Friday, January 14, 2011

Sen. Reid's Stand for Social Security

Dear MoveOn member,

Fiscal conservatives in Washington want to make 2011 the year they finally cut Social Security—and politicians from both sides of the aisle are lining up to help them.

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is throwing cold water on their plans and pushing back hard against any kind of cuts to Social Security. Last week on NBC's "Meet the Press," Reid made one of the best defenses of Social Security by a leading Democrat in a long time. Here's an excerpt of what he said:

"Social Security is a program that works, and it's going to be—it's fully funded for the next 40 years.  Stop picking on Social Security.... I'm not going to go to any of those back-door methods to whack Social Security recipients."1

With Speaker of the House John Boehner advocating to raise the retirement age2 and cut benefits by more than 20%3, we need more leaders like Harry Reid pushing back on behalf of working Americans.  

The Senate will be critical to the future of Social Security—can you call Senator Charles Schumer and ask him to support Majority Leader Reid's stance against benefit cuts? 

Senator Charles Schumer
Phone: 202-224-6542

Then, please report your call by clicking here:

http://pol.moveon.org/call?tg=FSNY_1&cp_id=1516&id=25817-10220574-2cyV78x&t=1

When you call, remember to say that you live in New York, and speak from the heart about why Social Security matters to you and your family. Say that you would like your senator to join Harry Reid in opposing any kind of Social Security benefit cut.

This session of Congress will decide the future of Social Security. The new Republican leadership has made benefit cuts a top priority, under the auspices of deficit reduction, and late last year the co-chairs of the President's Deficit Commission issued a report recommending deep benefit cuts that won support from conservative members of both parties.4

That's what makes Sen. Reid's comments so important. With the Republicans in control of the House, the future of Social Security will be decided in the Senate—and Sen. Reid needs all the support he can get to stop benefit cuts.

Can you call Senator Charles Schumer to ask him to support Sen. Reid? Here is his number again:

Senator Charles Schumer
Phone: 202-224-6542

Then, report your call by clicking here:

http://pol.moveon.org/call?tg=FSNY_1&cp_id=1516&id=25817-10220574-2cyV78x&t=2

Thanks for all you do.

–Daniel, Duncan, Nita, Laura, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Harry Reid Valiant on Social Security: It's Not in Crisis," AlterNet, January 10, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205788&id=25817-10220574-2cyV78x&t=3

2. "John Boehner: Raise Social Security Retirement Age to 70," CBS News, June 29, 2010
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20009192-503544.html

3. "Social Security: A Consensus Based on Confusion" Brookings Institution, July 19, 2010.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205791&id=25817-10220574-2cyV78x&t=4

4. "Debt Commission Report Targets Social Security, Medicare," Huffington Post. November 10, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205789&id=25817-10220574-2cyV78x&t=5

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2 comments:

  1. Why not site a real source for this information? Go to the US gov't financial statements for 2010. Read the auditor's report.

    Social Security is not fully funded. It is underfunded by $7.9 trillion per the audited financial statements.

    That is on top of our national debt and other entitlements (which are also underfunded). And it's gotten worse each year since 2006.

    http://www.gao.gov/financial/fy2010financialreport.html

    ReplyDelete