In Wisconsin’s 8th congressional district, Democrat Tom Nelson is running a TV ad hitting Republican Mike Gallagher for wanting to “reduce all Social Security benefits to the poverty line.” FactCheck.org reports that attack is simply not true:
A Wisconsin Democrat’s ad falsely accuses his opponent of proposing to cut Social Security benefits for two-thirds of seniors. Actually, benefits would go up for the poorest one-third of current beneficiaries, and would be unchanged for most others. Tom Nelson, who’s running for an open seat in Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District, started running the ad in Green Bay Sept. 1. It says Mike Gallagher, the Republican candidate, “supports a plan to reduce all Social Security benefits to the poverty line,” and that this “would cut Social Security benefits for two-thirds of seniors.” On screen appear several worried people, including some who seem to be of retirement age. We find the ad false because it leaves the impression that current beneficiaries would see benefits go down to “the poverty line,” which is far from true. That incorrect claim is stated even more strongly in a Nelson news release announcing the ad. It says of Gallagher, “his plan would cut Social Security benefits by nearly $5,000 a year – or about 30% per year.” But in reality, the seniors shown in this ad would have little to worry about. At worst, the highest-income beneficiaries would see slightly smaller cost-of-living increases in future years.
You can read more about Mike Gallagher, a young Iraq war veteran, in the latest issue of THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
