State AARP members oppose carved-out accounts in Social Security

New survey finds broad, bipartisan support for “Common Ground” on key federal election issues A new survey of AARP members in Tennessee shows that majorities of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents oppose creating private accounts carved out of Social Security, and support “common ground” approaches to key domestic issues. In addition, a strong majority of those surveyed across the political spectrum (71%) say they are less likely to vote for a candidate for Congress or the U.S. Senate that supports using Social Security taxes to fund private accounts. The survey findings, “Common Ground for America’s Future: The Opinions of AARP Members in Tennessee About National Election Issues in 2006,” reflect results of an AARP telephone survey of 400 members in Tennessee. The survey was commissioned by AARP, and conducted by Woelfel Research, Inc., a national survey research firm, in June 2006. The survey has a sampling error of plus or minus 5 percent. AARP, with 648,000 heavily-voting members age 50 and over across the state, will be focusing on the open race to succeed U.S. Senator Bill Frist – making sure its members and the public are informed of the candidates’ positions on Social Security, health care, and retirement security. “AARP members in Tennessee are Republicans, Democrats and Independents in fairly equal proportions. On these key issues, AARP members across party lines agree on the need to find common ground for America’s future,” said Rebecca Kelly, AARP Tennessee State Director. Here are some of the survey’s key findings on issues AARP members in Tennessee consider very important as they prepare for the November elections: • Social Security Private Accounts: Over three in four AARP members in Tennessee (79%), including most Republicans, Democrats and Independents, oppose using Social Security taxes to fund private accounts. • Social Security Solvency: Two-thirds of all AARP members (66%) support a Social Security plan that provides guaranteed benefits to future generations by balancing additional contributions from higher income workers with modest reductions in future benefits. • Medicare Part D: Nearly nine in ten AARP members in Tennessee (89%) of different political party affiliations support allowing Medicare to use its bargaining power to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs. • Health Care: Three in four AARP members in Tennessee (74%) support a shared approach to provide health care coverage for everyone, whereby the federal government, employers and individuals together pay for providing health care coverage. • Retirement Security: Nearly two-thirds of Tennessee members (63%) support requiring employers to provide workers with automatic payroll deductions so they can open personal Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). “AARP members want the candidates for U.S. Senate to support a balanced approach to Social Security solvency. They want bipartisan solutions for Medicare. And they want shared responsibility on issues like health care, long-term care and retirement security,” Kelly continued.