Dean Heller: Berkley wrong about my record

Republican Sen. Dean Heller fired back Wednesday at his likely opponent in the 2012 election, denying he ever voted to eliminate Social Security or Medicare.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., made those charges Tuesday in an interview in Carson City.

"I never voted for a cut for Social Security or any changes in the current system of Social Security, but they continue to say that," Heller said.

Heller said, however, he has called for Medicare reform because the experts say it's going to go bankrupt in 10-12 years.

"There are no ideas how to fix that on the other side," he said referring to Democrats. "If we don't fix it, it's going to go bankrupt."

He said a plan by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. - whether it's the best idea or not - is the only one out there at this point.

"What I'm looking for are any proposals that will make Medicare safe and secure," Heller said.

He criticized Berkley's record on that subject, saying she voted for the health care bill, which he charged cut a "half-trillion dollars" out of Medicare.

"The Republican plan puts that half-trillion back into Medicare," Heller said. "Berkley voted for the cut, then voted against the plan that would put the half-trillion back into Medicare."

Heller added that Berkley supported the debt ceiling bill, which cuts another 2 percent out of Medicare.

He accused her of flip-flopping on the portion of the debt ceiling deal that puts what he termed "the gang of 12" in charge of federal government budget and spending reforms. He voted against the plan, saying it amounts to turning control over to just a very few members of Congress.

"She votes for it, and now she is parroting every comment I make about it," Heller said. "Why would you abdicate the responsibility of leadership from 535 people down to 12? That's the primary reason why I voted against the bill."

He said that is also a major reason credit rating agencies concluded Congress wasn't serious about the debt problem and downgraded the nation's credit rating.

Heller also challenged Berkley's charge that he was "pulling the rug out from under homeless veterans" by eliminating housing vouchers.

Heller's chief of staff, Stewart Bybee, said that since fiscal 2008, the veterans' housing program has received about $75 million a year for the program. He said that when the vote to not fund it for this year was held, 29,950 vouchers were still available. The bill continued funding for those vouchers but didn't fund an additional 10,000 vouchers because, until the existing vouchers are used, there's no point in providing more money to the program.

Heller said there would be no impact on homeless veterans and added that funding will be considered for the next fiscal year, beginning Oct. 1.

Bybee added that the Veterans Affairs secretary agreed to hold off funding additional vouchers for the time being.

Heller was appointed to the U.S. Senate in May to replace John Ensign, who resigned. Heller must run in November 2012 to claim a full six-year term. Berkley is the odds-on favorite to be his Democratic opponent.