| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"HHIssues" |
| Date: |
23 Jan 2005 07:41:20 AM |
| Object: |
Tell Congress to protect Social Security |
Dear friend:
George Bush and Republican leaders have made phasing out Social Security
through privatization and massive benefit cuts their top priority for 2005.
Members of Congress are choosing sides over the next couple of weeks.
We need to make sure they choose correctly now—before a massive
election-style campaign by George Bush and the Wall Street interests gets to
them including what might be a $100 million TV ad campaign.
MoveOn’s trying to gather 200,000 signatures to present to lawmakers when
they return after the inauguration. You can sign the petition now at:
http://www.moveon.org/socialsecurity/
Social Security is a complicated issue, but the basics are really pretty
simple:
° Social Security provides monthly benefits to some 44 million Americans who
are retired, disabled or the survivor of a deceased parent. It provides most of
the income for older Americans--some 64 percent of their support. It has lifted
generations of seniors out of poverty.
° Social Security is not in crisis. That is an outright lie perpetrated in
order to create the urgency for radical changes. Under conservative forecasts,
the long-term challenges in Social Security do not manifest themselves until
2042. Even then Social Security has 70 percent of needed funds. That shortfall
is smaller than the amount needed in 1983, the last time we overhauled Social
Security. George Bush's Social Security crisis-talk is an effort to create a
specter of doom -- just like the weapons of mass destruction claim in Iraq.
° Phasing out Social Security and replacing it with privatized accounts means
one thing: massive cuts in monthly benefits for everybody. Social Security
privatization requires diverting taxes used to pay current benefits into
privatized accounts invested in risky stocks. Without that money Social
Security benefits will inevitably be cut -- some proposals even cut benefits of
current retirees. These benefit cuts are inevitable, since diverting Social
Security money into privatized accounts means less money to pay current and
future benefits.
° Every serious privatization proposal raises the Social Security retirement
age to 70. That might be fine if you're a Washington special interest lobbyist
but it is incredibly unfair to blue-collar Americans with tough, physical jobs,
or for African Americans and Latinos with lower life expectancies.
° Privatization means gambling with your retirement security. There is
probably an appropriate place for a little stock market risk in retirement
planning -- but it isn't Social Security. Privatization exposes your entire
retirement portfolio to stock market risks -- and the risk that you'll outlive
any of your savings at retirement. You can't outlive your Social Security
benefit.
° So who does benefit? Wall Street. Giant financial services firms have been
salivating for decades over the prospect of taking over Social Security. Wall
Street would make billions of dollars in profit by managing the privatized
accounts -- money that would come directly from your benefits.
° Action is urgently needed today. President Bush and Republican leaders in
Congress are joining forces with the financial services industry for a major
campaign to convince the public there is a major crisis and pressure members of
Congress to vote for privatization. Action is needed now before it is too late.
Please sign MoveOn’s petition to protect Social Security at the link below.
http://www.moveon.org/socialsecurity/
Thanks for doing this.
.
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