Candidates:

Al Franken, Democrat

Dean Barkley, Independent

Norm Coleman, Republican

Questions:

Priorities  Social Security  Enhancing Retirement Security  Making Health Care More Affordable  Long-Term Care 

The candidate was asked to check either the support or oppose boxes.

QUESTION:

What will be your top domestic issue priorities if elected? How will you work to break the gridlock to get things done on these issues? Please list your top three domestic priorities:

AARP RESPONSE:

AARP’s position: Millions of Americans worry about their health and long-term financial security. They fear the future will not be as prosperous for their children and grandchildren. They face competing demands: affording health care, saving for retirement, sending children to college and supporting aging parents. At the same time, soaring health care costs constrain businesses’ ability to grow and compete. Our elected leaders in Washington have become increasingly unable to solve major issues because of partisan gridlock. Americans want results from our elected leaders, not promises without action. It’s time for individuals, businesses, non-profit organizations, and government to come together to find solutions. AARP believes that providing quality, affordable health care and improving lifelong financial security for all Americans should be Washington’s top domestic priorities.

Al Franken (Democrat) RESPONSE:

First, I want to provide high-quality universal healthcare as quickly as possible. Second, I want to safeguard and improve public education, for both K-12 and college students, and I want to invest in early childhood education. Third, I’ll work to improve our struggling economy to provide for the financial security of all Americans, which includes moving America toward energy independence and a “green” economy through increased use of renewable resources and energy efficiency. In the Senate, I will work for the people of Minnesota. A good idea is a good idea no matter who proposed it. I look forward to working with both Republicans and Democrats who realize that our first obligation is to represent the values of those that elected us.

Dean Barkley (Independent) RESPONSE:

I also promise to reform the system that allows both Democrats and Republicans to feed off the special interests and big-money lobbyists that control the health care agenda, keeping our costs medical costs skyrocketing and unaffordable.

Norm Coleman (Republican) RESPONSE:

Continued dependence on foreign oil is the greatest threat to our economy, our security and our freedom. I will work toward achieving energy independence by continuing to develop and expand energy sources such as renewables, clean coal and nuclear power. I’m also committed to ensuring that every American has access to affordable, quality health care. One such policy that I support includes providing health insurance tax credits to individuals to help them buy into health insurance plans that are portable from job to job. Finally, I firmly believe that we need to renew our focus on promoting pro-growth policies that expand job opportunities and meet the challenges that confront us in our global economy.

QUESTION:

Will you support or oppose a balanced Social Security plan to continue the program’s guaranteed benefits for future generations? Will you support or oppose diverting Social Security payroll taxes to fund individual retirement accounts?

AARP RESPONSE:

Social Security has provided peace of mind for Americans for over 70 years. The program’s guaranteed, inflation adjusted benefit protects families when a worker retires, becomes disabled or dies. We all benefit from the shared responsibility of providing for today’s beneficiaries, with the knowledge that future generations will also share the responsibility for us. AARP believes that a bipartisan plan that balances additional contributions from higher income workers with modest adjustments in future benefits can maintain Social Security’s guaranteed benefits for future generations. AARP supports individual retirement accounts in addition to current guaranteed Social Security benefits, but believes diverting Social Security taxes from the Trust Fund to fund individual retirement accounts instead of Social Security would weaken the program and create a mountain of new federal debt.

Al Franken (Democrat) RESPONSE:

Though I was lucky to grow up in a middle-class home, my wife Franni had a different experience. Her family survived after her father’s death thanks to Social Security survivor benefits. If Republicans ever try to privatize Social Security again, the only person who will scream louder than me will be Franni. The safety net that millions of seniors count on is far too important to ever risk in the volatile and uncertain stock market. We must strengthen and safeguard the benefits that we promised to all Americans – and because we could be paying more in benefits than we collect in payroll taxes as early as 2017, we must ensure the solvency of the program by increasing its revenues.

Dean Barkley (Independent) RESPONSE:

I oppose the privatization of Social Security. The system would be working as it should if Congress had been responsible in the oversight of the Trust Fund to begin with, instead of funneling monies into the General Fund that renders the system nearly bankrupt.

Norm Coleman (Republican) RESPONSE:

We must address the inherent fiscal programs in Social Security so that this vitally important program is around for future generations to use. For this reason, I’m a cosponsor of S. 355, Social Security and Medicare Solvency Commission Act. This bill would create a permanent bipartisan commission to make recommendations to ensure that programs like Social Security remain viable. This commission would establish a fixed timeline for Congressional action while improving efficiencies in service, delivery and quality of care, without harming the very people these programs are designed to help. Proposals such as individual retirement accounts, which I support, should only be considered as part of a bipartisan, comprehensive plan that doesn’t threaten the retirement security of our seniors.

QUESTION:

What options do you support to make saving for retirement easier for American families? Do you support or oppose guaranteeing employees’ access to automatic payroll deductions in the workplace to fund an IRA? Do you support or oppose creating retirement accounts in addition to Social Security?

AARP RESPONSE:

Lifetime financial security is a cornerstone of the American dream, yet this dream is being threatened by the phasing out of many traditional pension plans, and an economic environment where people find it difficult to save. Social Security was never intended to be a worker’s only source of retirement income. AARP supports creating new retirement savings options and expanding existing supplemental retirement accounts that enable workers to accumulate retirement savings in addition to Social Security’s guaranteed benefits. Half of all workers have no organized way to save for retirement such as pensions or 401(k) plans. AARP supports guaranteeing workers access to automatic payroll deductions to an IRA (Individual Retirement Account) in the workplace if their employers do not already provide them a pension or 401(k) plan.

