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Protect and Strengthen Social Security

Don't Make Us Work 'Til We Die — Protect Social Security
Support the Sanders-Reid Amendment

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Social Security belongs to the people who have worked hard all their lives and contributed to it. It's a promise that must not be broken. If you pay in, then you earn the right to benefits for yourself, your spouse and your dependent children when you retire, experience a severe disability, or die.

We need to strengthen Social Security, not cut it. That is why millions of Americans oppose any cuts to Social Security benefits, including increasing the retirement age, and oppose any effort to privatize Social Security, in whole or in part.

Let's hold Congress and the White House accountable and protect Social Security.

The Sanders-Reid Social Security Protection Amendment

The Sanders-Reid Social Security Protection Amendment states that "Social Security benefits for current and future beneficiaries should not be cut and Social Security should not be privatized as part of any legislation to reduce the federal deficit.”

The amendment draws a clear line in the sand in support of the SSS Campaign’s position – Social Security cuts should not be included in any deficit-reduction deal because Social Security has nothing to do with the deficit.

Thanks for whatever support you can provide to one or both of these important efforts.

Though a proposal In December by the President's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform calling for major cuts in Social Security and Medicare failed to get the 14 commission votes it needed to advance, too many in Congress and the Administration want it to move forward.

Please act to tell the President and Congress not to erode our retirement security – and to oppose any plan to cut Social Security or Medicare.

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Social Security background points:

  • Social Security was created as a response to the Great Depression of the 1930s. It has protected tens of millions of Americans from abject poverty and provided dignity and security for seniors, people on disability and others. It is possibly the most successful reform in American history.
  • With the current recession still far too widespread, and many private employers reducing pension benefits, Social Security remains critically important for all Americans -- cutting it now would be a disaster.
  • For a third of Social Security recipients, Social Security accounts for 90% of their retirement income. More than half of those on Social Security rely on it for more than half of their income.
  • Social Security is not going broke. It is funded through payroll deductions, not the federal budget, and has a surplus expected to rise to $4.3 trillion by the next decade.
  • The best way to strength Social Security would be to increase the income ceiling on payroll tax – and put people back to work which would significantly strengthen the Social Security trust fund.
  • Registered nurses lift on average 1.8 tons every day. Most bedside nurses experience chronic back pain, and often face larger patient loads than they can reasonably handle. Most nurses cannot work longer than they already do and would be especially harmed by increasing the retirement age.
  • Don’t make Social Security or Medicare the scapegoat for high deficits. The best way to cut deficits would be to end the extensive corporate tax loopholes and end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to penalize working Americans.

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Related Information:

Read and share this feature article from National Nurse magazine:

Brewing Storm: The slashing of Social Security and Medicare