The Pete Peterson Fiscal Summit is one of the multi-billionaire Wall Street financier’s most visible legacies from his commitment to spend $1billion dollars in a campaign to convince America we can’t afford middle-class programs like Social Security and Medicare.

Claiming these programs have led to “generational theft” and “fiscal child abuse”, Peterson kicked off the event with the standard boiler plate calls to cut Social Security and Medicare under the guise of deficit reduction, just as the plan created by Fiscal commission co-chairs Bowles/Simpson proposed.  Economist Dean Baker describes it this way:

“This plan includes a wide range of budget cuts, including cuts to Social Security and Medicare. It would reduce the annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustment by 0.3 percent, which would lower lifetime benefits by an average of more than 3 percent. It would also raise the retirement age for Social Security. To balance these cuts to programs that benefit tens of millions of ordinary workers, Bowles and Simpson would cut the corporate tax rate from 35 to 28 percent and would lower the tax rate paid by the very wealthy from 40 percent to 28 percent. While these reductions in tax rates are supposed to be offset by the elimination of loopholes that benefit the wealthy, people have good cause for skepticism.”

Our President/CEO, Max Richtman, expressed his skepticism at a rally of Social Security & Medicare advocates outside the so-called Fiscal summit today. Here are his remarks (which you can be sure won’t be provided in any main stream media coverage of today’s event):

Statement:  Max Richtman, President/CEO

National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare

Peterson Foundation Fiscal Summit Rally

May 15, 1012

“I am so proud to be here today with Senator Bernie Sanders — NOW President Terry O’Neill — Global Policy Solutions CEO and National Committee Incoming Board of Directors Chair — Maya Rockeymoore — and Campaign for America’s Future’s Roger Hickey — to expose the myths and misinformation that are being sold to the American public, right now, inside the Fiscal Summit.

Pete Peterson, the sponsor of this summit, is spending one billion dollars to promote the false and dangerous choice that to save Social Security and Medicare we have to destroy these vital systems through privatization and huge benefit cuts.

Unfortunately, all too many members of Congress believe in the false choice of trading tax increases for cuts in Social Security and Medicare benefits.

What is happening behind us today is a cynical attempt at manipulating the American public into believing that the only choices to fix Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are to:

1)   Cut benefits, and

2)   Repeat choice #1

Middle-class Americans — who have paid all of their working lives for these programs — are struggling with skyrocketing health care costs, diminished home values, unemployment and decimated savings.  It is no wonder they feel abandoned when politicians try to undermine two of the remaining systems they can count on — Social Security and Medicare.

In poll after poll, it is clear voters of all ages and political persuasions do not support cutting benefits for middle-class Americans who depend on Social Security and Medicare. There is no other issue that draws this level of nonpartisan support.

In fact, 94 percent of Democrats, 82 percent of independents and 64 percent of Republicans prefer raising taxes on the richest 2 percent of income earners rather than cutting benefits.

So if most Americans oppose cuts to our social insurance safety net, who supports the bill of goods being sold at Pete Peterson’s Fiscal Summit?

Millionaires whose tax loopholes would be paid for by cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.

Wall Street bankers who would reap a windfall of commissions and fees if Social Security was replaced by risky private accounts, and

Insurance companies who would make billions more if Medicare was privatized.

The evidence is clear. From what we have learned through polling, town hall meetings and focus groups held across the country, the American people stand with us and not with Pete Peterson, millionaires, Wall Street bankers and insurance companies.

To the elected officials and opinion leaders attending this Summit —- for the sake of the American people —

Distance yourselves from the propaganda being spread;

Stand up for the millions of middle-class Americans;

Fighting for them; and

Protect the Social Security and Medicare benefits they have earned.”

“The truth is — as our nation ages and retirement income continues to decline for millions of Americans – Congress should be talking about the adequacy of Social Security’s benefits not cutting them.  Congress should examine the inequities that have created a poverty rate for senior women and widows that is 50% higher than other retirees 65 and older.  We can break this Social Security glass ceiling…in fact, we must do so to preserve the economic security of generations of American women and their families.” Max Richtman, NCPSSM President/CEO

“Our proposals are designed to modernize the Social Security system and recognize particularly the changes that have occurred in women’s lives and in family life, so that women will be rewarded more fairly for the full value of the  work they do, both in the labor market and in raising the next generation.  We can strengthen the Social Security system to address the gender gap in retirement that reveals many more older women in poverty than older men, while still addressing the financial needs of the program.”  Dr. Heidi Hartmann, Institute for Women’s Policy Research President

