Don't believe the lies about Social Security (WSLC Reports

August 25, 2010

Aug. 24: Teamsters strike Coke

Aug. 23: State workers fight attacks on health care

Aug. 19: Join Social Security coalition

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Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Don't believe the lies about Social Security

Reports indicate that the federal budget deficit commission is likely to recommend raising the retirement age and making other cuts in Social Security when it makes its recommendations after the November elections. Now, conservative media pundits are attempting to make the case for those cuts by spreading lies about the Social Security system. Check out the "Top 5 Myths About Social Security" and the evidence that debunks them. Read more.

► Today at AFL-CIO Now -- Don't raise the retirement age! -- Henry Ballantyne was the Social Security Administration’s chief actuary from 1982 to 2000. Today, he says, "Social Security is financially sound…We don’t need to raise the retirement age." He was part of a press conference by several Social Security advocates that addressed reports that the federal budget deficit commission is likely to recommend raising the retirement age and making other cuts.

► At Huffington Post -- Social Security is a "milk cow with 310 million tits" -- Alan Simpson, who co-chairs the deficit commission that is considering various proposals to cut Social Security benefits, wrote that Social Security is "like a milk cow with 310 million tits" in a hostile email he sent to the executive director of National Older Women's League.

► At Huffington Post -- If Alan Simpson doesn't resign, Obama must fire him -- This is a person who's made up his mind: People who collect Social Security are "milking" the system (despite the fact that they paid for it). To Simpson, they're parasites. And anyone who has a different perspective on Social Security is to be attacked, not engaged in dialog.

Council: Preserve unionized Wenatchee facility

The Wenatchee City Council is poised to vote at tomorrow night's meeting whether to abandon the profitable contract with the unionized Coast Hotels for food service operations at the Wenatchee Convention Center, and replace it with a merged contract with a nonunion firm for that and another facility. Click here to send an e-mail to the City Council to REJECT any new merged contract for nonunion food services at the Wenatchee Convention Center. Tell them, instead, to PROCEED with negotiations for a new contract with the unionized Coast Hotels Inc., which bid to continue providing food services at the convention center only. Remind them that the biggest reason many labor groups, including the WSLC, have regular events there is precisely because it is a unionized facility, and if that changes, we won't be back. ALSO, if you're in the area, please attend the city council meeting Thursday at 5:15 p.m. at Wenatchee City Hall, 129 S. Chelan Ave. Read more.

Local news:

► In today's Daily News -- Longview Fibre workers reject contract -- Union paper makers have overwhelmingly rejected a contract offer from Longview Fibre Paper and Packaging Inc., but union officials say they will continue to bargain and hope to avoid a strike. With 85% of members of AWPPW Local 153 voting Monday and Tuesday, the vote to reject the contract was 634-1, said Ken Smith, the union's area representative. The biggest sticking points are health care benefits for employees and retirees and the employees' pension plan, he said.

► In the (Aberdeen) Daily World -- Coke closing Aberdeen warehouse, workers strike -- About 500 Coca-Cola employees went on strike Monday at six locations in Western Washington, including Aberdeen. Russ Walpole of Teamsters Local 252 said the Aberdeen employees were specifically protesting against the planned closure of the local distribution warehouse. He said Coca-Cola announced to its employees in July that it would close facilities in Aberdeen, Bellingham and Marysville. The half-dozen employees outside the Aberdeen site waved signs that read "Coca-Cola UNFAIR" said they would be forced to drive to Tacoma in order to keep their jobs.

► In the (Aberdeen) Daily World -- Pontoon work is pushed back -- Work is not expected to start on the widely anticipated pontoon construction project until next spring, instead of by the end of the year as initially planned. State officials blame a longer time needed to finish the final EIS.

► In today's Seattle Times -- Glowing review for Port CEO, but he won't accept 4% pay raise -- Port of Seattle CEO Tay Yoshitani received a strong performance review from the Port Commission, but said he wouldn't accept a 4% raise to his $334,000 salary. The commission pulled a vote on the pay raise at Yoshitani's request. (He is already the highest paid port CEO in the country, meanwhile port employees have faced layoffs, furloughs and contract concessions amid the recession. This year, the port cut 110 positions, representing 6.2% of its workforce.

