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John,
Last Friday, a Republican Congressman confirmed that Social Security and Medicare benefit cuts are still “in the discussion” around the debt limit hostage crisis.1
Then, over the weekend, Republicans at all levels started pushing plans to raise the retirement age.
Rep. Nancy Mace told CNN that she supports raising the retirement age.2
Sen. John Kennedy opined on Fox News, “Does it really make sense to allow someone in their 20s today to retire at 62?”3
Sen. Bill Cassidy gleefully lied that we need to raise the retirement age because “Social Security is the Silicon Valley Bank of retirement systems.”4
Here’s the truth: Every year that the Social Security retirement age goes up is effectively a 7% benefit cut. If the full retirement age goes from 67 (where it is now) to 70 (where 2/3s of House Republicans want to raise it), that’s a 21% benefit cut. They plan to pair that with reduced benefits over time, making for an even bigger cut.
If we do nothing, the Social Security Board of Trustees estimates that the Social Security trust fund will be exhausted in about 10 years, and Social Security’s only income would be through the FICA contributions that we all make with every paycheck. That could only pay out 80% of scheduled benefits. A 20% cut is what Republicans say they’re trying to avoid―but the cuts they’re proposing are even bigger than that!
Instead, we should scrap the cap so that millionaires and billionaires pay into Social Security at the same rate as the rest of us. If we do that, as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren propose in the Social Security Expansion Act, not only can we avoid cutting Social Security — we can EXPAND benefits!
It’s simple: Republicans would rather cut your earned benefits than raise another penny from their Wall Street paymasters. They want you to think that Social Security will be completely gone, so that you’ll give it away for pennies on the dollar. Don’t be fooled.
Social Security works. Period. Donate $7 to defeat Republican plans to cut Social Security and Medicare!
Thank you,
Michael Phelan
Social Security Works
1 https://twitter.com/SSWorks/status/1634272592419778562?s=20
2 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1634911582349295616
3 https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1634907531268210690
4 https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1635302780796645382
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