Social Security Works

Campaigns

• Now is the time to expand Social Security.

  The American people know that our Social Security system works, and during the economic collapse of 2008 they saw that while their home equity, 401k’s and savings were devastated, Social Security was the one source of retirement security that people could rely on. With so much uncertainty about the future, we will rely more than ever on our Social Security benefits. That’s why now is the time to build upon the one retirement security system that we know we can count on. We can expand Social Security benefits. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) has a proposal that will do just that: The Strengthening Social Security Act of 2013. According to Senator Harkin's office, The Strengthening Social Security Act of 2013 (S. 567) would: • Strengthen Benefits by Reforming the Social Security Benefit Formula: To improve benefits for current and future Social Security beneficiaries, the Act changes the method by which the Social Security Administration calculates Social Security benefits. This change will boost benefits for all Social Security beneficiaries by approximately $70 per month, but is targeted to help those in the low and middle of the income distribution, for whom Social Security has become an ever greater share of their retirement income. • Ensure that Cost of Living Adjustments Adequately Reflect the Living Expenses of Retirees: The Act changes the way the Social Security Administration calculates the Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA). To ensure that benefits better reflect cost increases facing seniors, future COLAs will be based on the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E). Making this change to Social Security is expected to result in higher COLAs, ensuring that seniors are able to better keep up with the rising costs of essential items, like health care. • Improve the Long Term Financial Condition of the Trust Fund: Social Security is not in crisis, but does face a long-term deficit. To help extend the life of the trust fund the Act phases out the current taxable cap of $113,700 so that payroll taxes apply fairly to every dollar of wages. Combined, these changes will increase benefits for current and future beneficiaries while making Social Security stronger for future generations by extending the life of the Trust Fund through 2049. By making millionaires and billionaires pay the same rate as the rest of our do, we can expand Social Security for all Americans. That is what we must do. We need every single member of Congress to hear from their constituents. Tell them you are sick and tired of these conversations about how much to cut from our earned benefits, tell them now is the time to expand Social Security. Tell them to sponsor The Strengthening Social Security Act of 2013 (S. 567) or its companion in the House.

  155,394 of 200,000 Signatures

  Created by Michael Phelan, Social Security Works
• Congress: Vote For The Cancel the Sequester Act of 2013 (HR 900)

  The sequester, a series of self-imposed, unfocused cuts will impact a wide array of government agencies and services, from the Social Security Administration to national security to education. This wrongheaded and indiscriminate use of the austerity ax will harm the economy, the public, and the future capacity of the government. It will undermine the growth of the economy. We must not allow the sequester to be used to force unpopular cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits through the Congress. The only responsible thing to do is to completely cancel the sequester through legislative action. Representative John Conyers understands that and released "The Cancel the Sequester Act of 2013 (HR 900)." It is a simple one sentence bill that, if passed, would completely eliminate the sequester. We need every single office in the House to hear from their constituents, tell them you are sick and tired of these self-imposed budget crises, tell them they need to get out of the way and let America work and tell them to vote yes on HR 900 The Cancel the Sequester Act of 2013!

  265,991 of 300,000 Signatures

  Created by Michael Phelan, Social Security Works
• Stop Dismantling Social Security and Medicare

  Dear Fellow Americans, In the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, Wall Street and corporate America and virtually all Republicans are working on a deficit reduction plan to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, while lowering tax rates for the wealthy and large corporations. Sadly, some Democrats are also engaged in this effort. This plan is likely to come up during the lame duck session of Congress after the elections. The idea of balancing the budget on the backs of some of the most vulnerable people in our country – the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor - is not only morally grotesque, it is extremely bad economics. We must vigorously oppose this plan. As you know, the large deficit that we are now experiencing was primarily caused during the Bush years by two unpaid for wars, huge tax breaks for the rich and a prescription drug program written by the insurance and drug companies. Further, as a result of the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior on Wall Street which drove us into this terrible recession, revenue at 15.2 percent of GDP is the lowest in 60 years. In order to cover the cost of the unpaid-for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, they want to make significant cuts to Social Security that will affect not only seniors but disabled veterans. They want to do this despite the fact that Social Security is funded by the payroll tax, has not added a penny to the deficit and has a $2.7 trillion surplus. In order to cover the cost of tax breaks given to millionaires and billionaires, they want to increase the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67 and throw millions of families with children off of Medicaid. At a time when the United States has the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country and the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider, their deficit-reduction plan calls for lowering the top tax rates for the rich and large corporations to 28 percent or even lower. There are fair and sensible ways to reduce deficits, but having the rich and the powerful beat up on working families and the elderly is not one of them. We ask that you join us in opposing any benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. Thank you, Senator Bernie Sanders

