Social Security
First signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935, Social Security was designed to ensure that America’s senior citizens could live honorably without fear of falling into poverty. During their peak years, workers pay into a fund and then receive fixed payments when they retire from the workforce.
Why We Need It
Since it offered security to people in their older years, the program was devised to provide exceptional security to society itself. Understanding that there is a fundamental floor of needs met for our people in later and less advantaged stages of life represents a benefit for all of us.
For generations, Social Security has functioned well to decrease poverty among our seniors and disabled Americans. Today, the program is under attack by big Wall Street banks and financial service organizations who seemingly have it in their sights simply to exploit a new and potentially massive source of income and bonuses.
What We Are Fighting For
Based on these attacks to the program, critics of Social Security claim that it will run out of money soon. While it must be said that there may be issues with funding in the future, the potential problems can be resolved with moderate changes. Simply increasing the cap on income which is subject to Social Security payroll tax, for instance, can help the system remain solvent permanently, without reducing benefits.
We should not put Social Security at risk under any circumstances. We must protect this fruitful and caring program which retiring Americans have counted on for almost eighty five years now.
To preserve Social Security and its massive societal benefits, we must:
- Combat any and all efforts to privatize Social Security
- Support making needed changes to Social Security (like raising the cap on income subject to Social Security Payroll Taxes) that will simultaneously safeguard the rights of recipients while guaranteeing that the program doesn’t run out of money
- Help start a much-needed national conversation about the best ways to go beyond Social Security and discover new paths to offer more holistic care for our expanding senior population
What It Will Do
Preserving Social Security as a quintessential American program will provide enormous societal benefit as our population ages and grapples with economic instability caused by factors outside their control. Keeping it solvent will be vitally important to ensure that a basic floor of needs is met for a vulnerable population of our fellow citizens. We can ward off attacks to privatize Social Security while also pushing for needed reforms and discovering novel ways to take a more holistic approach to caring for our seniors. Together, we will make sure that America’s senior citizens are protected for generations to come.