Social Security champion Mike Honda
Here at Daily Kos, we like to get more and better Democrats in Congress. When Democrats are in the minority, the focus logically shifts to "more" but that doesn't mean we can forget about the "better." That's why we endorsed incumbent Congressman Mike Honda in his re-election campaign against his tech CEO challenger Ro Khanna. Congressman Honda is a progressive stalwart, as you can see from his responses to the Daily Kos candidate questionnaire. This, meanwhile, is the record of his technically Democratic opponent:Meanwhile, [Khanna is] making a big deal of not taking money from lobbyists or PACs—something he can obviously well afford to do. In previous quarters, Khanna's donors included Marc Leder, who you may remember as the host of the fundraiser at which Mitt Romney made his "47 percent" remarks, and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, who has given millions of dollars to Club for Growth Action. Honda has support from labor and organizations like the Sierra Club and Planned Parenthood, but big donors like these have allowed Khanna to not only outraise Honda but have more than three times as much cash on hand. That kind of money will let you run an impressive campaign even if tech CEOs and investors are your only natural constituency.The contrast could not be clearer on than it is on the issue of strengthening Social Security. Honda wants to strengthen Social Security by scrapping the cap whereby wage earners only pay Social Security taxes on their first $117,000 of income, leaving high-income earners paying a far lower tax rate than those who earn less.
Khanna, though? Not such a fan of the concept, as he demonstrated at a recent town hall:
TRANSCRIPT: We need to have an honest conversation about Social Security and Medicare. Mike Honda has been campaigning on increasing, increasing Social Security benefits beyond what the current cost of living adjustments will allow. He knows that's impossible, he knows he's never going to get the votes for it. He knows the budget doesn't work, but it's just a campaign tactic. And the reality is, we need to start having an honest conversation. How are we going to make sure that we have no cuts in Social Security benefits and strengthen Social Security, but be honest about its solvency?So, to recap: Mike Honda wants to make Social Security solvent by scrapping the cap and making sure high earners pay their share. Khanna, meanwhile, wants to "be honest" about its solvency, and it's not hard to figure out what that means, especially given Khanna's support from prominent funders of Mitt Romney and the Club for Growth.
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