Gov. Charlie Crist said again Wednesday that he is in favor of allowing illegal immigrants to work to earn citizenship in the U.S. to create revenue to bolster federal entitlements like Social Security.
“First secure the border – make sure we have a pathway to citizenship that is earned, not amnesty,” Crist said during a campaign stop in Pembroke Pines. “If we have those 11 to 14 million people as productive participants in the American economy, paying the payroll taxes that would be attendant to it, that would help Social Security and other things too.”
Crist contrasted his stance on the issue with his U.S. Senate opponents Marco Rubio and Kendrick Meek, whose positions he said are too entrenched in Republican and Democratic party ideology.
“I’m the only candidate that thinks we ought to preserve Social Security as it is,” he said. “Study after study tells us that it’s solvent until at least 2037 or 2041, and typical of Washington, this one of the programs that is working and both of my opponents are attacking it. Speaker Rubio says that he wants to raise the age eligibility and restructure how Social Security is delivered, including means testing. Congressman Meek on the other hand says that he wants to punt it to a commission, and every time that happens, they raise the age of eligibility.”
Republicans quickly pounced on Crist’s comments as being unworkable and soft on immigration.
“How does Charlie Crist plan to protect social security – by making it go bankrupt faster,” Republican Party of Florida Executive Director Ronnie Whitaker. “Charlie Crist will say and do anything to get elected – even reducing himself to proposing widely debunked policies that would directly hurt seniors and erode the rule of law.”
Meek said it was Crist and Rubio who were the same, not he and the former speaker.
Both Crist and Rubio have been in favor of privatizing Social Security in the past, Meek said.
“While Charlie Crist stood on stage with President Bush as he talked about his plan to privatize Social Security and endanger a crucial safety net for our seniors, I helped lead the fight against his disastrous plan. Speaker Rubio also has a long record of supporting privatization,” he said.
The News Service of Florida
