take social security. he wants to privatize it and he said so last night. >> you were one of the few lawmakers to stand with president bush when he was seeking to privatize social security? >> for younger people, what i said then, is let younger americans have a voluntary choice of making their money work faster for them within the social security system. >> so much for the security and social security. mr. ryan would put your mercy at the stock market. ryan ran out of the room to hide his extreme position. >> we will honor this position and we are not going to jeopardize this program but we have to save it. >> you are jeopardizing the program. you are changing it to supreme and support. the bottom line, people are going to have to may more money out of their pocket. >> it's a voucher. who do you believe? the ama? me? a guy who has fought his whole life for this? a guy that would put a plan in place that knowing cuts $6,400 a year more to the cost of medicare. >> that's what congressman ryan would knowingl

baby boomers just going in social security now.and so the idea that we can't follow the president's own simpson-bowles commission and raise it by two years is ridiculous. >> but john, we were made a promise. >> absolutely. i respectfully disagree. there is a dirty little secret of social security that we have no legal right to the accounts we are paying into. the government will say we'll give you what you want when we want is offensive . for individuals who are not socialist and want to own their retirement. they should be allowed out and no longer be a liability on the federal government for a system that is cratering under its own weight. >> mark, you support mitt romney on this? >> well, i hate to say this, but i do support raising the age and i think that it is inevitable to do that for the solvencey for the system . i support something that mitt romney doesn't support and that is imposing a means test. i don't think warren buffet or mitt romney need to collect social security and it shouldn't be part of the system. we should

in terms of social security, in terms of social security, it is absurd for the president to say that he and romney are coming down in the same way. social security today has a $2.7 trillion surplus. social security hasn't contributed one nick toel to th deficit. can pay out benefits for the next 21 years. the president should be saying now what he said four years ago. he will not cut social security while romney and ryan certainly are. >> now, senator, one thing that i think is puzzling democrats and supporters of the president, as well, today is both men had a chance at closing arguments last night. that is one of the things that they knew was coming their direction. listen in part to what president obama had to say. >> four years ago, i said that i'm not a perfect man and i wouldn't be a perfect president and that is a promise that governor romney thinks i kept. >> why specifically point out the flaws? was that a good choice? >> well, i think not. i mean, i think -- here's what i think the position of the president should be. look, everybody knows the economy is in a lot of trouble

the money that comes in from social security from people's payroll checks can only be used for socialurity. the problem is that we're living longer, and we have more retirees. the challenge is demographic so we're much better off starting to deal with that today. all of the other things that we have to do to balance the budget and overcome the fact that you voted for $5 trillion of new debt over the last four years, we have to deal with that too, but it's separate from the solvency in pension and retirement system in social security, and you have to deal with that now because if we wait until the trust fund is empty, we'll be in deep trouble, and it's under law, the plan, there's a 25% automaticÑpi cut n benefits if we don't fix this, and i agree with president obama, we've got to do this sooner rather than later. >> moderator: thank you, mr. garza, and thank you, aarp, for the questions. as part of tonight's debate, we ask kob viewers to submit questions. here's the stewart dyson with the questions. stu? >> thank you, tom. first question is from suzanne. she writes, "describe a time

which few people in your party on how we get social security secure, how we get medicare secure let's take these plans and have an adult discussion because we cannot continue the very near hitting the sand but there's been many things you've said that tom smith said we've never -- i've never said that. i am speaking for my plan, written plan, so please take a look at the plan and then you will see that i don't want to and social security for seniors. it emphatically states that seniors on it now i will do nothing. that will be protected. that's between the government and the them. that's protected. but all i had some plans that will save it for the long haul and i will end at that. you're very gracious with time. smith: de leggitt rebuttal time? >> moderator: how much you need? how about 15 seconds. smith: the most radical proposals in the congress and the senate any way that a grand total of 16 votes was the so-called rand paul plan. the rhine and budget has all kind of problems because when it comes to medicare, this is a basic debate about ending the medicare guaranteed benefit pre