  146,920 of 200,000 Signatures

  Created by Senator Bernie Sanders and Social Security Works
• America Wants No Cuts!

  Stand with Senator Bernie Sanders, Social Security Works and our coalition partners in demanding, “No grand bargain in exchange for cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.” Bernie is serving on the Budget Conference Committee which will be negotiating a new federal budget over the next few months -- and where a deal could be struck to slash Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. As the founder of the Defending Social Security Caucus, Bernie is fighting every day to protect our earned benefits. Stand with Senator Bernie Sanders and a diverse coalition of thousands of fellow progressives now and demand that Congress and the President oppose any grand bargain which cuts Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.

  94,713 of 100,000 Signatures

  Created by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Social Security Works
• No cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits!

  We are hearing reports that Congress is rushing towards a deal that will prevent the U.S. Government from defaulting on the debt ceiling and keep the government funded through the 2016 elections. But, if The New York Times is correct, there could be cuts to Medicare and Social Security benefits in the deal. We don't know all of the details yet, but people who rely on Social Security are already stretched thin, and just found out that they won't receive an annual increase this year. We need to make our voices heard to keep cuts out of any potential deal: No cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits!

  21,056 of 25,000 Signatures

  Created by Michael Phelan, Social Security Works
• Expand Social Security

  Right now in Washington, there is a coordinated attack on Social Security. Congressional Republicans and their Wall Street cronies are attempting to divide the American people through phony, manufactured crises. The truth of the matter is that Social Security has a $2.8 trillion surplus. If no changes are made, it can pay out every benefit owed to every eligible American for the next 18 years and around 80% of benefits owed after that. And if millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share, we can not only extend the life of the Social Security trust fund, but we can expand benefits for every American. Social Security is more than America’s retirement program—it provides an economic bedrock, protecting the disabled, survivors and veterans. Expanding Social Security is simple: it means making our Social Security system work even better by ensuring that benefits are able to meet the costs that seniors and people with disabilities face every day. It means a stronger Social Security Administration that can ensure that people can access the benefits they earn throughout their working lives. What we should not be doing is considering cuts such as the disastrous Chained CPI, or the new Republican plan to cut Social Security for 11 million Americans living with disabilities including 3 million children. Stand with Social Security Works and MoveOn.org in demanding that Congressional Republicans drop their phony crisis and stop threatening the earned benefits of millions of Americans. Demand that they listen to the American people and expand, not cut Social Security!

  28,906 of 30,000 Signatures

  Created by Michael Phelan, Social Security Works
• Expand Social Security.