“If implemented, the recommendations we make in ‘Breaking the Social Security Glass Ceiling’ will go a long way toward creating a retirement and disability insurance program that recognizes the new reality of working women and men and values women’s role in society as both breadwinners and primary caregivers. Crediting women’s years out of the paid labor force is a long overdue feature that NOW strongly supports and urges lawmakers to support as well.” Terry O’Neill, NOW Foundation President

Here are just some of the recommendations in this groundbreaking report:

• Improving Survivor Benefits.  Women living alone often are forced into poverty because of benefit reductions stemming from the death of a spouse. Providing a widow or widower with 75 percent of the couple’s combined benefit treats one-earner and two-earner couples more fairly and reduces the likelihood of leaving the survivor in poverty.

• Providing Social Security Credits for Caregivers. We recommend imputed earnings for up to five family service years be granted to a worker who leaves or reduces his/her participation in the work force to provide care to children under the age of six or to elderly family members.

• Equal Benefits for Same-Sex Married Couples and Partners. Gay and lesbian same-sex couples, whether married or not, are denied a host of benefits under state and federal law that are routinely provided to heterosexual married couples. Social Security benefits should not be denied to qualified retirees because of their sexual orientation.

• Restoring Student Benefits. Social Security pays benefits to children until age 18, or 19 if they are still attending high school, if a working parent has died, become disabled or retired.  In the past, those benefits continued until age 22 if the child was a full-time student in college or a vocational school.  Congress ended post-secondary students’ benefits in 1981 which has disproportionately hurt children of parents in blue-collar jobs, African Americans, and lower income students.

“Social Security is a vital lifeline for all Americans, especially women and people of color. When you consider that Social Security provides 90% of seniors’ income for 58% of unmarried women of color, 53% of Hispanics and 47% of African Americans it’s hard to understand why benefit cuts are always the first answer for fiscal hawks hoping to use Social Security for deficit reduction.  Building on what works, ‘Breaking the Social Security Glass Ceiling’ offers a modernization plan for Social Security that would strengthen benefits for women and their families while improving the equity and adequacy for generations of Americans.” Dr. Carroll Estes, NPCSSM Foundation Board Chair

While some suggest we can’t afford to provide even current level benefits to America’s retirees, disabled and their families, we disagree.  In fact, we believe our nation can’t afford not to provide fair and adequate benefits for future generations of working Americans.  A number of funding options are included in this research, including:

• Eliminate the Cap on Social Security Payroll Contributions.
• Slowly Increase the Contribution Rate by 1/40^th of One Percent over 20 years.
• Treat all Salary Reduction Plans like 401K’s.

Together, these proposals provide revenue increases equal to 3.99% of taxable payroll.  They would close the actuarial deficit (2.67% of payroll) while also funding the modest program improvements recommended.

Here’s the link to the full report, “Breaking the Social Security Glass Ceiling”.

You can watch the entire briefing here on CSPAN.

One of our favorite bloggers, has an interesting take on the whole issue and we suggest you read her entire post. We couldn’t agree more with “Crabby Old Lady’s” key takeaway point –

Crabby wants inclusion for elders in daily life every day of the year.

There is so much that needs doing for elders that would help them take part in the life of their communities – that would help everyone else too. Such as:

• Improve public transportation
• Enforce age discrimination in the workplace laws
• Encourage better geriatric education for physicians
• Invite elders onto the citizen advisory boards of cities and towns
• Create opportunities to serve that make use of elders’ decades of experience and knowledge
• Teach elders how to effectively lobby government officials

Most of all, stop Congress from scaring the crap out of elders with constant threats to cut or kill Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Working on these issues would be real honoring of elders.

One more recommendation that fits well under our Older Americans month theme…please take a moment to read this terrific post on Huffington which provides a concise and easy to read listing of resources available to America’s seniors.

A recent report from Meals on Wheels shows a 78% spike in seniors at risk for hunger since 2001. Although senior citizens have a vital lifeline in Social Security and Medicare benefits, rising food prices and health care costs continue to eat away at their fixed incomes.

According to a Huffington Post piece, one in seven seniors in America, some 8.3 million people, are having difficulty affording sufficient food. Certain groups are at a higher risk than others. Seniors age 60-69, minorities and women are more likely to face hunger than the general population. Women make up 60 percent of the population facing a hunger risk and African-Americans and Hispanics are nearly twice as likely to face food insecurity.

