RetireSafe Confronts Congress With More Than a Quarter Million “Senior Bill of Rights” Petitions
RetireSafe is sending an electronic shockwave to Congress in support of older Americans by flooding elected officials' offices with almost 300,000 online petitions calling for passage of a "Senior Bill of Rights" demanding that Congress take immediate action to prevent Social Security and Medicare cuts.
“Our petition demands that Congress guarantee Social Security and Medicare rights for older Americans. Our goal is to ensure that seniors’ promised benefits do not fall victim to misguided politicians seeking to shore up the budget on the backs of some of its most vulnerable citizens,” said RetireSafe President Michelle Plasari.
RetireSafe collected the petitions during the last year from its most active supporters across the country. Every congressional district is represented. They were delivered to congressional offices via a secure website, and members of Congress have the ability to post a response to their constituents. RetireSafe will post the congressional responses on its website.
According to Plasari, shoring up Social Security is one of the main economic issues facing our nation. Most policy proposals involve raising taxes or reducing benefits – not a good prospect for working or retired Americans.
"This year's Social Security Trustees' Report again demonstrates that the Social Security program is financially unsustainable and requires reform," said Plasari. "In just a few short years Social Security will begin paying out more than it takes in. The sooner Congress takes action, the less drastic needed changes will be."
RetireSafe has long called on Congress to guarantee Social Security benefits for current and near retirees before attempting to reform the system for future retirees. “Those in and close to retirement deserve to know that the promises made to them will be kept. They are the most vulnerable in a changing system. They have worked and saved based on one set of assumptions. Most have few opportunities to change their retirement savings strategies,” said Plasari.
Along with guaranteeing benefits for current and near retirees, The “Senior Bill of Rights” also calls for:
- A fair and accurate cost of living adjustment (COLA) that is based on seniors’ actual cost of living. “The 2008 COLA was 2.3% — however, government statistics show that seniors’ actual everyday costs have outpaced the COLA by 13%,” said Plasari.
- Social Security and Medicare should be free of means-testing. Plasari said, “We don’t want Congress to penalize those who’ve saved by raising Medicare premiums for just some seniors. The petition reminds Congress that seniors paid for their benefits with special taxes withheld from their paychecks.”
- The government should stop borrowing from Social Security to pay for wasteful pork-barrel projects. “Congress has already taken over $1.5 trillion in Social Security to pay for other projects and left behind worthless IOUs. The time is fast approaching where those IOUs will have to be cashed in to pay promised benefits,” said Plasari.
Lastly, the petition calls on Congress to reject the U.S.-Mexico Social Security Totalization Treaty. If allowed to go into effect, the treaty could cost Social Security billions annually in benefits for work done by illegal immigrants.
To add your name to the growing list of older Americans calling on Congress to pass a Senior Bill of Rights, click here.
Click here to read responses from Members of Congress.
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