The Center for American Progress (CAP) is publicly calling on Congress to abandon job-killing cuts and "grand bargains"— which aren't so "grand" for America's working families —and focus on what the country really needs: jobs.
Last week, the Social Security Trust Fund report was released. One of its more telling charts was of the trend in Social Security revenue. Social Security revenue comes from a tax on the wages of earners, paid by both employees and employers. So, essentially it tracks the level of employment. Based on the simple trend of revenues from 1990 to 2007, just before the Great Recession started, 2012 revenue would have been $899.4 billion; instead, it was $840 billion. That gap means less money to build up the Social Security Trust Fund than expected. The trustees do not break down the revenue by the age of workers, but based on the dramatically lower employment experience of young workers, the bulk of that gap reflects the lost wages of young people.
Join Damon Silvers , director of policy and special counsel for the AFL-CIO, June 5 from 3–4 p.m. EDT for a live Twitter chat that will explode the economic myths peddled by the “austerians” and offer a range of alternatives and an economic vision that will work for working families.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Alliance for Retired Americans Executive Director Edward Coyle today issued this joint statement on the 2013 Social Security and Medicare Trustees Report:
The most important message from the 2013 Social Security Trustees Report is that our Social Security system continues to work for the American people. After years of economic crisis for working families, Social Security is in better shape and more dependable than 401(k)s, private pensions or any other public or private program. We must call out those who will try to misuse today’s report as political cover for unwarranted and ill-advised benefit cuts, like switching to the “chained CPI” to calculate Social Security’s annual cost-of-living increase (COLA).
The National Academy of Social Insurance, a Washington-based organization of academics and policymakers who are experts on Social Security and other parts of the Social Security Act, released a recent survey of what Americans think about Social Security and how to “fix” it. Their report that came out last week is very telling of why Americans feel so disconnected from Washington.
Most voters agree that big corporations and the wealthy should start paying their fair share in taxes. But, of course, big corporations and the wealthy don’t want to do that. They want to pay less, and they are used to getting their way. So what do you do?
After Medicare deductions, Marty Alvarado has about $950 left in her monthly Social Security check. The Alliance for Retired Americans members from Dallas told a Capitol Hill Hands Off Social Security summit of Alliance members, lawmakers, senior activists and Social Security advocates:
As you might imagine that’s very difficult to live on. I cannot afford to lose any of my benefits due to the chained CPI cut in benefits. This is especially important to me as a woman. Women represent 57% of all Social Security beneficiaries. Chained CPI would hit female beneficiaries especially hard because we tend to live longer.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Daily Kos are taking action to stop the measure to cut Social Security benefits known as "chained" CPI.
CQ Roll Call (subscription only) reported yesterday that chairman of the House Democratic Caucus Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), along with a broad coalition of Democrats, pushed back against President Barack Obama's budget proposal to cut Social Security benefits by switching to the "chained" CPI method to calculate Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs).
Are we spending too much on seniors and too little on kids? Many will recognize this as a classic either-or fallacy (what about tax breaks for the wealthy…?) But with Ronald Brownstein , Ezra Klein and Charlie Cook all repeating the Urban Institute statistic that federal spending on seniors is nearly seven times that on children, the idea that seniors are crowding out children’s programs is catching on in Washington. Meanwhile, Urban Institute’s estimate that state and local governments spend nine times more on kids than on seniors hasn’t gotten the same attention. Overall, it appears that government spending on seniors is roughly double (or less) that on children, though this measure includes Social Security, which is almost entirely funded through worker contributions.
It’s been four years since low-wage workers got a raise. Sign the petition to tell Congress it’s time to raise the minimum wage.
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