Whose agenda?
Title: Meet
Sponsor: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Message: The ad uses visuals of President Bush stepping off Air Force One with 7th Congressional District candidate Rick O’Donnell to attend a July fundraiser for O’Donnell. The ad states that O’Donnell will be a vote for “George Bush’s agenda.” The ad highlights an article O’Donnell wrote in 1995 calling for the elimination of Social Security.
Fact: O’Donnell wrote an article for American Citizen, a publication of Newt Gingrich’s Progress and Freedom Foundation, that said, “As we bury the rest of the welfare state in preparation for the 21st century, it is time to slay the largest government ‘entitlement’ program of all, Social Security.” O’Donnell, who was 24 at the time, says that his views have matured and that he now wants to fix – not abolish – Social Security. O’Donnell has said he would not support Bush’s efforts to allow workers to take a portion of their payroll tax out of the Social Security system and put it into a privately owned and operated 401(k)-type fund. O’Donnell also has said that although the president headlined a fundraiser that netted the O’Donnell campaign $600,000, he will differ with Bush on some issues, such as how to handle Social Security.
– Christopher N. Osher
