Coalition of 60 Groups Organized to Fight Social Security Cuts

[Better Believe It]

NEWS RELEASE



The Strengthen Social Security Campaign

Social Security is once again under attack. Time after time Social Security has come under attack. Do you remember the Bush "privatization" campaign a few years ago? Each time the attack uses a different myth, repeated over and over. Then, in between attacks, the myths continue circulating. This time they're trying to make people think that Social Security contributes to the budget deficit. It doesn't. They say this because so many people are worried about budget deficits. If polling showed that people were worried that their arms are going to turn into green cheese, they would be repeating and repeating that Social Security is the reason your arms are turning into green cheese. Sheesh! In response to the latest attack a coalition of groups has formed to fight back and protect Social Security, demanding that Congress not make any benefit cuts. The coalition represents 30 million members, who are asked to remind elected officials that Social Security remains the "third rail" of American politics and that any sort of benefit cuts are opposed by wide majorities, from liberals to Tea Partiers. The coalition is saying Strengthen Social Security, Don't Cut It. Their website is strengthensocialsecurity.org and its blog is at strengthensocialsecurity.org/blog. Most important, its petition is available to sign here.

The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility is trying to cut Social Security benefits. We can't let that happen. Can you sign our urgent petition to the Commission? Social Security belongs to the people who have worked hard all their lives and contributed to it. Social Security is a promise that must not be broken. If you pay in, then you earn the right to benefits for yourself, your spouse and your dependent children when you retire, experience a severe disability, or die. We need to strengthen Social Security, not cut it. That is why I oppose any cuts to Social Security benefits, including increasing the retirement age. I also oppose any effort to privatize Social Security, in whole or in part.

http://strengthensocialsecurity.org/blog/2010/the-strengthen-social-security-campaign




Strengthen Social Security Campaign
For Immediate Release:
Thursday, July 29, 2010

Contact:
Alex Lawson 202 997-7002

*** See “What’s At Stake” Video: http://strengthensocialsecurity.org/ ***

Coalition of 60 Groups Representing Over 30 Million Americans Launch Campaign To Fight Social Security Cuts By Fiscal Commission. Richard Trumka (AFL-CIO), Gerald McEntee (AFSCME), Justin Ruben (MoveOn.org), Dennis Van Roekel (NEA), Eliseo Medina (SEIU), Terry O'Neill (NOW), Donna Meltzer (Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities), Hilary Shelton (NAACP), Ed Coyle (Alliance for Retired Americans) Help Launch New Campaign To Protect Social Security

With press accounts indicating that the Administration’s fiscal commission is considering recommending that Congress cut Social Security benefits, a diverse group of organizations launched a major new campaign today to push back and demand that Congress not make any benefit cuts. New polling shows massive public support for members of Congress who support strengthening, not cutting, Social Security.

More than 60 national and state organizations, representing more than 30 million Americans, have joined the campaign, which will remind elected officials that Social Security remains the “third rail” of American politics and that any sort of benefit cuts are opposed by wide majorities, from liberals to Tea Partiers. At today’s press conference, participants outlined their plans to hold members of Congress who try to cut Social Security benefits accountable.

For more on the campaign: http://strengthensocialsecurity.org/
For more on the polling: http://strengthensocialsecurity.org/sites/default/files/LakeMemoPublicFI...

The first action of the campaign will be to hold hundreds of community events in August to mark the 75th anniversary of Social Security.

“At a time when retirement is less secure for working Americans than it has been in many generations, only Social Security remains a defined and stable retirement benefit,” said Richard L. Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO. “Raising the eligibility age for a full Social Security benefit would be disastrous for millions of Americans. It is a benefit cut, plain and simple. It is a cut that is unnecessary and one that Americans can ill-afford. I know that America can do better than this. And that’s why the AFL-CIO, as part of a broad campaign, is mobilizing to protect Social Security.”

“Social Security is more than just a retirement program. It also provides benefits for disabled workers and surviving family members, which are imperative to the survival of a disproportionately high number of African Americans,” said Hilary Shelton Director of the Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Policy of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. “Nearly half of all African Americans who receive Social Security benefits receive disability or survivors benefits, compared to 28 percent of white Social Security beneficiaries. Thus any proposed decrease in disability or survivors benefits would disproportionately hurt African Americans.”

