South Carolina Senate Fact #18: DeMint Supports Bush’s “Ownership Society” Agenda

The economic debate in this year’s election has focused on the president’s “Ownership Society” agenda: fundamental tax reform, tort reform, and Social Security reform through Personal Retirement Accounts (PRAs). Fortunately, South Carolina has a clear choice on these important economic issues.

Representative Jim DeMint is a strong supporter of the Ownership Society plan. He committed to all three elements of the plan in the FreedomWorks Candidate Survey, joining over 160 candidates for federal office in promising to scrap the code, curb lawsuit abuse, and allow workers to put a portion of their Social Security taxes into a personal account that they own and control.

What’s more, Jim DeMint has a strong Congressional record on all three of these issues: he backed the President’s 2003 tax cuts, voted for meaningful tort reform, and sponsored a bill to save Social Security by enacting PRAs. Furthermore, Representative DeMint earned FreedomWorks’ Jefferson Award twice for his support of economic freedom in Congress.

Inez Tenenbaum, on the other hand, refuses to complete the Candidate Survey and let citizens know where she stands. Instead of presenting bold ideas of her own, Tenenbaum resorts to scare tactics and baseless attacks against Jim DeMint. She claims that DeMint will raise taxes— even though he has never voted for a tax hike in Congress.

In fact, it is Inez Tenenbaum who backed the largest tax hike in South Carolina state history. She also publicly opposes caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits. Worst of all, she would not allow workers to invest their payroll taxes in PRAs, forcing them to stay in a system that is headed for collapse.

Tomorrow, the Palmetto State will have a clear choice: Jim DeMint stands with President Bush on the Ownership Society agenda, while Inez Tenenbaum wants more tax-and-spend governance.

For more information, please visit http://www.freedomworks.org/southcarolina/