Congressional candidates agree on military issues, part ways on Social Security

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Posted 8:07AM on Monday, October 14, 2002

ATLANTA - The two men seeking the Congressional seat vacated by U.S. Rep. Saxby Chambliss agree on many things: supporting President Bush in his stance against Iraq; keeping military bases in Georgia vital to national defense so they won't be targeted for closure; and protecting the retirement monies of American workers. But Republican businessman Calder Clay, 44, and Democrat Jim Marshall, a 54-year-old law school professor and former mayor of Macon, have vastly different ideas on Social Security and devoted a large part of a televised debate Sunday to the issue. Clay, who said his mother got just $250 in burial assistance when his father, a longtime contributor to Social Security, died at age 58, favors allowing workers to invest part of their retirement funds in private accounts. "I believe that people can make good decisions, and I'm going to support them," Clay said at a live debate broadcast on Georgia Public Television. Clay, who described himself as "the conservative candidate in the race," also called for a complete overhaul of the Internal Revenue Service and the abolition of income tax in favor of a national sales tax. Marshall argued that lower Social Security contributions by workers would mean $1 trillion less in the fund over the next ten years. "I think the solution is not to weaken the trustfund but to strengthen the trustfund, and it's a gradual thing," he said. "As we have resources within the government, we should gradually put resources into the trust so (it) has the strength it needs for all future generations." In a recent television ad, Clay - who served as city councilman under Marshall - accused him of betraying Macon's firefighters and police when as mayor Marshall reduced the city's contribution to their pension funds. Marshall replied that the pension fund nearly doubled during his time in office, despite a reduction in the local tax rate and a cost-of-living adjustment paid to city workers. The two disagreed as to whether Clay had voted in favor of the city budget that resulted in lower coontributions to the pension fund. "You came in and you cut the contribution to the pension fund by 50 percent," Clay said. "I opposed it then. I oppose it now." According to articles in the Macon Telegraph at the time, Clay did not vote against the budget.