“We have a message for the Commission: Don’t turn Social Security into the scapegoat for the deficit. Social Security is not the problem,” said Gerald W. McEntee, President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “Don’t raise the retirement age. Don’t tamper with the COLA. If you break the promise that was made to America’s working families, we’ll hold you accountable.”

“I am here today to add the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities’ voice to the effort to oppose any cuts to Social Security benefits, including raising the retirement age,” said Donna Meltzer, Senior Director of Government Relations for the Epilepsy Foundation and Chairperson of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities. “It is critical to know that people with disabilities and their families are found across Social Security’s retirement, survivors and disability insurance programs. More than one-third of all monthly Social Security checks go to more than 20 million people who are not retirees.”

Our 5 million members - in every state and every Congressional district - agree with the overwhelming number of Americans who strongly oppose any cuts in Social Security benefits benefits, including rising the retirement age," said Justin Ruben, Executive Director for MoveOn.org. "The American public is not going to be fooled on this issue. They know cutting Social Security benefits is not the solution to reducing the deficit and they know raising the retirement age is in fact a benefit cut. Our members will be watching elected officials - and those running for office - very closely this summer and fall and will stand with those who stand up and protect, not cut, Social Security."

“Social Security is especially vital to women, who would be disproportionately harmed by cuts in benefits,” said Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for Women. “Rather than putting millions of women's financial security at risk, the Fiscal Commission should address the real causes of the deficit -- unfunded wars, irresponsible tax breaks for the wealthiest, and an economic crisis caused by financial regulatory failures. Women are watching the commissioners, but will we be invisible to them?”

“The Strengthen Social Security campaign unites everyone here to improve – not weaken - Social Security,” said Ed Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans. “We are united against any cuts in benefits, such as increases in the retirement age, and to any form of privatization of Social Security.”

“The one retirement source we can count on in this country is Social Security," said Eliseo Medina, International Executive Vice President of the Service Employees International Union. "When savings evaporated and home values plummeted after Wall Street crashed the economy, Social Security kept sending out checks, the same way it has for more than 75 years. Our conversation as a nation should be focused on adequacy issues, how we strengthen and improve upon Social Security, not how we tear it down.”

“We look forward to working with this broad coalition to help the American people celebrate the great success of Social Security, and to ensure that 75 years from now, Social Security will be as strong as it is today,” said Dennis Van Roekel, President of the National Education Association.

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http://strengthensocialsecurity.org/media/press-release/coalition-of-60-groups-representing-over-30-million-americans-launch-campaign-to



National Affiliated Organizations

American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
NAACP
AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO Building & Construction Trades Dept.
AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees
AFSCME Retirees
All Unions Committee for Single Payer Health Care--HR 676
Alliance for Retired Americans
American Association of People with Disabilities
American Association of University Women
American Federation of Teachers
American Network of Community Options and Resources
American Postal Workers Union
Americans for Democratic Action, Inc
Asociacion Nacional Pro Personas Mayores: National Association for Hispanic Elderly
Campaign for America's Future
Center for Community Change
Coalition of Labor Union Women
Coalition on Human Needs
Common Cause
Communication Workers of America- Retired Members Council
Democracy For America
Dēmos
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
Economic Policy Institute
Feminist Majority
Food Research Action Center
Frances Perkins Center
Generations United
Institute for Puerto Rican / Hispanic Elderly
International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers (IFPTE)
International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America
League of Rural Voters
MoveOn.org Political Action
National Association for Hispanic Elderly
National Association of Social Workers
National Collaboration for Youth
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of Negro Women
National Council of Women's Organizations
National Education Association
National Employment Law Project
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Gray Panthers
National Hispanic Council on Aging
National Human Services Assembly
National Nurses United
National Organization for Women
National Senior Citizens Law Center
National Women's Law Center
OWL - The Voice of Midlife and Older Women
Pension Rights Center
Progressive Democrats of America
ProgressNow
SEIU
Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE)
Social Security Works
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center
The Arc
The Claude Pepper Center
The Claude Pepper Center
United Cerebral Palsy
United States Student Association
United Steelworkers (USW)
USAction
Voices for America’s Children
Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW)
Women Employed