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John,
Today, Social Security’s Board of Trustees released their annual report on the state of the trust fund. Guess what the report says? Social Security works.
Our Social Security system has a surplus of $2.9 trillion―even after a year where millions of people were out of work due to the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic revealed gaping holes in our nation’s care infrastructure. We can fix them by expanding Social Security and Medicare!
Despite the plain language of the report, members of the media keep chasing the same right-wing framing, claiming that the report shows a need to cut our earned benefits. The AP’s White House reporter immediately tweeted that Social Security and Medicare “remain under intense pressure, with the Social Security fund depleted sooner.”
We need to fight back against this bogus framing. The truth is, we have the opportunity to expand Medicare and Social Security this year. We just need to take it. Donate $7 today!
So-called “unbiased” reporters like the AP subtly editorialize because they think that Congress is more likely to break its promise to seniors than to make the wealthy pay their fair share. That will only happen if we let our guard down.
The report shows that Social Security is fully funded for more than a decade, around 89% funded for the next 25 years, and 83% funded for the next 50 years. If millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share into the system, we can not only stop the shortfall―we can expand benefits! That’s what Joe Biden promised to do if elected.
While Republican politicians have been unwilling to go on the record in favor of benefit cuts since Mitt Romney’s humiliating loss in 2012, they have adamantly ruled out making the rich pay their fair share. And Donald Trump even proposed eliminating Social Security’s dedicated funding completely!
This moment, when Democrats who believe in Social Security control the House, Senate, and White House, is an urgent moment for Social Security expansion. We must make sure that Social Security is expanded―never cut!
Slanted reporting about Social Security’s finances creates uncertainty in the minds of the public, when nothing could be further from the truth. Our Social Security system has made every payment in full and on time for the past 86 years. It’s incredibly popular because it WORKS―and that’s why Republican politicians who oppose the program altogether have spent 40 years trying to create a crisis of confidence around its financing.
They want cover from political accountability by passing a closed-door deal, along the lines of Mitt Romney’s TRUST Act. Sen. Lindsey Graham has threatened that Republicans will block raising the debt ceiling unless Democrats agree to pass a bill like the TRUST Act. We cannot let that happen! Chip in $7 today!
Thanks,
Alex Lawson
Social Security Works
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