(CNSNews.com) - It must be an election year, because Democrats are once again raising the Social Security issue to scare older Americans.

The Democratic National Committee on Monday released a new Web video "aimed at helping voters keep track of McCain's Social Security rhetoric."

Sen. John McCain wants to "privatize" Social Security, the DNC warned. But he'd do so only for younger workers who want to take that route. Here's what McCain said on Monday during a visit to Harrisburg, Pa.:

"I have consistently said that no proposal of mine will affect retirees. It's that simple. I have committed to maintaining the present system for present day retirees and for those above a certain age. That's just a fact.

"Now I've heard this demagoguery about quote, 'privatization.' My answer to that is I'd like to have young workers voluntarily to be able to invest some of their money -- it's their money, their tax dollars, nobody else's -- into a savings account with their name on it if they chose to," McCain said.

Democrats pounced, accusing McCain of using "word games" to hide his support for a plan that would "dismantle Social Security as we know it."

"No matter what word games you use to describe it, the American people in 2005, and the people of Pennsylvania in 2006, rendered their judgment on the Bush-McCain plan to privative Social Security -- and they said no way, no how," said Brad Woodhouse of the Democratic National Committee.

"John McCain has embraced the same risky and unpopular policy for Social Security that contributed to the demise of the Bush Presidency and that ended the careers of Republicans like (former Sen.) Rick Santorum. The American people cannot afford another Republican President who is willing to gamble with the retirement security of millions of hard working families."

The DNC's Web video includes shots of McCain and President Bush plugging the private investment option for younger workers. It makes McCain look like Bush's echo. The tag line reads, McBush: The Wrong Choice for America's Future."

Obama would tap higher-income workers

Sen. Barack Obama, McCain's Democratic rival, also told senior citizens that McCain would threaten their Social Security benefits.

While campaigning in Oregon in May, Obama visited an assisted living facility and told residents, "Let me be clear, privatizing Social Security was a bad idea when George W. Bush proposed it, it's a bad idea today." Obama said he "stood up against this plan in the Senate and that's why I won't stand for it as president."

Obama says McCain would press Congress to raise the retirement age for collecting Social Security benefits -- or reduce annual cost-of-living increases.

Obama, on the other hand, would make higher-income workers pay more into the system.

According to his campaign Web site, "Obama believes that the first place to look for ways to strengthen Social Security is the payroll tax system. Currently, the Social Security payroll tax applies to only the first $97,500 a worker makes. Obama supports increasing the maximum amount of earnings covered by Social Security and he will work with Congress and the American people to choose a payroll tax reform package that will keep Social Security solvent for at least the next half century."

Obama also wants to eliminate income taxes for seniors making less than $50,000; and he promises to create "automatic workplace pensions" by requiring employers who do not offer retirement plans to enroll their employees in a direct-deposit IRA account.

Last August, during a campaign stop in South Carolina, McCain called it "disgraceful and outrageous that Republicans and Democrats have not sat down together and worked out this Social Security problem."

McCain noted that by 2020, more money will be paid out in Social Security benefits than will be coming in from current workers. "That's going to be a crucial time. Should we wait until 2020?" McCain asked.

As Cybercast News Service previously reported, Democrats in Congress have flatly refused to work with the Bush administration to find a solution to the looming Social Security crisis.

During George W. Bush's State of Union Address in 2006, Democrats actually applauded when the president reminded them they had failed to act on his Social Security overhaul plan, despite pressing concerns about its future.

See Earlier Stories:
Dems Cheer Congress's 'Do Nothing' Approach on Social Security (1 Feb. 2006)
Medicare and Social Security Spending Remain Problematic (27 Mar. 2008)