Elizabeth Warren: Why Seniors -- Not CEOs -- Deserve a Raise

[Ferd Berfel]

Social Security isn't a luxury -- it's a lifeline

Any conversation about tackling poverty in the United States should include protecting and expanding Social Security. The reason is pretty straightforward: Social Security is the most powerful tool available to lift people out of poverty. Nearly two-thirds of seniors depend on Social Security for the majority of their income, and millions more children and adults depend upon survivors and disability benefits. According to Center for Budget and Policy Priorities analysis of Census data, Social Security kept 21 million Americans out of poverty in the last year alone. All told, that's more people than any other government program.

Social Security works. No one runs out of benefits, and payments don't rise and fall with the stock market. Despite scare tactics from Republicans in Congress, the facts are clear. Social Security has a $2.8 trillion surplus. If we do nothing, Social Security will be safe for the next 18 years, and after that will continue to pay three-quarters of benefits through the end of the century.

Of course, we don't have to sit by and to do nothing. Since its beginning, Social Security has been adjusted from time to time, and that's what we need to do now. With some modest adjustments, it is possible to keep the system solvent for decades more, even while increasing benefits.

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I"m 65 and I do not believe for a second that Hillary grasps this.

[felix_numinous]

1. K&R

Because screwing over your elders (amongst other things) is not what a civilized country does.

[Holly_Hobby]

2. No way, no raises. Gas prices are too cheap...

Isn't that why there isn't a COLA raise this year? Let's do the math...we drive around 6,000 miles a year. We get 20 miles/gallon. Let's say we save $1.00/gallon. Is that about $300/year?

But my health care bill for me and my husband went up from $872/month to $914/month. That's a week's groceries for us and $42/month increase for a total of $504/year. $504-300 = $204 less per year. A COLA raise would've covered it. /rant

[Ferd Berfel]

3. I hear ya

I"m not making it either. WOrking PT at Home Depot (god help me) and trying to find something better. @65 it ain't happenin'

[Hatchling]

4. I love her!

As a senior it would be nice to get the current minimum wage. My friends and I have been doing the calculations on what we get vs what the minimum wage is. We get between $2.36 to $4.20 per hour. We figured it out on our Obama phone calculators while waiting in line at the food bank.