Whitehouse: Social Security Income Lifts 70,000 Rhode Island Seniors Out of Poverty

Whitehouse: Social Security Income Lifts 70,000 Rhode Island Seniors Out of Poverty
Republican Privatization Plan Jeopardizes Rhode Islanders' Quality of Life

Republican efforts to privatize Social Security will jeopardize the income and benefits that now lift 70,000 Rhode Island seniors out of poverty, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sheldon Whitehouse said during a tour of senior centers in Cranston and Johnston today. Leading Republicans from George Bush to Karl Rove to Social Security point man Congressman Jim McCrery have signaled plans to try again to privatize Social Security if the GOP retains power in Congress next year.

"I've talked to so many seniors already struggling to make ends meet, from those trapped by the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs to a woman I met just the other day who, if she runs out of gas, just can't afford to go anywhere for the rest of the week," said Whitehouse. "Social Security was created to be a source of income our seniors can depend on, to guarantee a secure and dignified retirement for every American. The Washington Republicans are dead set on breaking that promise - and we have a responsibility to stop them."

A study by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) shows that nationwide, without the benefits guaranteed by Social Security, 46.8 percent of seniors would have incomes beneath the poverty line. Social Security benefits reduce that number to 8.7 percent.

In Rhode Island, Social Security's impact is even more dramatic. Here, Social Security income cuts the percentage of impoverished seniors from almost half to less than 6 percent, lifting 70,000 seniors out of poverty.

Speaking to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Republican Congressman Jim McCrery said that Republicans are likely to make Social Security privatization their top priority in 2007 if they retain control. Rep. McCrery chairs the Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, and is the leading contender to chair the full committee next year.

President Bush, Karl Rove, and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolton have all said explicitly that privatizing Social Security is at the top of their agenda for next year. The President told the Manhattan Institute late last month that "[i]f we can't get it done this year, I'm going to try next year. And if we can't get it done next year, I'm going to try the year after that, because it is the right thing to do."

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