Issue Position: Social Security

Issue Position

Under the guise of fighting for deficit reduction, the Republicans will unleash an unprecedented attack against Social Security. They will attempt to slash benefits, raise the retirement age and move toward the eventual privatization of a program which has, for 75 years, successfully lifted many tens of millions of elderly Americans, people with disabilities and widows and orphans out of poverty. Make no mistake about it: the attempt to destroy Social Security has nothing to do with deficit reduction. Social Security today has a $2.6 trillion dollar surplus, can pay out every benefit owed to every eligible American for the next 27 years and has not contributed one nickel to the deficit. This is an ideological struggle on the part of Republicans in Congress and their billionaire backers to undo the most significant government social program in the history of the United States. They want Wall Street to provide retirement benefits, not Social Security -- not because this is a better plan for seniors, but because it ensures massive profits for Wall Street.

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