August 2010 was the 75th Anniversary of Social Security. President Obama's proclamation

[ProSense]

Presidential Proclamation--75th Anniversary of the Social Security Act

75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

On August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Social Security Act to protect ordinary Americans "against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age." Our Nation was entrenched in the Great Depression. Unemployment neared 20 percent, and millions of Americans struggled to provide for themselves and their families. In the midst of all this, the Social Security Act brought hope to some of our most vulnerable citizens, giving elderly Americans income security and bringing us closer to President Roosevelt's vision of a Nation free from want or fear.

As our country recovers from one of the greatest economic challenges since that time, we are grateful for President Roosevelt's perseverance, and for the countless public servants whose efforts produced the Social Security program we know today. Seventy-five years later, Social Security remains a safety net for seniors and a source of resilience for all Americans. Since 1935, it has been expanded to include dependent and survivor benefits, disability insurance, and guaranteed medical insurance for seniors through Medicare. It is a lasting promise that we can retire with dignity and peace of mind, that workers who become disabled can support themselves, and that families who suffer the loss of a loved one will not live in poverty.

My Administration is committed to strengthening our retirement system and protecting Social Security as a reliable income source for seniors, workers who develop disabilities, and dependents. After a lifetime of contributions to our Nation and its economy, Americans have earned this support. The new health care law, the Affordable Care Act, helps sustain this commitment and improves the long-term outlook of the Social Security program. My Administration is dedicated to safeguarding Social Security's promise of retirement with dignity and security.

On the 75th anniversary of the Social Security Act, let us ensure we continue to preserve this program's original purpose in the 21st century. Together, we can give our children and our grandchildren the same protections we have cherished for decades, and in doing so, lead our Nation to a brighter day.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim August 14, 2010, as the 75th Anniversary of the Social Security Act. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities that recognize the historic legacy of the Social Security Act, as well as the vital safety net it provides to millions of Americans.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.

BARACK OBAMA

[MannyGoldstein]

1. "And hand the $2.6 Trillion Trust Fund to the wealthiest Americans"

Actually, I think that dream is over for now:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x740575">Today, Obama blinked (in his struggle against Social Security)

[ProSense]

2. " tax reform that will ask those who can afford it to pay their fair share "

That's what you mean by blinked?

What's your opinion of the proclamation?

I know, I know, you see "cut and destroy" Social Security in there somewhere.

Oh well!

[CakeGrrl]

3. Gasp!

How DARE this weak, capitulating, social-net-destroying Republican trojan horse DARE speak Roosevelt's name!!!!!! Can he be impeached? Arrested? SOMEthing??????












Well, I'm guessing that's what's going through the minds of the unreccers.

[bigwillq]

5. I just un'recd

Just for you. Since it seems to bother you so much! :) :rofl:
Have a nice night! :hi: :hug: :loveya:

[brentspeak]

4. Whereby Obama thereupon proceeded to begin the process of knee-capping Social Security

by extending his own unprecedented FICA tax "holiday".

And Obama did so without even the common decency -- let alone the common fiscal sense -- of enacting a corresponding raising of the FICA taxable income level cap with which to offset the general fund revenues the Social Security payroll tax "holiday" will artificially take up.

"FDR said, “I guess you’re right on the economics. They are politics all the way through. We put those pay roll contributions there so as to give the contributors a legal, moral, and political right to collect their pensions and their unemployment benefits. With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program. Those taxes aren’t a matter of economics, they’re straight politics.”

http://www.ssa.gov/history/Gulick.html

That "damn politician" has finally turned up.

[ProSense]

6. That is not

undermining Social Security. It does not cut benefits.

[brentspeak]

7. For the benefit of forum members who might get taken in by your blithe disinformation

A payroll tax "holiday" leaves open the very real possibility that future Social Security cuts could indeed occur. In fact, the entire program itself could be radically downsized by deficit-chopping politicians should Social Security become partially dependent on general fund revenues for any length of time:

http://www.ncpssm.org/entitledtoknow/?p=1428

Conservatives have long dreamed of a payroll tax holiday specifically because it fulfills two ideological goals, lower taxes and weakening Social Security’s finances. Worker contributions have successfully funded the program for 75 years and that critical linkage between contributions and benefits is what keeps Social Security a self-funded program. Proposals like this threaten the program’s independence, forcing Social Security to compete for limited federal dollars. If made permanent, this payroll tax cut would then double Social Security’s 75 year projected shortfall.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-marans/sounding-the-alarms-on-an_b_874344.html

A payroll tax cut...

Gradually defunds Social Security. The payroll tax cut will almost undoubtedly outlast its one-year expiration date. As the debate over the Bush tax cuts illustrates, taxes are easy to cut, but hard to restore, whatever the expectations are when enacted. Maintaining the reduced payroll tax rate would require the general fund to continue to transfer a growing amount of revenue to the Social Security Trust Fund amid mounting pressure to cut spending from the general budget. Social Security would have to compete with all other domestic spending programs for its share of a rapidly diminishing pie. The result would be both a real financial crisis for Social Security, and a crisis of public confidence in the program's integrity.

Undermines the program. The payroll tax is fundamental to the American public's commitment to Social Security. It is less a tax than a dedicated down payment for an earned insurance benefit. The payroll tax represents a tangible feature of the promise that if workers pay into Social Security from their wages, they earn its benefits when they retire, become disabled, or experience the passing of a loved one. That is one reason why, at a time when anti-government skepticism is at an all-time-high, even Republicans and Tea Partiers strongly support Social Security and oppose benefit cuts. Diminishing the payroll tax risks undermining that robust commitment.

Is a poor source of stimulus. The payroll tax cut is far more expensive, less progressive and less stimulating for the economy than other stimulus options like renewing the Obama Administration's middle class Making Work Pay tax cut. (Click http://strengthensocialsecurity.org/media/blog/2010/the-proposed-payroll-tax-cut-lavish-for-the-rich-a-tax-increase-for-everyone-else">here for an analysis and http://strengthensocialsecurity.org/sites/default/files/TaxCutComparisonChart_final_12.13.pdf">chart comparing the two tax cuts.)

The damage of one payroll tax cut has already been incalculable. Expanding it to include employers -- in effect extending it -- will be even worse. Deficit hawks falsely claim that Social Security contributes to the deficit. Putting it on the hook to the general budget, even temporarily, gives truth to their charge. A one-year payroll tax cut for employees was one thing -- but two years running? At what point will the general fund turn off the spigot, turning Social Security's modest shortfall into an immediate financial crisis?]

[ProSense]

8. Insults

followed by irrelevant information. There were no cuts to Social Security.

[jefferson_dem]

9. DUers unrecommending presidential proclamation honoring Social Security.

Quaint.