John,

I’m sick of funding hostage crises.

Since last January, we’ve been emailing about one must-pass bill or another, warning that Republicans could demand Social Security cuts as the price of continuing to fund the government.

First came the debt ceiling showdown, then a series of government shutdown threats after Kevin McCarthy was deposed. Every step of the way, Republicans like McCarthy, Rep. Jodey Arrington and Speaker Mike Johnson threatened to attach a closed-door Social Security-cutting commission.

Because we raised the alarm, we were able to stop them every time.

But we can’t keep lurching from crisis to crisis. And we shouldn’t have to. The debt limit was created by accident―in fact, it was created during World War I to prevent the Treasury department from seeking Congressional authorization over and over. And from 1979 to 1995, a rule was in place that deemed the debt ceiling raised when a budget was passed. Congress should put that rule back.

And prior to 1980, when Congress blew a government funding deadline, the government just kept working under the status quo, confident that funding would eventually be appropriated. And it always was. But the Attorney General issued an opinion that created the dynamics for government shutdowns that we’ve been suffering under ever since.

The current crisis-oriented approach puts power in the hands of politicians who want to burn it all down. The same anti-government politicians who want to end Social Security and Medicare have little compunction about blocking everything else the government does.

It’s time for Congress to protect Social Security by ENDING government-by-ransom. Tell Congress to end government shutdowns once and for all!

Thank you,

Michael Phelan
Social Security Works