Senior citizens on Social Security and Medicare aren’t living “high on the hog,” as some in Washington like to claim when supporting benefit cuts. We should remind Alan Simpson, who once complained seniors were well off driving their Lexus to the Perkins restaurants for AARP discounts, his view of the world doesn’t match up with the facts. We should be finding ways to strengthen Social Security and Medicare benefits, not cut them for those that can afford it the least.

My Faith-Based Retirement by Joe Nocera at the New York Times describes his all-too common personal experience with 401K’s while economist Jared Bernstein provides some desperately needed myth-busting in his Rolling Stone piece, Straight Talk on Social Security. While we don’t agree with his suggestion to move to a chained-CPI, he’s right about the need to push back on all the lies about Social Security’s fiscal health.

To help you sort fact from fiction about the true health of Social Security and Medicare, here is our President/CEO Max Richtman’s reaction to the Trustees’ projections and some data you likely won’t see reported in this week’s news coverage:

“Projections in the 2012 Trustees Reports come as no surprise to anyone who understands how Social Security and Medicare work.  The trust fund solvency date for Social Security has seen fluctuations many times in recent decades, from a depletion date as distant as 2048 in the 1988 report to as soon as 2029 in the 1994 and 1997 reports. This year’s report is well within that range. Contrary to the crisis myths perpetuated by fiscal conservatives and many in the media, the prevailing facts show once again that Social Security remains among the nation’s most successful and stable programs. The Trustees report there is now $2.7 trillion in the Social Security trust fund, which is $69 billion more than last year, and continues to grow.  Payroll contributions and interest will fully cover benefits for decades to come.” Max Richtman, NCPSSM President/CEO

In the 2012 Trustees report:

• Trustees project Social Security will be able to pay full benefits until the year 2033.  After that, Social Security will have sufficient revenue to pay about 75% of benefits.
• Social Security is still well funded.  In 2012, with the economy showing slow signs of recovery, Social Security’s total income still exceeded its expenses by over $57 billion. In fact, the Trustees estimate that total annual income is expected to exceed program obligations until 2020.
• Beneficiaries will likely see a Cost of Living Allowance increase of 1.8% in 2013.

The 2012 Trustees report also shows Medicare’s Trust Fund solvency projection remains unchanged at 2024. This reflects the success that health care reform has had in improving Medicare’s solvency. If long-term solvency for Medicare is truly Congress’ goal, then repealing health care reform is not an option as it would set back that progress immeasurably.

“The challenges facing Medicare are the same that we see in the broader health care system…the high cost of health care in America.  Thanks to health care reform, Medicare will save $200 billion by 2016, but even those savings would be lost if opponents have their way and the Affordable Care Act is repealed. We must allow reform to be fully implemented in order to realize the projected savings.” Max Richtman

The National Committee believes that Congress can also improve the long-term outlook for Social Security with modest and manageable changes in revenue without enacting harmful benefit cuts for current or future retirees. Recent polling has shown that a majority of Americans support lifting the payroll tax cap to ensure Americans contribute at all income levels.

“The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that 51 percent of all households, which includes both filers and nonfilers, had either zero or negative income tax liability in 2009,” Kyl said, suggesting it was the middle class and poor who were not sacrificing. “People who do not share in the sacrifice of paying taxes have little direct incentive to care whether the government is spending and taxing too much. Maybe that’s why the president has no problem with even more Americans getting a free ride.” Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ)

Most Americans understand that not earning enough income to have to pay income tax (even though they’re still paying plenty of other federal, state and local taxes) doesn’t mean working Americans are getting a free ride it just shows  how much average Americans are suffering in this economy where unemployment, underemployment, and stagnant wages remain all-too-common. Nearly three-quarters of the American people support common-sense tax reform that returns some basic fairness to a system that has allows too many millionaires to pay a lower tax rate than middle class workers.

However, conservatives in Washington, in vote after vote, have made it clear they will do whatever it takes to protect tax cuts for the wealthiest among us.  In fact, they hope to persuade you that turning Medicare into Couponcare and privatizing Social Security is the kind of “shared sacrifice” needed to preserve (and even expand) these tax cuts for the millionaires and corporations.