Election news:

► In today's (Everett) Herald -- State Sen. Berkey falls below level for mandatory recount -- Democratic State Sen. Jean Berkey (a member of the pro-corporate "Roadkill Caucus") is on the verge of losing re-election after the latest tally of primary ballots pushed her further behind two challengers. She currently trails Democratic challenger Nick Harper and Conservative Party candidate Rod Rieger by too wide a margin to trigger a recount. Labor groups financed a campaign opposing her and supporting the more liberal newcomer, Harper.

► In today's (Everett) Herald -- "Yes" votes take lead on Everett school levy -- The school levy for the Everett School District, which was losing narrowly in early returns, has pulled ahead.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I don't usually link to local school levy results, but this reminded me that Washington voters continue to defy the corporate media narrative that we, the people, are a bunch of angry reactionary teabaggers who are more pissed off about taxes and government spending than we are about budget cuts decimating our schools and other public services. The truth is, in the middle of a recession when money's tight for everybody, voters in Washington state are consistently approving higher taxes to avoid additional cuts at our schools.

► In today's Wall St. Journal -- Big unions to pool money in fall elections -- The leaders of the AFL-CIO and the SEIU have agreed to coordinate spending millions of dollars in the midterm elections to support pro-union candidates, most of them Democrats. The two labor organizations say they have a combined $88 million or more to deploy in this year's election cycle. It's not clear how much of that money they will pool together.

► From AP -- Alaska GOP Sen. Murkowski trailing Tea Party candidate in primary -- Her re-election quest suddenly in jeopardy, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski struggles to avoid becoming the latest incumbent lawmaker to be fired. She fought against a political novice with the backing of Sarah Palin and tea party activists in a stunningly tight Republican primary race.

National news:

► In today's LA Times -- Corporate America: It's time to spread the wealth (Michael Hiltzik column) -- Businesses are sitting on a record hoard of cash, but they're not using it to hire workers or pay existing ones better. There's no way to force employers to hire more workers or to give the ones they have better pay. But funneling corporate wealth to shareholders at the expense of the workers who create that wealth isn't any smarter today than it was 10 years ago, when it got us into this economic fix, and it sure won't lead us to a brighter tomorrow. Broadly distributing the fruits of economic growth is the only way to sustain growth.

► In today's Washington Post -- As mid-terms loom, Democrats work to shore up faltering recovery -- With the budget deficit soaring and polls showing deep skepticism about the impact of Obama's economic policies, even many Democrats are reluctant to support additional spending on the economy. That has left Obama with few alternatives for improving the trajectory of the recovery and reducing a stubbornly high jobless rate, which was stuck in July at 9.5%.

► At AFL-CIO Now -- Project Labor Agreements: Best value for construction dollars -- At a time when construction owners are looking to get the best value for their dollar, they are increasingly turning to what they know works -- project labor agreements -- to ensure the work is on time and on budget. The AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department reports that this year nearly 100 major public and private construction projects worth more than $80 billion have used PLAs, including the first two U.S. nuclear power plant construction projects in more than 40 years.

► In today's NY Times -- Job losses over drilling ban fail to materialize -- When the White House halted deepwater drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico, oil executives and others complained that the 6-month moratorium would cost thousands of jobs. That has yet to happen as firms wait to see how long the moratorium will last before making spending cuts and layoffs.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2010
Don't believe the lies about Social Security

Reports indicate that the federal budget deficit commission is likely to recommend raising the retirement age and making other cuts in Social Security when it makes its recommendations after the November elections. Some lawmakers are using that post-election date as a convenient excuse to dodge taking a stand to protect Social Security, saying that they are waiting to to see what the commission recommends.

