What's next for defense of Social Security--timeline from national coalition

[eridani]

Melissa Byrne, Deputy Field Dir. for Social Security Works in D.C., joined us on the phone at our Thurs. Coalition meeting. The fight is on (now that the election is over) and we are on a very tight timeline. The following sequence of activity in D.C. in Nov. is very important. On 11/9. a Commission established by Pete Peterson and the Pugh Foundation will issue a report that will not doubt call for cuts to SS. Around 11/15, national progressive organizations will release a report on ways to protect & improve Social Security. On 11/17, a Commission established by Alice Rivlin (a member of the Commission and a high official from the Clinton administration) will issue their report, no doubt calling for cuts. Then the Commission will make their recommendations on Dec. 1. There will be efforts to get Congress to act during the lame duck session.

The large national coalition that has come together to fight the attack on Social Security have designated Nov. 18th and Nov. 30th as national call-in days. We need to generate as many calls from WA to our Congressional delegation as we possibly can.

At the Coalition meeting last Thur. we had a large list of state & local organizations which we divided up and people will be contacting those organizations with the following message: 1. Please pass the attached “Resolution for organizations” ASAP (most preferably in the month of Nov.) and once passed communicate that action to the WA Representatives & Senators. 2. Distribute the “SS Works flyer”, which is attached, to individual members urging them and perhaps facilitating for them contact with their Rep. & the 2 Senators. (PM me with your email for a pdf copy of the flyer) It would be great if organizations could try to urge the member phone calls on Nov. 18th & Nov. 30th but getting as many individuals as possible to make the phone calls is what is critical. We have many copies of the flyer which we can provide you if you do not want to print and copy.

We are developing some You Tube videos which will be available on the Social Security Works WA (WWW.ssworkswa.org) website for you to link to. We are also developing model letters for Letters to the Editor which I will send you and also will be on the website.


Resolution Requesting that Our Congressional Representatives & Senators Vote Against the Entire Deficit Commission Recommendation Package if it Includes Any Cuts to Social Security or Medicare

WHEREAS, Social Security and Medicare are currently being threatened with significant cuts by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which is stacked with appointees who have indicated that they support significant cuts to these programs; and

WHEREAS this commission is expected to put out a set of recommendations in early December, 2010 which will be subject to an up or down vote by a lame duck Congress; and

WHEREAS the following proposals affecting Social Security and Medicare which are reportedly under discussion are unacceptable:
1. Any attempt to privatize Social Security, in whole or in part
2. Any recommendation to raise eligibility ages for Social Security or Medicare
3. Any recommendation involving means-testing Social Security or Medicare
4. Any recommendation of benefit cuts for current and future Social Security or Medicare beneficiaries; and

WHEREAS, the loss of family wage jobs, the increase in long-term unemployment and the loss of significant retirement savings has had a severe impact on Washingtonians across all age brackets making Social Security and Medicare more critical than ever; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED that request our Congressional Representatives and Senators to take any and all steps available to prevent a floor vote on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform recommendations if any unacceptable proposal is included in the package; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that request our Congressional Representatives and Senators to vote against any package of recommendations from the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform if any unacceptable proposal (as defined in this Resolution) is included in the package.

[DJ13]

1. K&R for exposure

[grahamhgreen]

2. Thank you!

[sabrina 1]

3. Thank you for this. I m cerain that they will put their proposals

for SS in the overall 'package' of recommendations from the Deficit Commission. The plan is to say to the public, that they can't vote against the whole package, so they are forced to vote for raise in the retirement age.

Iow, they are going to sneak it in and then try to excuse themselves as being helpless to stop it. And now of course, they can 'blame it on the Republicans'.

This, if they do it, infuriates me. Because they deliberately put it off until after the election, in an effort to deceive the American people.

Starting on Monday, people should be flooding their inboxes with demands that they do no such thing, and letting them know that WE know, that SS had nothing to do with the deficit, and that that fund belongs to the people.

Rather than cutting benefits, they need to raise them. The money is there, and if they stole it for their wars, then they better start finding ways to pay it back.

They should expect war if they try to sneak this raise in the retirement in. The French have stopped the country from functioning over the same issue. This is global overlords sticking their noses in the business of sovereign nations and the public funds that belong to the people.