Here are some graphs from Think Progress that clearly illustrate what’s at stake:

Already, fiscal conservatives have ratcheted up their political rhetoric attempting to blame Social Security and Medicare for an economic meltdown and federal deficits they did not create.  The GOP/Ryan budget, with Mitt Romney’s endorsement, lays out their economic strategy of benefit cuts for the poor and middle-class combined with even larger tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy.  Yes, you read that right…more tax cuts for those who need them the least.

Demos and the American Prospect created this terrific breakdown of what this flawed fiscal strategy has already done to our economy in their post “Top Ten Tax Facts -Think you know a lot about government revenue? Think again.”

Here are the first 5, but we recommend you read the entire post and share it with your friends if they sound like they’re buying the bogus GOP/Fox News talking points on Social Security,  Medicare and deficits:

Top Ten Tax Facts

Ben Peck

April 16, 2012

Think you know a lot about government revenue? Think again.

This piece is the fifth in a six-part series on taxation, and a joint project by The American Prospect and its publishing partner, Demos.

1. The government has collected less in taxes as a proportion of the economy in the past three years than it has in any three-year period since World War II, and tax rates are at historic lows.

2. One out of three multi-millionaires pays a lower percentage of their income in taxes than the vast majority of people making $60,000 a year.

3. Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget proposal, which has been praised by Governor Romney, would deliver benefits to people with incomes over $1 million that are 10 times greater than the benefits to those earning $40,000 or less.

4. Corporate income taxes for the past three years have hovered at just over 1 percent of GDP, lower than for any three-year period since World War II. The average for OECD countries is 3.5 percent.

5. The Bush tax cuts added $1.7 trillion to the nation’s debt between 2001 and 2008, which is more than it would cost to send 25 million kids to four-year public universities.

You can see all 10 of the Tax Facts here.

The “greedy geezer” myth is often used as part of a larger strategic goal pitting America’s young versus old in a battle to convince younger generations to give up on our nation’s most successful poverty prevention programs. This inter-generational warfare theme was at the heart of a recent Esquire story chock full of pretty visuals but just as packed with errors and flawed logic.

Generations United provides a terrific look at just some of the ways this Esquire piece got it so, so wrong.  That’s why we’re giving “It’s Not a Fight, It’s a Family” our Networthy Award for great online coverage of Social Security and Medicare.  We also urge you to take a moment and comment on the Esquire author’s blog to let him know that — it’s not a fight, it’s a family.

Generations

It’s Not a Fight, It’s a Family.

In the April issue of Esquire magazine, an article entitled “The War Against Youth,” by Stephen Marche emerges as the latest attempt to incite generational warfare while offering no constructive policy recommendations. As a result of the attention this piece has received, Generations United is issuing the following statement.

Recent attempts in the media to fuel intergenerational conflict are a disservice to our country. This is particularly true in the midst of a polarizing political climate that threatens to cut critical safety net programs for children, youth, and older adults. Rather than pitting generations against one another, we should be working together to address our country’s most difficult challenges while still investing in each generation of our society.

Marche’s article unjustly blames the baby boomer generation for our country’s problems and insinuates that generation’s callous indifference will forever stint the human potential of today’s youth. This narrow view devalues the capacity and contributions of both older and younger generations. To address the needs of our country, we must forge stronger connections among generations and engage the strengths unique at every age.

Old and young Americans form a community of interest. It’s called family. According to Pew Research Center, 76% of adults report that family is the most important element of their life. And in these family units we demonstrate how much we care about each other.

Take grandparents, for example. A survey by the MetLife Mature Market Institute found that two-thirds of grandparents provided an estimated $370 billion in financial support to grandchildren over a five-year period. This averaged out to $8,661 per grandparent household. They did this not out of duty, but out of concern and love for their young family members. Grandparents step in to provide child care, as well. According to the Census Bureau, among the 11.3 million children younger than five whose mothers are employed, 30 percent are cared for on a regular basis by a grandparent.

Too often, Social Security is referred to as a retirement program. Tell that to the nearly 7 million children and youth who today receive a critical part of their family income from Social Security.  In reality, it is a family protection program. It covers almost every child in America should they lose a parent to death or disability. Moreover, two-thirds of Americans support paying more for Social Security instead of reducing benefits.  Most importantly, Social Security is fully funded through 2036. With modest changes to strengthen the program, it can be solvent for generations to come.

Marche asserts today’s youth are on their own; he sees young people returning home as a negative. But that’s what families do: take care of their own in times of need. Today, more than 51 million—or one in six—Americans live in multigenerational households, including grandparents raising their grandchildren.

