Happy Birthday Social Security

Happy Birthday Social Security

The importance of the Social Security program cannot be understated. President of the New Hampshire AFL-CIO, Mark MacKenzie says: "Today is a day to celebrate one of the most successful public policy programs in the history of the United Stated. The idea that for 73 years, people have been guaranteed a paycheck or benefit every month from Social Security is truly a remarkable feat. As Americans, this achievement is something that we should embrace and be proud of."

MacKenzie adds: "In New Hampshire alone, nearly a quarter of a million people depend on Social Security for their subsistence every month." Furthermore, American families are relying on Social Security more and more as a result of the declining defined benefit programs offered in the workplace. MacKenzie believes: "We need to make sure this program is solid, we need to hold our legislators accountable, and we need to elect Barack Obama who says that he will oppose the privatization of Social Security."

Charlie Balban, a retired sheet metal worker who became permanently disabled at the age of 53 receives a monthly Social Security benefit. Balban explains how a privatized Social Security program would affect him: "Today, people that collect Social Security are just getting by. If Social Security was privatized, with the economy the way it's going now, we would no longer receive a standard amount of money that we could depend upon. Every month the benefit would fluctuate making it almost impossible for recipients to budget their expenses. I really question what the wellbeing of people under a privatized Social Security program would be like."

John Mendolusky, President of the Alliance of Retired Americans in New Hampshire attended this event and stressed how important Social Security is to the senior citizens in the country. In addition, union members from IBEW, NATCA, OPEIU, and SMWIA made it clear to Senator Sununu outside of his office in Manchester, New Hampshire just how important Social Security is to the wellbeing of the residents of New Hampshire and the American people.

Comments

[Sonny]

The current system as it is, is unsustainable and will fall into debt within the next ten years, and is likely to run out of money over the next several decades. If you truly wish to support the system of Social Security, one needs to ensure you are watching out for the future generations.

Without change, today's young adults will be hit hard. It's a structural problem that can't be fixed with little tweaks. Now is the time to fix it.

We are producing a series of short internet videos to explain this issue to everyone.

View the first one here -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zyvx_r4UB9Y