how would you change social security? mark strassmann has the story. she could be the bravest girl in the world. charlie d'agata on the condition of the 14-year-old shot for standing up to the taliban. and with tonight's debate on a college campus, we asked the youngest voters how they will choose a president. >> we are all in debt. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley reporting tonight from hempstead new york. >> pelley: good evening. we're at hofstra university on long island just east of new york city for the second of three debates between president obama and mitt romney. the candidates will take questions from uncommitted voters-- 82 of those voters will be on the stage behind me. can the president use this stage to bounce back from what he admits was a bad night at the first debate. a night that turned out to be a game changer. after that first debate, the race went from dead even to a slight but steady lead for governor romney-- though within the margin of error. but now have a look at this. the latest gal

social security today has a $2.7 trillion surplus. social security hasn't contributed one nickel to the deficit, can pay out benefits for the next 20 years. the president should be saying now what he said four years ago. he is not going to cut social security while romney and ryan certainly are. >> would you blame the president himself or his aides and advisers who were supposedly preparing him for this first debate? >> wolf, all of us in public life like to blame our staff when things go bad, but you know what, at the end of the day, it's the president, it's a united states senator, it's a congress person. we've got to take responsibility. the president should have got in there swinging, differentiating what a progressive policy position is as opposed to an extreme right wing one. put romney on the defensive. how dire you give tax breaks to the richest people in this country while we have the most unfair distribution of wealth and income. how dare you throw children off of medicaid when we've got 50 million people without any health

bill, your question on social security is a good one. george and i have very different strategies for the way to deal with social security and medicare. this is one of the most important programs that has ever been done by government. more than 50% of american seniors work their entire lives and retired into poverty before social security was passed and thank god we have those days behind us. when george was in the united states senate, he voted to privatize social security. that would have been a huge cat tra strove prior to the collapse of wall street. what i would do is over time allow the payroll tax cap to adjust upwards as fairs way of protecting the solvency of the program rather than changing the retirement age. on medicare, george allen supports the ryan budget that would turn medicare into a roucher program and push costs on to the shoulders of seniors. what i support is fixing medicare by saving costs, for example, ending the prescription drug give away that we currently give. that would save us $250 billion without jeopardizi

social security and -- >> social security, first on the list. when george w. bush won re-election in 2004, the first thing he said he wanted to spend his political capital on, first on the list was social security. specifically what he meant was privatizing social security. no more social security safety net, just hand it over to wall street and hope your numbers come up as cherries instead of lemons when the wall street slot machine dial stops spinning. minus the fees from your broker, of course, grandma. did they warn you about those fees? the republican plan in the second bush term to privatize social security was a political disaster. the more president george w. bush traveled around the country and talked about this idea, the less popular the idea became and it started off about as popular as food poisoning. and at the time george w. bush was traveling around the country promoting this disastrous idea, back in washington, back in the house of representatives, a young radically conservative congressman from wisconsin was promoting legislation in the house

to save social security? or are you going to say i'm not touching either of them and i will not do anything and i am opposed to all reform. >>neil: the way we are going now is not sustainable why not say that? >>guest: you can but you have to put forward a reform. president obama has not put forward a reform. i sat this far away and asked, you can fix social security and medicare i will work with you and you will probably get re-elected if you do that but he refuses to do it. we met with him time and again and said, these are simple mathematical things that have to be done. it is no one's fault. it is because we had a lot of babies after world war ii and less babies in each successful generation and we are living longer. it is a demographic program, not a republican or democrat problem. it could be fixed simply if both sides come together. >>neil: thank you, senator. this bipartisan man to get this under control and thwarts the efforts that paul ryan has taken, that if anything he and his dad have said that p

