Mississippi Democratic Party leaders brought a hot topic to the table Thursday as they criticized Republican Presidential nominee Senator John McCain's Social Security plan at a press conference in the state capitol.

"We will not support any efforts to privatize the most successful anti-poverty program in our nation," said Barbara Blackmon, vice chair of Mississippi Democratic Party. "For anyone who has witnessed our failing national economy, it's more than obvious we shouldn't bet on Wall Street and risk the financial security of thousands of people who depend on Social Security."

Social Security, put in place by the Social Security Act of 1935, allows for retirement and disability payments through taxing employees' income. And under attacks that the fund is running out of money, both presidential nominees have a plan for the future.

Senator McCain states the following on his website: "John McCain supports supplementing the current Social Security system with personal accounts - but not as a substitute for addressing benefit promises that cannot be kept."   

Senator Obama's website says just the opposite: "Obama will protect Social Security benefits for current and future beneficiaries alike. And he does not believe it is necessary or fair to hardworking seniors to raise the retirement age. Obama is strongly opposed to privatizing Social Security."

And Blackmon says if Senator McCain is elected, thousands of Mississippians would be forced into poverty.

"Privatizing Social Security and placing investments in the stock market threatens to cast thousands of senior citizens in Mississippi and across the nation below the poverty line, making it tougher-if not impossible-for them to live and make ends meet. Buying groceries, paying bills and filling up their gas tanks would become an unbearable struggle if McCain has his way with Social Security."

But Brad White, executive director of the Mississippi Republican Party, said there are several types of privatization and that the Democratic Party is making arguments as if legislation has already been made regarding the fund.

"There's so many different levels of privatization. They're trying to argue an argument that hasn't been argued yet," said White. "To hear them talk as I understand it, you would believe that Senator McCain has issued this meeting that says when I'm elected President, here's what we're going to do. And that's just simply not true. He has said that he wants a bi-partisian plan."

White added that he thinks the government should go ahead and start doing something about Social Security.

"It doesn't' take a rocket scientist to figure this out that once all of the baby boomers are drawing out of the social security fund, when they start getting their benefits, it's estimated that in ten years, we're going to have more people taking out of the fund, than are putting into it. Obviously, that's a red flag."

But Democrats are in favor of leaving the current plan in place, according to Blackmon.

"The bottom line is simple and clear:  We don't need to privatize Social Security. We don't need to bow to Republican scare tactics. We must keep Social Security alive and intact."

In the press conference, Blackmon quoted a report from the Institute for America's Future saying that showed "in detail that a John McCain/George W. Bush-style plan to privatize Social Security would be devastating for the people of our state and across this country."

The report stated that in the year 2005, 156,000 seniors in Mississippi relied on Social Security checks for almost half of their income. And of that number, 95,000 depended on checks for 90 percent or more of their total income.

Blackmon noted that the average Social Security check in Mississippi is $1,000 a month, $133 above the federal poverty line.

In response to the report, White told FOX 40 News: "It's not an independent report and it's not independent research. Think tanks do not attack people. This report and research attacks John McCain. This is a liberal special interest group that's doing that."