BS: Happy Birthday, Social Security!

Subject: BS: Happy Birthday, Social Security!
From: katlaughing
Date: 23 Aug 08 - 02:59 PM

73 years old and long may it last! I just received the following email. Very interesting, imo. Highlights are mine:

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Maine Council of Senior Citizens/ARA


This is our third election ALERT. For the last few days and the next few days much of the nation (seniors in particular) will be noting and celebrating the 73rd anniversary of the creation of Social Security.

That's the message members of the Alliance for Retired Americans are spreading this week in more than two dozen Social Security celebrations and rallies across the country. Including some events in Maine. Many seniors are using these events to protest John McCain's Social Security privatization plan and his recent description of Social Security as "a disgrace."

UNACCEPTABLE RISK
If retirees, people with disabilities and other Social Security beneficiaries had to count on Wall Street and the stock market to ensure Social Security's stability-as Sen. John McCain, President Bush and other Republican privatizers of Social Security have long sought- reliability would replaced by an unacceptable risk.

Unlike McCain, who has voted to privatize Social Security, Sen. Barack Obama has voted to strengthen Social Security and strongly opposes privatization. He also pledged not to cut benefits or raise the retirement age, two options McCain says are "on the table."

OBAMA'S PLEDGE
Obama makes this pledge:



"On this anniversary of Social Security, let's reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that Social Security remains a safety net that seniors can count on today, tomorrow, and always.

"As President, I will protect Social Security for today's seniors and future generations. That means strengthening Social Security's solvency while protecting middle class families from benefit cuts, tax increases or increases in the retirement age. It means treating Social Security not as a political football or describing it as an "absolute disgrace," but instead honoring it as the cornerstone of the social compact in this country.

"And it means opposing efforts to privatize Social Security, as I did when President Bush proposed risky private accounts a few years ago. Privatization is wrong and tears at the fabric of Social Security - the very idea of mutual responsibility - by subjecting a secure, earned retirement to the whims of the market. The Bush privatization plan that Senator McCain now embraces would tell millions of elderly Americans that they're on their own, putting them at risk of falling into poverty.



McCAIN DANGEROUS
As I said recently we should make John McCain, at all times, wear a sign that says, "Dangerous for Seniors."

Seniors should not forget that in remarks at a July 7 forum in Denver, Senator John McCain called Social Security "a disgrace." According to the Washington Post, McCain said "Americans have got to understand that we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers in America today. And that's a disgrace. It's an absolute disgrace, and it's got to be fixed."



ARA Executive Director Edward F. Coyle termed the remarks, "one of the most insensitive, anti-senior comments I have ever heard from a public official."

McCain has spent the campaign season giving mixed messages on Social Security, the nation's most successful social safety net, but the record is clear: He has supported privatizing Social Security. He's voted in the Senate for privatizing this crucial retirement program and he campaigned alongside George Bush.

OUT OF POVERTY
In marking the anniversary James Roosevelt Jr., grandson of President FDR, said:



"It's hard to remember now, but before Social Security, nearly half of America's seniors lived in poverty. After a lifetime of playing by the rules and working hard, there was no guarantee of a secure retirement. My grandfather, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and a majority of Americans thought that was wrong. They believed that lifting our seniors out of poverty is a reflection of our nation's core values. That's why my grandfather signed the Social Security Act 73 years ago today. One of the great successes of the 20th century, today Social Security lifts nearly 13 million seniors and 1.3 million children out of poverty."

The new report from the Institute for America's Future: "The Perils of Privatization; Social Security Privatization Cuts Lifetime Benefits; Makes Senior Citizens Vulnerable to Poverty" is available at



http://www.ourfuture.org/report/2008083204/perils-privatization

BUSH/McCAIN TIED
Edward Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance of Retired Americans said:



"We are reminding retirees that Senator McCain continues to support President Bush's plan to privatize Social Security. This would create Social Security accounts tied to the roller coaster of Wall Street. With all the turbulence in the stock market, and the rising prices of gas, groceries and health care, this is a gamble few retirees can afford to take.

"Privatization would hit the next wave of retirees as well - those currently in their mid-to-late 50s - particularly hard, as the massive amount of borrowing needed to create these private accounts would drain the Social Security Trust Fund and reduce benefits just as they approach retirement. The best way to celebrate Social Security's 73rd birthday is to fight to ensure that Social Security remains strong and successful for generations to come. Happy Birthday, Social Security."

A PHONEY "CRISIS"
The Nation magazine sums up the Republican/Bush/McCain attack on Social Security this way:

"For too many years, Republicans and Democrats have promoted the lie that Social Security is "in crisis."



"Getting Americans to buy into this fantasy is the first step in achieving what the financial services industry -- which donates generously to politicians in both parties -- really wants:

Privatization of Social Security so that the federal government will start promoting speculation on Wall Street rather than assuring that Americans will have the resources they were promised upon retirement.


SS IS SECURE

"The truth, as honest financial analysts have always argued, is that Social Security is secure -- and will be for decades if Congress agrees to minor reforms, such as requiring wealthy Americans to pay their fair share.

Protecting Social Security is THE key election issue for seniors - we must be fully aware of the Republican/Bush/McCain attack and act to end it.

In senior solidarity,



John Carr

President

Maine Council of Senior Citizens/ARA

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I called my daughter the other day to tell her I had read a report on marketing to young folks which said there will be more "Millennials," those born between 1980-2000, by 2010 than Baby Boomers and GenXers combined. She said, "Good, they can help pay for Social Security then." I hadn't thought of that.

Subject: RE: BS: Happy Birthday, Social Security!
From: Art Thieme
Date: 23 Aug 08 - 08:34 PM

And long may it wave!

Nancy Stringfellow, Rosalie Sorrels' mother in the small but wonderful volume called Notes From Grimes Creek (or something close) told how getting that little check in the mail every month truly empowered her and so many others.

I'll say it again, LONG MAY THEY WAVE!

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: BS: Happy Birthday, Social Security!
From: Barry Finn
Date: 23 Aug 08 - 10:28 PM

The last time a republican thought to make better a system, they made it unrecognizable, user-unfriendly & delouted it beyond comparsion. They need to stop thinking about how to enrich private industry & "keep their fucking hands off of our social backsides"!

I'm being killed by the new health care system that they revolotionized for the worst & I depend on my SS, I don't need 2 systems fighing each other to put me in the grave, one is bad enough!

Barry