the fact is the social security trustees have said social security will not able to pay full benefits2037. we have to look at ways to make structural reforms that provide the benefits current seniors expect while preserving and protecting the program for future generations. that's what i was talking about when i was talking about social security. part of the problem is the high unemployment rates under this administration and fewer people paying into the system because they are not working. we need to get the economy started, get people back to work. after that we need to look at other ways to increase the solvency of the program and that should include allowing people to pay into a private account. it could include changing the retirement age. it could include raising the cap on the amount of earnings to which social security is taxed. >> the congressman says he had a bad choice of words. however, he has quadrupled down on that and said it multiple times. i want to preserve and protect this program. i don't want to privatize it and turn it over to wall street. he got caught saying wh

how important do you think social security is to retirement income security? in the second part of the question is, what is the biggest challenge facing social security in the future? >> thank you for the question. the answer is it's very important because it is a promise we have made. we've told folks that money will be there and we keep our promises. enter the second part of the question, tell them to quit stealing money from the social security trust fund. >> same question to you, mr. has-been. how important you think social security is to retirement income security and what is the biggest challenge facing social security in the future? hudson: first part, social security is absolutely critical. my parents are on social security. i know they've made their plans based on having that they are. and so i know from a personal example it is important and it's important to hundreds of thousands of people across the state. the biggest threat to our social security system is the status quo. it is doing nothing because we know for a fact that by 2036 the social secur

we turn now to social security.n the official debate, the moderator asked obama and romney if there were any differences in their views on social security. >> i suspect we have some similar positions. it is structurally sound. it will have to be tweaked the way was by ronald reagan and speaker -- democratic speaker tip o'neill. but the basic structure is sound. but i'm not to talk about the guy is behind social security and medicare, and then talk about medicare because that's the big driver of our deficits right now. you know, my grandmother -- some of you know -- helped to raise me. my grandparents did. my grandfather died a while back. my grandmother died three days before i was elected president. she was fiercely independent. she worked her way up, only a high-school education. she ended up being vice president of the local bank. she ended up living alone by choice. and the reason she to be independent was because of social security and medicare. she had worked all her life, put in this money, and understood the

one hot button topic, how to preserve social security. mark strassman looks at each of the presidential candidates plans. >> reporter: in new orleans john's family business sells stone for kitchen remodel. >> i love what i do. we go to work and i enjoy every minute of it. >> reporter: six days a week. >> yeah. not only me but my wife and son. >> reporter: 56 years old. how much longer do you want to do it? >> 10 to 15 years. >> reporter: since 1940 social security has been etched in stone. in 1945, 42 workers paid into the program for every retiree. but america is ageing. by 2033 there will be two workers paying in for every retiree. social security could fall 25 cents short in every dollar it owes in benefits. >> unlike the current president we'll preserve and protect medicare and social security and keep it there for future generations. >> reporter: mitt romney says he would not change anything for people already retired or older than 55. but he has proposed a gradual increase in the eligibility age for social security. one month per ye

the cost of social security should never be privatized? it is important we recognize such as security needs to be solvent for current recipients as well as future generations. i would never for someone. -- force someone. employers pay into it. if people want social security, which most do, that should be the case. we need to make some reforms in social security. the age of eligibility can be increased gradually for those who are younger than age 50, currently or soon on social security, leave it the same. there should be an income adjustment. that would help the solvency. another thing that will help is jobs. the most recent forecast, it will go bankrupt three years earlier. into why,in wh -- delve fewer people are working. people to provide for themselves and their retiring years. it is why i think people ought to be able to use their social security funds or 401k's so they do not have to lose their homes and lose all their assets in the events they need assistant living later in life. i want to make sure social security is solvent for fu

we have made the social security trust fund sound. and it is going to be operating at surpluses, and i don't want the liberal democratic congress to spend out of that social security trust fund or go and take the money out for some other purpose. i don't want that. and i will not go in there and suggest changes in social security. i learned that the hard way and the governor and i both supported slipping the cola's for one year. he supported it at the national governors conference and i supported it in breaking a tie in a major compromise package and we got assailed by the democrats in the election over that. and i am going to keep that social security trust fund sound and keep our commitment to the elderly and maybe down the line, maybe when you get two decades or one into the next century, you're going to have to take another look at it, but not now. we do not have to do it. keep the trust with the older men and women of this country. >> governor, you have one minute, sir. >> andrea, i don't know which george bush i'm listening to.

