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President Roosevelt’s vision has most certainly endured. Today, Social Security provides some 61 million Americans and their families with basic financial security upon retirement or disability. For older Americans, Social Security can mean the difference between financial well-being and poverty. Two out of three seniors rely on Social Security for most of their income, and one-third of seniors depend on it for at least 90% of their income. Public polling consistently shows that Social Security enjoys overwhelming support from majorities of Americans across party lines.
Over the years, Social Security has been modified (with bipartisan support) to expand benefits and keep the system financially sound. This year, Social Security has come under new threat from budget hawks in the Trump administration and on Capitol Hill. But as generations of Roosevelts have
shown us, Social Security is worth fighting for. On this, Social Security’s 82nd anniversary, we at the National Committee recommit ourselves to preserving this landmark program for current and future generations of Americans.
Read more from our blog post here marking this anniversary by clicking here.
The conservative argument that the retirement crisis is a myth has been based on the notion that Americans actually will have far more in retirement resources than they recognize — particularly that Social Security benefits will amount to a much larger percentage of workers’ lifetime income than has been assumed. Ergo, there’s no need to expand Social Security to give retirees more.
via Los Angeles Times.
Further Reading:
Social Security kept 22 million people out of poverty in 2015, the center analysis shows, including 15 million seniors. Without their Social Security benefits, 40.5 percent of elderly Americans would have had incomes below the official poverty line; with Social Security, only 8.8 percent did (see chart).
via US News.
Related Reading:
Congress needs to BOOST Social Security benefits for all working Americans.
But they also call for switching COLAs to the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly or CPI-E, designed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The CPI-E would boost Social Security payments without worsening the system’s deficit.
via The Social Security Fix That Could Help the Poorest Retirees.
Related Reading:
Why Seniors Need a CPI-E.
But if the CPI-E determined the Social Security COLA, the expected average COLA would increase about 0.2 percentage points per year.
In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the great Social Security program. It was designed to give workers an income after retirement.
Today, it’s not so great. The tiny Social Security increase that will be bestowed on retirees and the elderly in January is a cruel fraud perpetrated by the government. That’s because increases in Medicare Part B and Part D insurance premiums will negate all of the Social Security 2% cost of living increase for many recipients. Instead of staying even, we’ll fall behind.
I just got my annual benefits letter from Social Security. It says I will get $24 a month more next year. However, after the Medicare premium increases, my new Social Security check will be $3.40 a month less than the one I currently get. (The government deducts Medicare premiums from Social Security checks.)
Related Reading:
2018 Social Security COLA Won’t Meet Seniors’ Needs.
- The just-announced 2.0% cost-of-living increase (COLA) for Social Security beneficiaries is woefully inadequate. The 2018 COLA translates into a paltry $27 a month for the average recipient, barely enough for a prescription co-pay, a tank of gas, or a bag of groceries.
For 80 years, Social Security has provided a vital source of income for retirees, workers with disabilities and their families. Without it, more than half of all older Americans would fall into poverty.
Please sign our card now to celebrate Social Security’s Anniversary and to show that you want to preserve it for current and future generations.
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.
Opponents of Social Security may once again try to use this report as an excuse to cut benefits, including raising the retirement age…We must, instead, look to modest and manageable solutions that will keep Social Security solvent well into the future without punishing seniors and disabled Americans.
Max Ritchman, President and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare: “America’s seniors understand all too well that our nation faces a retirement crisis and improving Social Security benefits is vital to keeping millions from poverty. Rep. Linda Sanchez’s ‘Strengthening Social Security Act’ makes several important improvements for seniors by: phasing out the payroll tax cap so that the wealthy pay their fair share, creating a Cost of Living adjustment for the elderly and boosting benefits for all retirees including widows/widowers. NCPSSM strongly supports this legislation and applauds Congresswoman Sanchez for doing the right thing for America’s seniors and their families.”
Related Reading:
May is Older Americans Month, but the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans are putting a serious damper on the celebration. Yes, candidate Trump promised not to touch Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
But his administration has been actively undermining those pledges. Budget Director Mick Mulvaney — who once called Social Security a Ponzi scheme — questioned the legitimacy of Social Security Disability Insurance — and wouldn’t promise a Presidential veto of legislation to privatize Medicare (a pet project of House Speaker Paul Ryan).
President Trump champions the GOP’s American Health Care Act, which guts
Medicaid, undermines the solvency of Medicare, and allows insurers to
charge older Americans up to five times as much as people in their 20s.