Are we going to let them get away with it or do what the French are doing? Yes, their corrupt government passed it anyway, but their president won't last very long, and like Iceland, any new government they elect will be working for the people this time.

This could have and should have been brought before Congress before the election and if Democrats had done that they could have beaten Republicans by letting the public watch them fight to cut SS benefits. So, why didn't they? It was a winning issue for them. I think because a deal has already been made and Democrats could not fight to keep their hands off SS.

[SugarShack]

4. Don't forget the 5 Myths About Soc. Sec....

Myth #1: Social Security is going broke.

Reality: There is no Social Security crisis. By 2023, Social Security will have a $4.6 trillion surplus (yes, trillion with a 'T'). It can pay out all scheduled benefits for the next quarter-century with no changes whatsoever.1 After 2037, it'll still be able to pay out 75% of scheduled benefits—and again, that's without any changes. The program started preparing for the Baby Boomers' retirement decades ago.2 Anyone who insists Social Security is broke probably wants to break it themselves.

Myth #2: We have to raise the retirement age because people are living longer.

Reality: This is a red-herring to trick you into agreeing to benefit cuts. Retirees are living about the same amount of time as they were in the 1930s. The reason average life expectancy is higher is mostly because many fewer people die as children than they did 70 years ago.3 What's more, what gains there have been are distributed very unevenly—since 1972, life expectancy increased by 6.5 years for workers in the top half of the income brackets, but by less than 2 years for those in the bottom half.4 But those intent on cutting Social Security love this argument because raising the retirement age is the same as an across-the-board benefit cut.

Myth #3: Benefit cuts are the only way to fix Social Security.

Reality: Social Security doesn't need to be fixed. But if we want to strengthen it, here's a better way: Make the rich pay their fair share. If the very rich paid taxes on all of their income, Social Security would be sustainable for decades to come.5 Right now, high earners only pay Social Security taxes on the first $106,000 of their income.6 But conservatives insist benefit cuts are the only way because they want to protect the super-rich from paying their fair share.

Myth #4: The Social Security Trust Fund has been raided and is full of IOUs

Reality: Not even close to true. The Social Security Trust Fund isn't full of IOUs, it's full of U.S. Treasury Bonds. And those bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.7 The reason Social Security holds only treasury bonds is the same reason many Americans do: The federal government has never missed a single interest payment on its debts. President Bush wanted to put Social Security funds in the stock market—which would have been disastrous—but luckily, he failed. So the trillions of dollars in the Social Security Trust Fund, which are separate from the regular budget, are as safe as can be.

Myth #5: Social Security adds to the deficit

Reality: It's not just wrong—it's impossible! By law, Social Security's funds are separate from the budget, and it must pay its own way. That means that Social Security can't add one penny to the deficit.8

Defeating these myths is the first step to stopping Social Security cuts. Can you share this list now?

[eridani]

9. Thanks for this reminder. n/t

[Prophet 451]

5. The commission was always intended to cut SS and Medicare

That was the primary reason for creating it: To dress the cuts up in language of "what choice do we have?". There was never any other reason to have it.

K&R

[snot]

6. K&R'd!!!

I did everything "right" -- worked hard, stayed out of debt, saved (all while tithing to charity) -- only to see 1/4 of my savings gutted by the meltdown.

I've paid into SS for 50 years. I'm a tail-end boomer, and I've never even driven a BMW, let alone owned one.

And many of my peers need SS even worse than I do.

I am NOT going to lay down on this one.

[dkf]

7. The only way to protect social security is to eliminate the deficit and substantially reduce debt.

Unless we are in damn good fiscal condition when the outflows start, no pledge, especially now, is going to prevent reductions.

If you truly want to protect social security raise taxes at all levels ASAP including on the middle class.

[eridani]

8. Nonsense. The trust fund is a separate entity

With the tax increase in 1983, boomers paid for the previous generation AND prepaid our own retirements. If the government has to raise taxes when they redeem the T-bills, so be it. Or, we could cut other things like the 800 military bases we have all over the world.

[Jim Sagle]

11. DLC hogwash!

[Hannah Bell]

10. thank you for staying on top of this & k&R

[Hannah Bell]

12. for the am