moving on to social security, saving it as a matter of fact. a 1.7% cost of increase will go into effect but for millions of americans that is not stuff. our ken molestina is live to explain why recipients of social security may be struggling to scrape by with that. >> reporter: social security benefits continue to be a highly contested issue during the election season. following the announcement of the living adjustment the debate is taking center stage. >> reporter: alberta has been retired since 1990. she's battling breast cancer and depends on her social security. now, she wants her fair cut. >> we are not asking for a handout. we are asking for a hand up. >> reporter: help she says in getting back from a program she invested in her entire life as a postal worker. >> we have already paid our dues, as long as we have worked. >> reporter: the new plan outlined today will raise social security by 1.7% or about $21 a month. however, with the inflated cost of things like gas, energy, food and health care, the increase will be swallowed up. in ef

and ryan wants to get rid of social security. he is on the record in so many places saying that, that it is absurd of him to argue otherwise. he wants to get rid of medicare as we know it, replace it with a system that only helps the rich. >> david cay johnston, great to have you with us on this friday evening on "the ed show." thanks so much. >>> there's a lot more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show." stay with us. >> ever felt that way where you just want to deck somebody? >> call the whambulance. fox news is freaking out about joe biden. >> it was openly contemptuous and disrespectful. >> karen finney, on whether it's more disrespectful to lie to america or to interrupt the guy who's lying. >>> and bain capital is sending american jobs overseas and mitt romney is refusing to step in. >> our american dream got ripped out from underneath us. and not because of any reason other than just pure greed. >> tonight, the massive protest in freeport, illinois, where they are warning the country about mitt romney's vision fo

have the balance of the social security trust fund for the social security recipients. in 25 years, you would have a system that, it is a pay-as- you-go system. you have a trust fund that is a weird economic thing having to do with social security rolls. but it has no economic value and has led people astray. >> right. let's get rid of it as a distraction. let's just call it what it is. >> let's see if we can get advice from both of you for people who are watching this election. what is absolutely going to happen after november 6, no matter who is elected, that will have to do with people's pocketbook and money? >> no matter what candidates. >> that is a very good question. i think what we can say with confidence is that the winner, whoever he may be, will have to do some stuff that will make him unpopular. the reason i say that is that we face this debt and deficit situation that is simply unsustainable and frankly, next year is the big window we have. right after the election, the first-year, either romney's first year or obama, who will never run for reelection again

. >> let's talk about ways to improve social security. should payroll taxes be raised or should more income be applied to the payroll tax rate to improve social security? bill >> let me address again that congressman murphy has not been honest about my position on social security. let me be clear. i will support no budget that will reduce our benefits for social security or medicare. >> the question is about increasing payroll taxes to support social security in the future. >> i'm going to get to your answer. i believe we're going to have to reform social security and medicare in order that it will continue to be available for generations to come. however, i believe we have to sit in a bipartisan way in congress the issues on the table and address those things that are going to be put into place to save and preserve social security and medicare for the future. we will do that in a bipartisan way. we will have scored and see with the financial impact of that are. we all agree it cannot sustain itself the way it is bidding, however, we also

social security is structurally sound.will have to be tweaked the way it was by ronald reagan and speaker, democratic speaker tip o'neale. but it is the basic structure is sound. >> bret: so it sounds like he and governor romney were on the same page. >> again, i have to go back to look at the context of what the president is saying there. this is a discussion about the debt and the deficit. we know that social security, though it faces long-term financial challenges, is not a driver in the day-to-day debt and deficit, as some of the things like medicare and medicaid might be. i think that is the context of that statement. look, the president doesn't believe we ought to take our retirement funds and risk them in the stock market. >> bret: has to do something. last town hall he said you have to do something about entitlement reform in my term t. but he hasn't. >> we're going to extend the term when we win re-election. one thing we can do is raise the cap on the tax on social security and the president had talked about that