Young people are not the only ones moving in with relatives. A recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive, found that 66% of adult respondents living in a multigenerational household reported that the current economic climate was a factor in their family becoming a multigenerational household, while 21% reported that it was the only factor. Most of the respondents expressed positive feelings about their new arrangement. In fact, 82% agreed that “My family’s multigenerational household arrangement has enhanced bonds or relationships among family members.” If anything, our country is moving into a time when families are realizing once again we are interdependent and need each other. It’s not a sign of weakness but a tribute to enduring strengths of families.

A recent study by the MetLife Mature Market found that respondents—across the generations—feel a sense of strong responsibility and obligation to:

• save enough for retirement to avoid having to ask family members for assistance
• have a parent live with them if they need help due to a major health or financial issue
• make sure a spouse or child would have enough money if a financial provider dies unexpectedly
• Help to pay for a child’s college education
• Provide strong and consistent emotional and non-financial support and contact

That doesn’t sound like a country whose generations are at war with each other.  The majority of Americans care about each other. They strongly believe, as we do, that “It is not a fight, it is a family.”

Caring for and supporting people of every generation shouldn’t be an either/or proposition. We need to ensure our policies and programs benefit all Americans, whatever their age.

We encourage intergenerational advocates to take action on this latest attempt by some to fuel intergenerational conflict.  Here’s how you can help:

TAKE ACTION

Share our statement.

“Like” our statement on Facebook.

Post a comment on Marche’s blog.

• “The War Against Youth” article unjustly blames the baby boomer generation for our country’s problems and insinuates that generation’s callous indifference will forever stint the human potential of today’s youth. This narrow view devalues the contributions of both older and younger generations and is an unfair accusation.
• There is not a “Young America” and an “Old America”.  Falsely separating older and younger people into age-graded silos makes each generation more vulnerable and hurts our economy.
• The  best way to put our country on a more productive path is to forge stronger connections among generations, engage the strengths unique at every age and address the needs of each.

1. Social Security benefits are guaranteed. Unlike savings and investments, you can’t outlive your benefits. Social Security benefits are especially vital to women, who live on average longer than men.

2. Social Security benefits are protected from inflation. Social Security is one of the few retirement programs that provide an automatic annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to beneficiaries. The annual COLA is intended to ensure that retirees, survivors and the disabled maintain their purchasing power.

3. Social Security is a valuable life insurance policy. Besides old age insurance, for the average wage earner with a family, Social Security insurance benefits are equivalent to a $476,000 life insurance policy.

4. Social Security provides disability insurance. Social Security ensures workers will have steady income if they become disabled and can no longer work. The insurance benefits are equivalent to a $465,000 disability insurance policy.

5. Medicare provides comprehensive health care coverage for seniors. Since its creation in 1965, Medicare has provided universal, reasonably affordable health care to millions of seniors. Before Medicare, more than half of seniors lacked hospital insurance. Today, virtually all people ages 65 and over are covered by Medicare.

6. Medicare provides free preventive health screenings. Seniors do not have to pay for Mammograms, Diabetes or Cancer screenings thanks to new provisions in the Affordable Care Act.

7. Social Security has a $2.7 trillion surplus. Since 1982, Social Security has maintained a budget surplus. Social Security remains strong, despite the lingering effects of the recession, and will be able to pay full benefits for the next 25 years – until 2036. Despite the gloom and doom rhetoric of those who want to cut Social Security to balance the budget, the program continues to run an annual surplus.

8. Medicare’s costs rise slower than private insurance. Medicare spending per beneficiary rose more than 400 percent from 1969 to 2009 but inflation-adjusted premiums on private health insurance rose more than 700 percent. Although high healthcare costs system-wide affect Medicare, it’s clear we have a healthcare problem, not a Medicare problem.

9. Social Security’s administrative costs are low. Less than 1% of Social Security’s budget goes to administrative costs. In a privatized system, commissions and fees could easily burn up as much as 15 cents out of every dollar of a worker’s annual investment as they do in some countries with privatized systems.

10. Social Security and Medicare are social insurance programs. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons why Social Security and Medicare are universally cherished is that in return for the contributions to these programs we make during our working years, we receive guaranteed retirement, disability or survivor benefits. These are, for most people, a lifeline of support; insurance for what President Roosevelt once aptly described as the “hazards and vicissitudes of life.”