those folks deserve is to know their Social Security is secure.
The "Ponzi scheme" is the system that's keeping millions of older Americans from abject poverty, and Johnson is doing nothing but trying to scare those seniors. Like all the other Republican candidates he's committed to nothing but ending Social Security as we know it.