social security is a completely separate account.he problem with social security right now is that for the last two years we have been paying out more in benefits than we are taking in in payroll taxes. it is a separate line on your paycheck. it is completely separate. and it is in trouble. we are taking out more in benefits than we are taking in in taxes. under your approach, to do nothing, it means that seniors would open up their checks and find that instead of $1,000, it is $750. that is your plan, to do nothing, and it would mean automatic cuts for every senior on social security. >> 45 seconds for a bottle. >> heather wilson has repeatedly said in this campaign that she plans to make changes to social security. i would ask you, don't you deserve to know what those changes would be? trust us is not a policy. trust us is an approach to get past the election and then you make policy. i think if we are going to make any changes to social security, that you deserve to know what those changes are going to be. i will continue to press

i don't think we should play games of nick and barbara social security checks. we should fix the problem, but not put our senior social security paychecks at risk in doing it. i think we have an obligation of candidates for the senate to tell people what we're going to do. she said she's going to get demagogues. but the way of saying she's going to lose votes. you might lose votes if you take a position. but that's our responsibility as candidates to tell folks what we'll do. i would support raising the cap on income that is taxable for social security purposes so we asked those who have done well to help us pay for the program. as for this idea that i've cut $700 billion from medicare is just wrong. we cut those monies from over payments to insurance companies, overpayments are drug companies and use the money to make us a stronger for seniors. the health care bill cuts in half the amount a senior has to pay when they go into the doughnut hole. best of the health care bill is all about. >> moderator:, you know you've not been honest about stigma my position is

. >>> if you receive social security benefits, you'll want to listen up. >> the scam puts your check in somebody else's bank account. >> october is breast cancer awareness month. you can get some of your questions concerned. here's the number to call. we'll have someone taking the call until 6:30 tonight. here's the number, 410-481-2222. >>> 72 degrees. normal 72. your forecast is 73. our two-degree winner is bill splice from baltimore. we'll be back with a look at the next storm system. that's straight ahead. >>> the social security administration will be cutting out paper checks, going straight to your direct deposit. >> scammers are using it as an opportunity to steal benefits away from seniors. >> reporter: you go to great lengths your social security number. identity thieves are cashing in, stealing social security numbers from seniors and using them to reroute the benefits to their own account or prepaid cards. the inspector general's office has received more than 19,000 attempted changes. not all are tied to fraud. the social security administrator -- administration needs to d

. >>> if you receive social security checks a.new scam out puts you at risk for someone's else's money. scammers are out to get you. we will keep you ahead of the story. also the kids are not always in front of the tv but even when it's just in the background. it could a have an effect on them. how much tv they hear without watching the reports you want to stick around for and a powerful storm surge and enough to toss a car around like it's leaf. look at that. >> wow. we have plenty of clouds but no rain as of yet. but there is change in the forecast. that's all coming up. >> reporter: everything is moving along on 695 at liberty road. i will let you know how traffic is shaping up on 95 and 83 coming up on good morning maryland. >> reporter: getting rural america online. dish network starts offering broadband to areas that currently have little or no internet service. and it won't be a as fast as wired but it's believed more than 14 million rural americans have no access at all. and if you have not placed your orders for nintendo'

some reforms to social security. the age of eligibility can be increased for those who are younger than age 50. >> they are vying for the chance to succeed jim webb. moving on to the race for president, both candidates took a break, so to speak, from hard court battles to attend the dinner. president obama and mitt romney donned their talks this -- tuxes. they traded some light-hearted barbs. the dinner is a required stop for politicians ever since the end of world war ii. >> a different kind of political battle is going on in fairfax county. you will not believe the extremes to folks are protect -- are taking to protect their right to free speech. a new bombshell in the secret se >> new revelations tonight about the secret service prostitution scandal. according to a confidential report one agent who was in colombia during the scandal admitted to soliciting a prostitute in el salvador and panama. the report also includes allegations about similar misconduct about other -- from other agents. nine service -- nine agen

