To: Lester Holt, NBC Nightly News anchor and moderator of the first 2016 Presidential Debate
Subject: The most important – but overlooked – issue in the presidential election isn’t finding a way to cut benefits to millions of middle-class Americans
Mr. Holt,
In a campaign that’s been far more about personalities and proclivities than policy and practical solutions, we agree with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that issues need to take center stage as you moderate next week’s Presidential debate. We also agree that, for millions of average Americans and their families still struggling to see the full benefits of our economic recovery, understanding (in detail) what the Presidential candidates plan for future Social Security and Medicare benefits is important. But we urge you to avoid buying into the premise that “saving” Social Security and Medicare has anything to do with cutting the deficit. It doesn’t.
The push for benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in the name of deficit reduction has always been the goal of the billion dollar corporate and Wall Street backed crisis campaign driving Washington’s deficit hysteria. “Never let a good crisis go to waste” was a strategic political move capitalizing on deficits as a way to force middle-class benefit cuts on Americans already shell-shocked in the Great Recession. Once deficits reduced (without the drastic cuts to benefits that corporate lobbyists assured us must happen), the anti-“entitlement” lobby lost its inside-the-Beltway political momentum. No doubt, they hope you’ll help them get their benefit-cutting mojo back.
Not surprisingly, the Chamber’s recitation of deficit woes failed to mention the billions of dollars in federal revenue lost to the Treasury each year thanks to tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy over decades. There was zero mention of corporate inversions which have literally robbed our nation of legally-owed taxes. If you want to ask the candidates a question about bringing down deficits, how about:
“What will you do to prevent the loss of hundreds of billions of federal revenue from American corporations who dodge paying their taxes through corporate inversions and loopholes?
There is an important Social Security and Medicare conversation to be had. We must find long-term solvency solutions that also address our nation’s retirement and health security crisis. Obamacare went a long way toward improving the health care picture but more work remains to be done. Retirement USA reports the gap between what Americans need to retire and what they actually have is $7.7 trillion. In fact, about half of households age 55 and older have no retirement savings and a third of current workers aged 55 to 64 are likely to be poor or near-poor in retirement. Unfortunately, the median retirement account balance is a puny $3,000 for all working-age households and $12,000 for near-retirement households. Vanguard reports that 401K balances, for those who do have them, fell a median of 11% last year. Social Security remains the only stable retirement income for many Americans.
While the Chamber sees Social Security as solely a source of “investment-draining and economy-staling uncertainty,” the truth is, Social Security is a hugely stabilizing force for the economy. A new report from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare Foundation shows that, in 2014 alone, Social Security delivered a $1.6 trillion fiscal boost nationwide as benefits were spent and cycled through the economy. Seniors spend their Social Security for the basics of everyday living which fuels businesses large and small. Unfortunately, Social Security’s economic contributions to communities, counties, and states continue to be misunderstood and ignored in Washington’s fiscal debates.
The American people understand how important programs like Social Security and Medicare are to re-building and strengthening the fiscal health of millions of families and our nation. They know we cannot ignore program adequacy in favor of a benefit-cuts only approach when addressing long-term solvency. Thankfully, the economic recovery and time have provided many Members of Congress the space to craft meaningful legislation that not only extends Social Security’s solvency by decades but also boosts benefits, which is exactly what the American people have said in poll after poll they support. In fact, the latest survey by the National Academy of Social Insurance shows large majorities of Americans, both Republicans and Democrats, agree on ways to strengthen Social Security, without cutting benefits. Of those polled, 74 percent of Republicans and 88 percent of Democrats agree that “it is critical to preserve Social Security even if it means increasing Social Security taxes paid by working Americans.”
Simply put, the American people are willing to pay more for Social Security. They understand the growing impact these benefits have on individual lives and on our larger economy. Not just for today’s seniors but also for future generations which will likely depend on these programs as much, if not more, than current retirees.
With this in mind, we strongly urge you to ask the candidates:
“What is your specific plan to ensure Social Security and Medicare’s long-term solvency?”
Regards,
The National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare