Senior voters must also remain vigilant and demand more from candidates than empty promises and political double-speak, otherwise they may cast yet another vote against their own economic self-interests and end up with the biggest case of buyers’ remorse in American political history.
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While this has a clear meaning to policy wonks, it is likely that most viewers won’t immediately know that “entitlements” means the Social Security and Medicare their parents receive. It’s a lot easier for politicians to talk about cutting wasteful “entitlements” than taking away seniors’ Social Security and Medicare.
Dean Baker via Truth Out.
Related Reading:
Will America’s Seniors Vote Against Their Own Self-Interests…Again?
When a candidate promises to “save these programs for future generations” by raising the retirement age, raising the Medicare eligibility age, privatizing Social Security, changing the COLA formula and means-testing Social Security while exempting near retirees what they’re actually saying is: “We know seniors vote so we’ll protect them now and slash future benefits for their children and grandchildren instead.
Scores of Democrats are calling on President Obama to champion an expansion of Social Security benefits for millions of seniors nationwide.
In a letter to be delivered to the White House Monday, the lawmakers say evolving trends surrounding employer retirement packages have put a financial squeeze on the nation’s retirees. They want the president to fill the gap by expanding Social Security.
via The Hill.
We agree. Congress needs to BOOST Social Security benefits for all working Americans. With individuals saving less and less for retirement, it’s important we expand benefits.
Related Reading:
America’s Jump From Economic Crisis to Retirement Crisis.
How Can I Get My Voice Heard? Sign Our Petition:
Petition to the Leadership of the Congress of the United States: Boost Social Security Benefits NOW.
Social Security is the most important retirement benefit for most American workers - it provides at least half of the income for 48 percent of retired couples, and for 71 percent of single seniors, according to the Social Security Administration. Also, Social Security benefits kept 22.1 million seniors, working-age adults and children out of poverty in 2015 according to an analysis of Census data released this week by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
via REUTERS.
Related Reading:
And Congress should BOOST Social Security benefits for all working Americans.
A Big Week for Social Security News
This week was a big week for Social Security news. So, I thought I’d make a list of the articles that we have been reading or posting.
- Social Security Is Having a Moment. - SLATE
- Until recently, Democrats were willing to bargain on entitlements. Here’s how Social Security expansion became a liberal cause again.
- The quiet Social Security revolution: How Democrats learned to stop loving benefit cuts. - SALON
- For the first time in decades, dangerous myths about “insolvency” are fading away.
- In Vogue: Boosting Social Security. - Huffington Post
- For too long, Washington’s fiscal hawks and conservative ideologues have monopolized the conversation about our nation’s safety net programs.
- Social Security Continues Discriminating Against Same Sex Married Couples By Making Them Pay Thousands of Dollars for Agency Mistake. - Huffington Post
- To stop this discrimination against aged SSI recipients and those with disabilities simply because of who they are married to – we filed a class action against the SSA.
- Analysis: Christie to take on Social Security costs; risky move could help him stand out. - North Jersey
- “It does not have to come down to seniors versus the kids,” said Max Richtman, president of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. “You don’t have to cut Social Security in order to invest in education, you have to have a different set of priorities.”
- Rand Paul wants the government to do much, much less for the poor. - VOX
- He gets rid of the Department of Energy, the Department of Education, and the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs. He substantially privatizes both Social Security and Medicare.
- Congress Targets Social Security with Fast-Track Commission Plan. - Entitled to Know
- Under “fast track” procedural rules in your bill, the legislation embodying the Commission’s recommendations would be considered by Congress on an expedited, “take-it-or-leave-it” basis.
- Social Security Reform a Potential Minefield for 2016 GOP Contenders. - National Journal
- The disability fund is set to start running out of money right around the presidential election. So what will Republican candidates do about it?
- GOP budget targets Social Security, helps corporations. - Canton Daily Ledger
- Most people know someone who’s benefited from Social Security and related programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. That’s one reason Social Security is so popular. Another is that the programs work.
- Warren pressures Clinton to expand Social Security. - Washington Examiner
- Elizabeth Warren is pushing Democrats to expand Social Security rather than cut it, a move that could pressure presumed party frontrunner Hillary Clinton to move left.
- Social Security: The Empire Strikes Back. - Huffington Post
- The latest wave of attacks was triggered by an amendment from Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Joe Manchin which would have expanded Social Security benefits, and which won the support of most Democrats in the Senate.
- How Megan McArdle gets Social Security profoundly wrong. - Los Angeles Times
- With even mainstream Democrats coming to embrace the idea of expanding Social Security to help address our looming retirement crisis, it couldn’t be long before the pushback emerged from conservatives and Republicans.
- Paul Krugman battles right-wing propaganda and finds a rare unicorn. - SALON.
- And in the real world of retirement, Social Security is a shining example of a system that works. It’s simple and clean, with low operating costs and minimal bureaucracy.
- Support for Expanding Social Security Grows & Right-Wingers Panic. - Entitled to Know
- This week has seen a wave of attacks by conservative columnists and think-tankers outraged that the call to Boost Social Security
benefits is gaining traction on Capitol Hill (it’s already widely
supported by Americans of all political persuasions nationwide).
The National Committee’s President and CEO, Max Richtman, recently was a
guest on Politics Tonight, a program broadcast on WGN-TV
and CLTV, Chicagoland’s 24 hour news channel. Max discussed the
importance of boosting Social Security benefits for women and all
retirees. Max also discussed his work to insert language into the
Democratic platform seeking improvements in Social Security and Medicare
benefits for seniors.
Asked Monday if the Trump administration would address “entitlement reform,” White House chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow said it will “probably” look at “larger entitlements” next year. Entitlement reform generally refers to changes or cuts to large government social programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid or food stamps.
via CNBC.
Related Reading:
Trump Advisor Re-Affirms Commitment to Cutting Social Security & Medicare.
- This aligns with comments from National Republican Congressional Committee chair, Rep. Steve Stivers, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and several other key GOP members about the need to pay for last year’s tax cuts by ‘reforming’ Social Security and Medicare. ‘Reforming,’ of course, means cutting and privatizing.
For years, Social Security has been the Third Rail of politics – the thing you couldn’t touch without getting zapped. After all, what politician in his/her right mind would want to mess with the backbone of the nation’s retirement system, not to mention upset the almost 40 million people collecting retirement benefits?In the past, almost nobody, but these days, it seems everybody is messing.
via Huffington Post.
Find out where each Presidential Candidate stands on Social Security by clicking the links below:
Social Security is indispensable for many of our nation’s retirees, who depend on the program for retirement security. But for the 65 million people on Social Security, there will be no annual raise in their benefits in 2016.
via NJ.com.
Related Reading:
No COLA Increase for Millions of Seniors.
No Social Security COLA Increase + Massive Medicare Hike for Millions.




