Angle’s new ad says she wants to save Social Security

In Sharron Angle's new TV ad, the GOP Senate candidate tells seniors she wants to save Social Security and stop U.S. Sen. Harry Reid from using its funds "to pay for his own pet projects."

"The real Social Security solutions are to stop Harry Reid from raiding the Social Security Trust Fund," Angle says in the ad that shows her speaking to seniors in a town hall setting.

Angle says she wants to restore the trust fund's $2.5 trillion that's been used by the federal government to pay for other programs. Her plan, she says, would ensure future benefits to people who have paid into the system through payroll taxes.

"We have a contract with our seniors who have put into Social Security in good faith," she says.

"I'd like to save Social Security by locking the lock box, putting the money back into the Trust Fund so the government can no longer raid our retirement."

The release of the 30-second ad preempts Reid's plan to hold rallies with his senior supporters in Las Vegas and Reno on Thursday to mark the 75th anniversary of the program.

Reid's campaign accuses Angle of wanting to kill Social Security because she has said she wants to "transition" out of the system. And she wants to allow young workers to opt out and open personal retirement accounts instead.

Angle doesn't mention any such ideas in her new ad, which will begin airing statewide Thursday, according to her campaign.

Reid has said the Social Security system is in good shape and could pay full benefits for the next two dozen years. But the Senate majority leader has acknowledged a need to make some "tweaks" to ensure future funding as a growing older population collects more Social Security benefits than payroll tax collections are bringing in, which happened for the first time this year. Reid has not offered a specific plan however.