Social Security
Dave Zweifel in the Capital Times:
When Social Security was enacted as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal reforms in 1935, about half of U.S. senior citizens lived in poverty. Many had to live out their lives in shameful places that people at the time called the “poor farm.” It was forever a family’s shame when during the Depression, grandma and grandpa had to go off to live in one of the county’s makeshift homes for the elderly because they couldn’t afford their own places and their children couldn’t afford to help them.
Today, fewer than 10 percent of America’s elderly live in poverty. More than 53 million Americans receive Social Security benefits to at least cover the basics of life. And as Bernie Sanders said, in the more than 75 years since, the program has never failed to pay out every nickel it owed.
Now Ryan and his compatriots want to mess with that success story. They want to begin the privatization of Social Security by turning over part of the funds that America’s working people pay into the program to Wall Street investors — yes, the same investors who have such a great track record, like blowing up the economy and requiring federal bailouts to save them.
Dave Zweifel in the Capital Times:
When Social Security was enacted as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal reforms in 1935, about half of U.S. senior citizens lived in poverty. Many had to live out their lives in shameful places that people at the time called the “poor farm.” It was forever a family’s shame when during the Depression, grandma and grandpa had to go off to live in one of the county’s makeshift homes for the elderly because they couldn’t afford their own places and their children couldn’t afford to help them.
Today, fewer than 10 percent of America’s elderly live in poverty. More than 53 million Americans receive Social Security benefits to at least cover the basics of life. And as Bernie Sanders said, in the more than 75 years since, the program has never failed to pay out every nickel it owed.
Now Ryan and his compatriots want to mess with that success story. They want to begin the privatization of Social Security by turning over part of the funds that America’s working people pay into the program to Wall Street investors — yes, the same investors who have such a great track record, like blowing up the economy and requiring federal bailouts to save them.
Original Author:
Democracy for New Mexico
From the AFGE:
Join your American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) to rally for our public programs in Albuquerque on Saturday, October 1, at 12 Noon at Tiguex Park. Members of the AFGE union work for the Social Security Administration. The event takes place during their Hispanic Coalition's national meeting.
The rally will focus on the importance of protecting, preserving and strengthening Social Security benefits, the jobs, benefits and pensions of state, county and federal employees, government services and benefits and your family's future.
America’s Working Families are Under Attack
Let’s fight back! Click for Flyer
Free Food and Drinks, Entertainment and More!
Bring your signs, banners and T-shirts
An excellent idea from Matt Pommer, a longtime Capital Times staffer who now freelances a column that runs in the Daily Reporter, among other places:
Why not ask the voters what they think about Medicare and Social Security?
Says Pommer:
Let’s have some advisory votes on the future of Social Security and Medicare.
Wisconsin and other populist states have a history of deciding spending issues by the way of referenda in which all citizens can vote. We decide school spending plans and overrides of spending limits by counting ballots. It seems at the heart of a democracy...
The folks in Washington seem hopelessly deadlocked. Perhaps referenda in Wisconsin — state or local votes — could provide impetus to find a solution. A good time for such advisory votes would be next year’s presidential primary. At a minimum, candidates would have to discuss the questions.
Why not put that issue front and center? And what a great opportunity for progressives to organize and educate the public.
A modest proposal: Ask the people to vote on Medicare, Social Security
An excellent idea from Matt Pommer, a longtime Capital Times staffer who now freelances a column that runs in the Daily Reporter, among other places:
Why not ask the voters what they think about Medicare and Social Security?
Says Pommer:
Let’s have some advisory votes on the future of Social Security and Medicare.
Wisconsin and other populist states have a history of deciding spending issues by the way of referenda in which all citizens can vote. We decide school spending plans and overrides of spending limits by counting ballots. It seems at the heart of a democracy...
The folks in Washington seem hopelessly deadlocked. Perhaps referenda in Wisconsin — state or local votes — could provide impetus to find a solution. A good time for such advisory votes would be next year’s presidential primary. At a minimum, candidates would have to discuss the questions.
Why not put that issue front and center? And what a great opportunity for progressives to organize and educate the public.
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