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Senate ’12: Kaine talks pay fairness, retirement security, Allen receives endorsement

Kaine urges Senate action on Paycheck Fairness Act Ahead of the upcoming vote in the U.S. Senate on the Paycheck Fairness Act, Tim Kaine issued the following statement:

“The Paycheck Fairness Act is a common sense measure and an important step toward ensuring equal pay for equal work in Virginia and across the country. In Virginia, women still earn only 79 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts, limiting their economic opportunity. For hundreds of thousands of Virginia households that are headed by women, this results is thousands of dollars of lost income at a time when every dollar counts.

“There should be nothing controversial about equal pay for the same day’s work. As a father, I want my daughter to enter a workplace that is fair and treats her no different than my sons, and this law will bring us closer to that reality. I urge the Senate to pass this legislation.”

 

Kaine discusses retirement security in NoVa Today, former Governor Tim Kaine shared his economic vision and his commitment to strengthening Social Security and Medicare with more than 100 Northern Virginia seniors. During the 90 minute forum at Greenspring Retirement Village in Springfield, Gov. Kaine committed to keeping the promises made to our seniors and protecting the benefits they have earned. Today’s event was the latest in a two week tour to discuss retirement security and other issues of importance to older Americans.

“Social Security is probably the most effective social program that has ever been enacted by the Congress of the United States,” said Kaine. “I will fight against any effort to privatize Social Security if I am in the Senate because the program has worked.”

Kaine expressed his strong opposition to risky privatization schemes and cost-shifting plans like the budget proposed by Republican Congressman Paul Ryan. Instead, he advocated common sense ways to strengthen Social Security and reduce Medicare spending, like allowing for the negotiation of prescription drug prices.

“Let’s fight for reforms that actually save costs, not just shift them onto the shoulders of seniors,” said Kaine. “I’ll always be open to finding better ways to do things and better ways to save costs. That’s what I had to do as Governor in a terrible recession, but I know the difference between ways that strengthen our programs and those that push the burden onto seniors.”

Following his remarks, Kaine took questions from the audience for nearly an hour. Topics included campaign finance reform, his views on foreign policy, ways to break through Washington’s gridlock, and  responsibly reduce the federal deficit.

Kaine contrasted his support for a balanced approach of revenues and cuts to reduce our deficit, with the “all cuts” approach his opponents advocate, which could cost Virginia jobs, hurt the economy, and jeopardize important programs that support millions of Americans. He also contrasted his preferred reforms, which will strengthen Social Security and Medicare without compromising quality of care, with the risky schemes preferred by George Allen. As senator, George Allen voted to shift social security funds to private accounts and still promotes such a plan today. His “all cuts” approach to deficit reduction would force drastic reductions in programs like Medicare which millions of seniors need and rely on.

 

Allen gets endorsement from Republican senator Today George Allen received the endorsement of Sen. Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK), a leading conservative in the U.S. Senate who has earned national acclaim for his fight against government waste, fraud and abuse.  As a champion for accountability and transparency in government, Senator Tom Coburn has fought wasteful spending from both parties, highlighting pork barrel projects and uncovering duplicative and inefficient government programs.

Sen. Coburn has authored monthly and annual reports on Washington waste. His numerous legislative efforts to cut wasteful spending include authoring amendments to eliminate funding for the “Bridge to Nowhere” and for the “Woodstock Museum.”

“I’m proud to announce my support for George Allen,” said Senator Coburn. “He was one of only 14 senators who stood with me when I led the effort to eliminate funding for the infamous ‘Bridge to Nowhere.’ It didn’t make us popular with many of our colleagues but we did what was right. George is ready to fight Washington’s reckless spending.  Future generations need leaders like George Allen stepping up today, so they won’t be forced to shoulder the burdens of Washington’s continued failures tomorrow.”

Coburn is a cosponsor of legislation calling for a Balanced Budget Amendment, an enforcement mechanism for fiscal discipline that George Allen also sponsored in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. In his Blueprint for America’s Comeback, George Allen continues to call for a Balanced Budget Amendment with presidential line-item veto authority and a paycheck penalty if Congress fails to pass a budget.

“Tom Coburn is a stalwart leader for accountability in Washington, and I’m honored to have his support,” said Allen. “Like Tom, I believe the American Dream is threatened by the reckless, over-spending and burdensome regulations coming from Washington.  It has been over three years since the Senate has met their most basic and fundamental responsibility of passing a budget.  It is time we bring fiscal accountability to Washington.  I’m proud to be running for U.S. Senate on positive, proven solutions to rein in Washington, reinvigorate our economy and secure the American Dream for future generations.  I look forward to working alongside of Dr. Coburn to keep Washington out of our lives and businesses.”

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