For example, in contrast to Democratic Sen. Patty Murray's strong outspoken advocacy for preserving Social Security without benefits cuts, her opponent, Republican Dino Rossi, has evaded the question of whether he would support his party's agenda to privatize Social Security or cut its benefits. The closest he has come to commenting on the issue is through his spokeswoman, who said that "all (entitlement) spending ... should be thoroughly scrutinized and evaluated."

Check out this video of last week's 75th birthday party for Social Security held at the Greenwood Senior Center in Seattle. Sen. Patty Murray, Rep. Jim McDermott and others discuss the importance of the program and the efforts afoot to cut its benefits.

But Rossi's party leaders make no secret about their plans. Senate Republican Minority Leader John Boerner says that he favors increasing the Social Security retirement age to 70, tying cost-of-living increases to the CPI rather than wage inflation and limiting payments to those who need them, also known as means testing. Under President George W. Bush, Republicans pushed a Wall Street-backed plan to privatize the Social Security system, but failed in the face of aggressive opposition from Democrats.

Now, conservative media pundits are attempting to make the case for benefit cuts by spreading lies about the Social Security system. Here are a few of them... debunked:

Top 5 Social Security Myths

Myth #1: Social Security is going broke.

REALITY: There is no Social Security crisis. By 2023, Social Security will have a $4.6 trillion surplus (yes, trillion with a 'T'). It can pay out all scheduled benefits for the next quarter-century with no changes whatsoever.¹ After 2037, it'll still be able to pay out 75% of scheduled benefits -- and again, that's without any changes. The program started preparing for the Baby Boomers' retirement decades ago.² Anyone who insists Social Security is broke probably wants to break it themselves.

Myth #2: We have to raise the retirement age because people are living longer.

REALITY: This is a red-herring to trick you into agreeing to benefit cuts. Retirees are living about the same amount of time as they were in the 1930s. The reason average life expectancy is higher is mostly because many fewer people die as children than they did 70 years ago.³ What's more, what gains there have been are distributed very unevenly -- since 1972, life expectancy increased by 6.5 years for workers in the top half of the income brackets, but by less than 2 years for those in the bottom half.⁴ But those intent on cutting Social Security love this argument because raising the retirement age is the same as an across-the-board benefit cut.

Myth #3: Benefit cuts are the only way to fix Social Security.

REALITY: Social Security doesn't need to be fixed. But if we want to strengthen it, here's a better way: Make the rich pay their fair share. If the very rich paid taxes on all of their income, Social Security would be sustainable for decades to come.⁵ Right now, high earners only pay Social Security taxes on the first $106,000 of their income.⁶ But conservatives insist benefit cuts are the only way because they want to protect the super-rich from paying their fair share.

Myth #4: The Social Security Trust Fund has been raided and is full of IOUs.

REALITY: Not even close to true. The Social Security Trust Fund isn't full of IOUs, it's full of U.S. Treasury Bonds. And those bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.⁷ The reason Social Security holds only treasury bonds is the same reason many Americans do: The federal government has never missed a single interest payment on its debts. President Bush wanted to put Social Security funds in the stock market -- which would have been disastrous -- but luckily, he failed. So the trillions of dollars in the Social Security Trust Fund, which are separate from the regular budget, are as safe as can be.

Myth #5: Social Security adds to the deficit.

REALITY: It's not just wrong -- it's impossible! By law, Social Security's funds are separate from the budget, and it must pay its own way. That means that Social Security can't add one penny to the deficit.⁸

SOURCES:
1. "To Deficit Hawks: We the People Know Best on Social Security," New Deal 2.0, June 14, 2010
2. "The Straight Facts on Social Security," Economic Opportunity Institute, September 2009
3. "Social Security and the Age of Retirement," Center for Economic and Policy Research, June 2010
4. "More on raising the retirement age," Washington Post, July 8, 2010
5. "Social Security is sustainable," Economic and Policy Institute, May 27, 2010
6. "Maximum wage contribution and the amount for a credit in 2010," Social Security Administration, April 23, 2010
7. "Trust Fund FAQs," Social Security Administration, February 18, 2010
8. "To Deficit Hawks: We the People Know Best on Social Security," New Deal 2.0, June 14, 2010