Last week, during the 77th anniversary of Social Security, U.S. Senate candidates Tim Kaine and George Allen submitted letters to the editor to Patch sites across Northern Virginia.

Kaine, in part, criticized past positions Allen had supported in the Senate:

"I reject those privatization plans. They boil down to gambling with the retirement savings of hard working Americans and jeopardize the promise that we’ve made to generations. While we must continue to find common ground on solutions like altering the payroll tax cap to preserve Social Security's long-term integrity, we cannot take a knee jerk approach and push the panic button on a program that’s worked."

To read Kaine's complete letter, click here.

Allen, two days later, wrote in to refute Kaine. He also talked about removing the tax on Social Security benefits in Virginia while governor.

An excerpt from Allen's letter:

"…Kaine goes to great lengths to blame others and provides no solutions for Social Security, but we do know where Tim Kaine stands on Medicare. Unfortunately, as national chairman of the Democratic Party, he was a vocal advocate of the health care tax law he called a 'great achievement' and proclaimed it 'would be a great thing politically for the Dems.' A recent Congressional Budget Office report revealed the law could take over $700 Billion from Medicare to help pay for it."

To read Allen's complete letter, click here.