Salazar Wins Key Senate Committee Assignment

Senator Ken Salazar won a highly prized committee assignment today when he was named to the Senate Finance Committee.

The committee has oversight on tax policy, Social Security, trade, tarriffs and federal debt. According to On the Issues, Salazar has cut a narrow path right down the middle on most issues:

Social Security
Ensuring the stability of Social Security pensions is more important now than ever. Just as many Americans have lost all or part of their retirement savings because of corporate fraud & precipitous drops in the stock market, privatization proposals would subject Social Security-the only retirement safety net-to stock market volatility. For too many Americans, privatization will change Social Security from a safety net into a roulette wheel. I will fight against proposals to privatize Social Security. As Colorado Attorney General, I am familiar with the many kinds of investment fraud schemes that particularly target our elderly. I would, therefore, be very wary of “individual investment accounts.”

More than half of Americans over 65 years old would live in poverty if Social Security disappeared. I will push for a return to fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets to maintain a foundation for economic growth, and I will press to make the preservation of Social Security a national priority.
Source: Campaign website, SalazarForColorado.com Aug 11, 2004

Free Trade
Voted NO on implementing CAFTA for Central America free-trade.

Budget
Cut national debt and close tax loopholes
As Senator, one of my highest priorities will be to work to create jobs and economic opportunity. I will be a strong voice for fiscally conservative policies that don’t saddle our children with even more debt. I will support responsible tax cuts for working families, not just the wealthy. And I will fight to close unfair tax loopholes that allow big corporations to move their headquarters overseas to avoid paying taxes.
Source: Campaign website, SalazarForColorado.com Mar 10, 2004

Voted NO on $40B in reduced federal overall spending which would have forced spending cuts in Medicaid, Medicare, agriculture, employee pensions, conservation, and student loans.

In 2005, Salazar angered many progressive Democrats for his support of a bankruptcy reform bill promoted by the then Republican-controlled Senate.

He will continue his membership on the Agriculture, Energy and Natural Resources, and Aging Committees.