. >> let's talk about ways to improve social security.should payroll taxes be raised or should more income be applied to the payroll tax rate to improve social security? >> first of all, let me address that congressman murphy again on the campaign trail has not been honest about my position on social security. i have never indicated. and please pay attention and let me be clear. i would support no budget that will reduce our benefits for social security or medicare to our seniors. >> the question is about increasing payroll taxes to support social security in the future. >> i'm going to get to your answer. i believe we're going to have to reform social security and medicare in order that it will continue to be available for generations to come. that's what i'm going to work on depog. however, i believe we have to sit in a bipartisan way in congress the issues on the table and address those things that are going to be put into place to save and preserve social security and medicare for the future. we will do that in a bipartisan way. we wi

caller: social security, medicare. they both talked about social security. the other one is going to cancel it, the other one is going to ruin it, and that is all you hear from each other's mouth each party makes sure they make a strategic mouth. each party makes a statement that -- mouth. each party makes a statement that they are not going to cancel social security. obviously social security has to be saved. it is just about how we will go about saving it. are we going to give up the money now and make interest to make more money for social security to keep it alive? who has the best programs to keep it running? on social security's and medicare, it seems like scare tactics. you need to have each one. they both will push it through, and they both keep saying they both think the other one will cancel the next generation from medicare. as far as the fed's, they have to work bipartisan. i have heard a lot of joe biden saying "de" and -- "they" and paul ryan saying "we." host: they mentioned medicare in the debate. [video clip] medicare, these are indisputable

social security is you paying for the older generations' retirement. older the younger generation will pay for your retirement. it's the epitome of the social contract. there is a problem because there are going to be more older people than younger people. it's not like the financial worries are irrelevant. >> you know what i found interesting in the broad context of the debate when we talk about social insurance which has been the central theme in a weird way even though joblessness is rampant and we have this, is that people have different conceptions of those two programs as essentially there's an account somewhere with my name on it because you get the statement from the social security administration and because when you get your paycheck it says this is how much you put in social security, this is how much you put into medicare, other government programs, that's just government, right? people feel they have an ownership of those social insurance programs. it actually means that people who are ideologically exposed to not like redistribution love

we are the party of the medicare and social security. what about now? what will you do when your own president has said medicare will die unless it is reform? i think he is inclined toward that new deal liberalism. you except what joe biden will say. if you listen to paul ryan, he said we have to amend it. we have to change it. and this is how we will do it. >> i want to get to policy, to appear in a week after the first presidential debate, why was the president still talking about it? >> at the debate, what happened? >> gov. romney had a good night. i had a bad night. it is not the first time i have had a bad night. >> in the polls are to be believed, it was a bad bad night. and the president was still talking about it a week later. in fact, he has not stopped talking about it. did the shift surprise you? >> what surprised me most of all is that, barely 10 days ago, my good conservative friends were telling about the sinister conspiracy of polls. but they're all -- to give this impression that the liberals were running away -- that they're all rigged

social security, if we don't shore up social security, when we run out of the ious, when the program goes bankrupt, a 25% across the board benefit cut kicks in on seniors in the middle of their retirement. they haven't put a credible solution on the table. he'll tell you about vouchers and say all these things to scare people. give younger people, when they become medicare eligible, guaranteed coverage options that you can't be denied, including traditional medicare. more coverage for middle income people and total out of pocket coverage for the poor and sick. choice and competition. we would rather have 50 million future seniors determine how their medicare is delivered to them, instead of 15 bureaucrats deciding wha when, if and where they get it. >> i heard that death panel argument from sarah palin. let's talk about medicare. what we did is we saved $716 billion and put it back, applied it to medicare. we cut the cost of medicare. we stopped overpaying insurance companies. the ama supported what we did. aarp endorsed what we did. and it extends the life of medicare to 2024. they