News Release
The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM), an organization with deep roots in New Deal policies, today put the weight and clout of its millions of members and supporters behind the Joe Biden/Kamala Harris campaign. Today’s endorsement breaks the National Committee’s 38-year tradition of steering clear of Presidential campaigns in order to focus its resources on House and Senate races.
“During the past four years, we’ve seen this president pay lip service to seniors’ needs while actively undermining their best interests, the latest example being his reckless pledge to terminate the payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare. As the pandemic has worsened, we have seen an abject failure to protect nursing home residents and workers, who represent 40% of all COVID deaths. Never in our organization’s history have we seen such a consistent level of threats to the health and retirement security of America’s seniors. There is no doubt that the most effective way to protect the future for older Americans is to elect Joe Biden as president.” – Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will fight for older Americans and their earned benefits. During his convention speech, Biden called Social Security and Medicare “sacred obligations,” and vowed to protect both programs. He understands that they are essential to seniors’ well-being – even more so during the COVID crisis. The Biden plan for Social Security would expand benefits, lifting an additional half a million seniors out of poverty by 2030. He wants to add dental, vision, and hearing coverage to traditional Medicare — and reduce what seniors pay for prescription drugs by allowing the government to negotiate prices with Big Pharma. He has proposed a groundbreaking, $775 billion plan to assist caregivers for the elderly and children. Finally, the former Vice President would strengthen – not decimate – the Affordable Care Act.
The National Committee was founded in 1982 by Congressman James Roosevelt, Sr., son of President Franklin Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt. It quickly established itself as a fierce and vocal opponent of legislative policies or fiscal proposals that would threaten the Social Security and Medicare programs. In its later years, NCPSSM expanded its advocacy focus to include Medicaid, Older Americans Act, wage inequity, Alzheimer’s research, long term care and other issues that impact the quality of life for seniors and their families. More than 100 million petitions and letters signed by members and supporters have been delivered to Congress and the White House over the last several decades to send leaders a clear message about seniors’ priorities.
“By enacting Social Security, my grandfather, President Franklin Roosevelt, gave workers the promise of dignity and financial security in retirement. Thirty years later, President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law, providing older Americans with affordable, accessible health insurance. There’s a reason Social Security and Medicare have been around for 85 and 55 years respectively. Americans value and depend on them. My father and grandfather would be outraged that President Trump and his allies want to dismantle both programs. I am 100% behind the National Committee’s decision to endorse Joe Biden, the candidate who can be trusted to protect seniors’ earned benefits from any attempts to undermine or privatize them.” – James Roosevelt, Jr., Vice-Chairman of the National Committee’s advisory board.
President Trump has betrayed older Americans through his bungled response to the COVID pandemic and by blatantly breaking his promises to protect senior’s cherished social insurance programs. He has proposed more than $1 trillion in cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. He has vowed to eliminate the payroll taxes that fund seniors’ retirement and health benefits if re-elected to a second term. He has urged the Supreme Court to strike down the Affordable Care Act, which improved Medicare benefits and solvency. In short, the President has listened to advisors who want to dismantle the country’s most effective social safety net programs.
“After nearly four decades of fighting to protect American seniors, the National Committee has determined that many older Americans cannot afford – let alone survive – another four years of President Trump. By endorsing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris today, we will work tirelessly to help voters of all ages understand that Trump’s promises are empty. He offers seniors a one-way ticket to nowhere. Americans deserve a President who will protect and strengthen the federal government’s commitment to older Americans.” – Max Richtman
Read our endorsement letter to Joe Biden here.
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The National Committee, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization acts in the interests of its membership through advocacy, education, services, grassroots efforts and the leadership of the Board of Directors and professional staff. The work of the National Committee is directed toward developing better-informed citizens and voters.
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