The Fight To Save Social Security Starts... Again

Yesterday Blue America and the Americans For America PAC launched the first in a series of ads meant to emphasize what's real at stake if the GOP takes over again after the midterm elections. If you missed it yesterday, take a look at the video today. As you see, John Boehner addressed the long held Republican Party (and conservative) dream of dismantling Social Security. This morning a coalition of 60 groups representing over 30 million Americans launched a campaign specifically meant to strengthen Social Security, not weaken it as Boehner, the GOP (and some conservative Democrats) hope to do.

Richard Trumka (AFL-CIO), Gerald McEntee (AFSCME), Justin Ruben (MoveOn.org), Dennis Van Roekel (NEA), Eliseo Medina (SEIU), Terry O'Neill (NOW), Donna Meltzer (Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities), Hilary Shelton (NAACP), and Ed Coyle (Alliance for Retired Americans) held a press conference this morning at the National Press Club to announce the new campaign. With some serious indications-- like Obama's reactionary nominees to the panel-- that the his fiscal commission is considering recommending that Congress cut Social Security benefits, these groups are launching a major new campaign to push back and demand that Congress not make any benefit cuts. New polling shows massive public support for members of Congress who support strengthening, not cutting, Social Security. I love this video they put out to get the truth before the public:



This campaign fits right in with Blue America's campaigns this year. All of our endorsed candidates are running against Republicans who want to dismantle Social Security. It's not just Boehner; Michele Bachmann, Tim Griffin, Ken Calvert, Virginia Foxx, John Campbell and the gaggle of idiots running against Alan Grayson in Florida and Fred Johnson in Michigan all want to see Social Security shrivel and die. Our candidates are committed to saving it, no matter what compromises Obama and Hoyer are willing to make. I called Joyce Elliott, the Majority Leader of the Arkansas state Senate and a tireless champion of working families who opposes Tim Griffin's ideas about dismantling Social Security. This afternoon she told me that "Social Security has been a sacred covenant that America made with its greatest generations. As we approach the 75th anniversary of its founding, we are reminded of the benefits Social Security offers to many Americans and the future generations that stand to gain from its promise. Since 1935, it has been the right of every American to work hard and save for the future. We should ensure that they receive the benefits they have earned over a lifetime of employment. Now, more than ever, it is critical that Social Security be preserved. The economic climate has proven to be unpredictable at best, but Social Security has provided financial stability to Americans who need it most. There are over 620,000 people in Arkansas that depend on Social Security to provide for themselves and their loved ones. We should commit ourselves to protecting Social Security for not only ourselves, but also our children and grandchildren. As the next Congresswoman for Arkansas’s 2nd District, I will always stand up to honor and protect this commitment we have made to our most important citizens."