Lt. Governor Bill Halter is calling on Sen. Blanche Lincoln to come clean about her willingness to cut Social Security and Medicare to voters before the June 8 runoff takes place.
"Sen. Lincoln didn't disclose her openness to cutting Social Security and Medicare until after Arkansas primary voters started going to the polls," said Halter campaign manager Carol Butler. "Tens of thousands of Arkansans voted in the primary without knowing whether Sen. Lincoln wants to cut
Social Security and Medicare. Runoff voters deserve to know the truth. Sen. Lincoln's willingness to put cuts to Social Security and Medicare on the table is part of a pattern of being less than straightforward with Arkansas voters."
During the May 14 debate, in response to a question about how to best reduce the national deficit, Sen. Blanche Lincoln responded "there are reasonable spending cuts that can be made. You have to look at mandatory spending programs like Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid."
Sen. Lincoln previously claimed she helped seniors with Medicare drug coverage, but voted against the health care fixes that helped nearly 90,000 Arkansas seniors stuck in the Medicare prescription drug "donut hole" with an immediate $250 rebate in 2010.
Sen. Lincoln also voted for a 1994 budget/spending measure that would have placed Social Security on the chopping block. Lincoln was one of just 37 House members to vote for the Stenholm Amendment (to HR 4604) to set caps on all entitlement spending (including Social Security) for FY 1996-2000 that
would result in some $150 billion in cuts below projections. The amendment would also require automatic cuts in all programs (including Social Security) if Congress failed to pass reconciliation legislation to prevent spending from exceeding the caps.
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