Sharron Angle’s campaign is accusing Harry Reid of trying to “buy the votes of seniors” by saying he intends to introduce a bill giving one-time $250 checks to Social Security recipients. Reid has said he and other Democrats plan to offer the legislation during the lame duck session in Congress.
The proposed $250 checks are intended to make up for seniors not receiving an automatic cost-of-living increase (COLA) because the Social Security administration has said prices have not increased enough to justify one.
Reid said on Monday he was proposing the measure to help struggling seniors. ”Social Security recipients, with rare exception, struggle every day,” Reid said. “For so many people, this is all they have to live on.”
Angle campaign spokesman Jarrod Agen criticized the proposal.
“I know the polls are bad for Harry, but this is just a desperate attempt to buy the votes of seniors,” said Agen in an email to Battle ‘10.
“The Senate already rejected Reid’s idea on March 3, 2010 by a bipartisan vote,” added Agen. “Democrats and Republicans voted against this idea.”
The proposal could indeed cost more than $13 billion, according to various reports.
“Harry Reid’s stimulus bill was bad enough, the federal government spent $842 million in Clark County to create 646 jobs at a cost of $1.3 million per job,” said Agen. “Now Harry wants to spend $14 billion to save another job – his own.”