  The Republican leadership has agreed to a deal to keep the government operating, raise the debt limit, and ensure that all Social Security benefits continue to be paid in full and on time beyond 2016. When hostage takers release their hostages, we are, of course, relieved that the hostages are no longer in harm’s way, but this is nothing to celebrate. That the ransom isn’t steeper is also not something to celebrate. The deal does include some good provisions: Medicare beneficiaries will not experience the drastically large premium increases that were set to take effect next year. It also closes a loophole that was introduced in the law relatively recently that allows wealthier Americans to game the system by claiming extra benefits inconsistent with the goals of the program. But there is a diversion of Social Security resources towards virtually nonexistent fraud. This focus on fraud is a distraction from Social Security’s one real shortcoming: its benefits are too low, and an overwhelming majority of Americans know it. Congress should follow the will of the people by expanding those modest but vital benefits and restore the program to long-range actuarial balance by requiring the wealthiest among us to pay their fair share. Join us in calling on Congress to follow the American people and expand Social Security benefits! The fraud prevention provisions will require workers with disabilities to wait longer to receive their earned benefits and may prevent some from receiving their earned benefits completely. That is wrong. And though there are positives in this deal, Social Security legislation, as a matter of principle, should always go through regular order, in the light of day. If that were done, Social Security would be expanded. That’s why we can’t rest on our laurels. We need to keep pressure on Washington to expand, not cut, Social Security benefits.

  12,665 of 15,000 Signatures

  Created by Michael Phelan
• President Obama: Social Security Out of Your Budget

  Our Social Security system has never contributed a penny to the deficit. Yet the President is planning to include cuts to Social Security in the budget he releases this year. The debt we have comes from a decade of tax cuts for the wealthy, unlimited spending on foreign wars and a recession caused by unregulated Wall Street speculation. It’s wrong to ask senior citizens, veterans and the disabled to pay for the greed of the top 1%. The President is proposing to use a cut called the “Chained CPI” that will cut benefits for every single Social Security beneficiary—now and in the future. The average earner would lose $4,631 in Social Security benefits by age 75, $13,910 by age 85; and $28,004 by age 95. These cuts are an even bigger threat to the disabled and veterans, who would face the COLA cut for 30, 40 years or more. For example, a severely disabled, unmarried veteran who claims Veterans Disability Compensation benefits today at age 30 would experience a cumulative cut of $60,121 by age 65 and $144,189 by age 85!* The average Social Security benefit is only $13,833. Over 12 million beneficiaries live on 125% of the poverty level ($13,485) or less. We have earned our retirement and disability benefits by contributing a portion of every paycheck to Social Security. And veterans have earned their benefits by putting their lives on the line for our country. ---- * According to “Inflation Indexation in Major Federal Benefit Programs: Impact of the Chained CPI,” Alison Shelton, AARP Public Policy Institute, March 2013. http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/research/public_policy_institute/econ_sec/2013/impact-of-chained-cpi-federal-programs-fs-AARP-ppi-econ-sec.pdf

  41,599 of 45,000 Signatures

  Created by Michael Phelan, Social Security Works
• Cancel the Sequester! Protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid

  On March 1, a series of self-imposed, unfocused cuts will impact a wide array of government agencies and services, from the Social Security Administration to national security to education. This wrongheaded and indiscriminate use of the austerity ax will harm the economy, the public, and the future capacity of the government. It will undermine the growth of the economy.

  3,296 of 4,000 Signatures

  Created by Michael Phelan, Social Security Works
• Co-sponsor the Better Off Budget

  After the budget battles that have been waged over the last few years, we need a budget that rejects austerity, invests in our retirement security and puts Americans back to work and leaves us all better off. And, this week, the Congressional Progressive Caucus delivered just that with their Better Off Budget. Separate from the federal budget process, the proposal also endorses expanding Social Security, to create a real prosperity agenda for America and a total rejection of the failed policies of austerity. The Better Off Budget reverses the damage done by the across-the-board budget cuts known as the “sequester.” They create 8.8 million new jobs by investing in job training programs, rebuilding our country’s crumbling infrastructure and providing states with the resources to hire public employees such as police, firefighters and health care workers. And, the kicker is that this budget still reduces the deficit by more than $4 trillion over ten years. The Congressional Progressive Caucus’ Better Off Budget reverses the damage that Congress’ austerity obsession has inflicted on hard-working families and restores our economy to its full potential. We can’t reverse the growing trend of economic inequality in America without addressing the retirement security crisis and without creating new decent paying jobs. And this proposal does both!

  9,687 of 10,000 Signatures

  Created by Michael Phelan, Social Security Works