Al Franken (Democrat) RESPONSE:

As important as Social Security and Medicare are in protecting the retirement security of all Americans, they cannot provide entirely for the future of our seniors. While many of us are able to plan for our retirement, millions of Americans do not even know where to start. We must do all that we can to help Americans save for their own retirement. That is why I support payroll deductions for employee IRAs, and individual retirement accounts in addition to Social Security, which incentivize saving. While we must ensure that no effort is made to privatize Social Security through these additional retirement accounts, we should do what we can to encourage those approaching retirement to supplement safety-net programs with some form of personal savings.

Dean Barkley (Independent) RESPONSE:

In theory, both options are favorable to allowing families to fund a retirement savings. In application, forcing these mandates on employers would be very costly in the oversight of these programs, and may actually reduce the full benefit to retirement savings and open a whole new level of increased government bureaucracy for the administration of these programs. As always, the risks involved must be balanced with the benefits.

Norm Coleman (Republican) RESPONSE:

I understand that seniors cannot rely on Social Security benefits alone for retirement security. That’s why I support efforts to protect pension programs and promote more private saving options so that more individuals have the option of investing in retirement accounts if they so desire.

QUESTION:

What policies would you support to make health care and health insurance more affordable and accessible for everyone? What policies would you support to make Medicare more affordable?

AARP RESPONSE:

We believe affordable, quality health care is a fundamental right for all Americans. Availability of coverage, rising premiums and the prospect of losing coverage altogether have become constant concerns for too many families, including older Americans, because Medicare cost sharing continues to increase as well. Making health care affordable is a shared responsibility among government, business, health care providers and individuals. We need to improve quality, eliminate waste, establish more efficient systems of care, and take individual responsibility to live healthier lives. AARP believes existing programs, both public and private, should be strengthened with incentives and subsidies to encourage greater individual and employer participation. Improving care for chronic diseases like diabetes and expanding preventive care and greater use of research on health outcomes will help reduce costs and improve overall health.

Al Franken (Democrat) RESPONSE:

No domestic issue looms larger than our health care challenges. Under the plan I have proposed, I would make every state responsible for covering every one of its citizens however it wants. Each state would be provided the political flexibility to find the best model, and federal funding to pay for bridge costs. Including everyone in the system will significantly decrease costs for everyone by expanding risk pools. While we must preserve Medicare, our seniors deserve a stronger program that manages and limits out-of-pocket costs. We can ultimately control costs in the system by managing wellness – not just treating disease. And rewarding doctors for ensuring the health of patients with chronic diseases like diabetes will decrease costs across our system.

Dean Barkley (Independent) RESPONSE:

I propose making Medicare available to everyone on a cost basis, and encouraging competition in both the private and public sectors, and let's see who wins. As I have stated before, there has to be a change in the amount of access and influence allowed special interests and the pharmaceutical/medical/insurance lobbies in Congress that prevents elected officials from agreeing on any real legislation that would make health care more affordable.

Norm Coleman (Republican) RESPONSE:

Partisan gridlock has prevented us from reforming a health care system that should be making quality and affordable health care available to all Americans. I’m one of eight Republicans who have joined with Senator Ron Wyden and six Democrats in support of the Healthy Americans Act which brings down the cost of insurance to make healthcare more affordable to everyone. I’m a cosponsor of the Small Business Health Options Program introduced by Senator Dick Durbin. This legislation would make health insurance more accessible by lowering premiums of the employees of small businesses. Finally, a health care system focused on prevention must be a priority. That’s why I’ve taken leadership positions on issues such as Alzheimer’s, childhood cancer, breast cancer and mental health parity.

QUESTION:

How would you shift long-term care services and financing so that people can afford to stay in their homes and communities as long as appropriate?

AARP RESPONSE:

At some point, most Americans will need supportive services to help with daily activities (such as dressing or bathing). The vast majority strongly prefer receiving care in their homes and communities rather than in more costly nursing homes or other institutions. However, government programs for long-term care are often geared toward institutions, making home and community-based care much harder to receive. The caregiving burden—both physical and economic— is often overwhelming for millions of families. AARP supports shifting long-term care programs to more home and community services to help people stay in their homes and communities as long as appropriate. Consumers should have more choices and improved quality of care across all settings, and the caregiving burden on millions of families should be eased.

Al Franken (Democrat) RESPONSE:

It is imperative that we develop a long-term care system that allows seniors to make choices about the care that works best for them. We should give seniors choices that are consistent with their needs, while making long-term care more affordable for seniors and their families. No one is better equipped to ensure that seniors are treated with the dignity they deserve than their families. Current long-term care options are geared toward institutions that remove the patient from the home. We must develop a program that allows patients to remain in their homes, and family members to become as involved as possible in care. Home-based care options are often more personal, comfortable and affordable than care-giving institutions and must always be available.

Dean Barkley (Independent) RESPONSE:

Families are forced to spend inordinate amounts of their income on health care now, or many cannot afford it at all, long before they ever reach the point of being able to finance long-term care. Until those present health care costs are brought in balance across the board: choice for care; quality of service; and respite availability will remain costly and elusive to consumers because the power is held in the fists of the corporations who profit obscenely on the sick and elderly. Mandating competition in the public and private health sectors would open choice, force providers to improve their quality of service or risk losing business, and reduce costs.

Norm Coleman (Republican) RESPONSE:

As a member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging I’ve strongly supported efforts to enable seniors to continue to enjoy the dignity of independent living, including more opportunities to remain in the workplace. In fact, I’ve introduced legislation to bring together stakeholders to help build a vision in which older Americans can stay independent, live active and mobile lives, and contribute to their communities longer through employment opportunities. I’ve also cosponsored S. 1980, the Long Term Care Quality and Modernization Act of 2007. This bill will enhance long term care quality and will remove barriers to care for long term residents.