Banks,
pundits, financial �experts,� and politicians who do their
bidding are predictably warning us about the impending
demise of Social Security in about 21 years and they have
been hammering us with the same warning, year after year,
every time the trustees of the system release their regular
report.
In
so many ways, it is their method of softening up the American
people for cuts to the program, at some future time, of
course. Right now, in the beginnings of a presidential
campaign, everyone is treading lightly around the issue,
and they do not say they want to cut Social Security benefits.
Rather, they just want to make judicious cuts to Medicaid
and Medicare.
Politicians
feel secure about threatening cuts to Medicaid, because
that�s a program that provides some health care to the
poor, who would not have any access to health care without
it (except for hospital emergency rooms, which George
W. Bush proclaimed was our American equivalent of �universal
health care�). Anyway, the poor don�t vote, so there is
no penalty for cutting their benefits. As for Medicare,
politicians feel safe about suggesting cuts in that program,
because they depend on the propaganda that has been aimed
at older Americans, that finding a good health insurance
company (an oxymoron?) is far preferable to having a government
program.
The
same George Bush, when he occupied the White House, made
an attempt to convince the Congress that having workers
divert some of their Social Security deductions from their
paychecks into their own �private retirement accounts�
was a good idea. When the recent economic collapse came,
people looked at their Social Security checks and breathed
a sigh of relief that they did not have such private retirement
accounts in the market. Millions saw their private accounts
plummet, with some losing about half of their retirement
savings. The brilliance of the Social Security system
shone in the minds of most who made the comparison of
the two visions, and Bush�s plan was put back into the
box in which the right keeps its ideas, ready to be pulled
out at some opportune moment.
Trustees
of the system recently released their latest report and
the same predictions have been all over the news, broadcast
and print, warning us of the impending disaster. Especially
vociferous are the right wing pundits on cable and the
�business press,� who would love to get their hands on
just a portion of the funds that provide benefits to 55
million Americans. Imagine the profits on just 10 percent
of that amount.
One
observer has departed from the usual doomsday threat.
Michael Hiltzik, financial reporter for the Los Angeles
Times, who, noting the 55 million who receive benefits
and that Social Security keeps 20 million of them out
of poverty, suggested that benefits be increased, not
decreased.
He
wrote at the end of April: ��. And it points to the best
way to improve Social Security�s value for all Americans:
by increasing benefits to better serve the neediest workers,
and expanding its reach to cover workers and dependents
who have been cheated by or excluded from the system for
far too long. Yes, you heard me right. It�s time to shut
down the talk of cutting benefits, which serves nobody,
and pump up the volume on making them better. The idea
has been around for years, but its supporters have been
hunkered down against a conservative campaign to cut,
cut, and cut. It�s emerging from its foxhole now because the long recession and two stock
market crashes have put the final bullets into the hopes
of millions of Americans for a secure retirement��
It
makes eminent sense. Nearly 20 years ago, when there was
a debate raging over an increase in the minimum wage in
New York, right
wingers hauled out the usual arguments against it: there
would be a loss of jobs, there would not be as many job
opportunities, small businesses would be harmed, the economy
would suffer. And, all of this was in light of surveys
and studies over many years that showed that all of this
was nonsense. What a quick calculation did show at the
time was that there were three major �industries� in New
York, agriculture, health care, and tourism. A modest
increase in the minimum wage at that time would have put
as much money into the state�s economy as any of the three
major industries.
Of
course, by now, that has changed and the total amounts
of economic activity of the three �industries� has greatly
increased, but the principle is the same. Today, there
is another debate on a modest increase in the minimum
wage in New York and the same old arguments against it have been raised by
most of the business community and the right wing. (We�re
not forgetting New
York�s �financial industry� and the vast amounts of money
involved, it�s just that we�re concentrating here on industries
that actually produce something.)
Simply
put, a raise of about $1.50 in the minimum wage in New
York would raise billions of dollars for the entire economy,
and that�s what the proponents of increasing benefits
to those on Social Security have in mind. Instead of constantly
talking about reducing benefits for those who are going
to be collecting benefits soon, they should be talking
about raising the minimums, especially for those whose
monthly checks hover around the $600 mark. And, for untold
thousands, that is the only check they get to cash every
month. It is those who are at the bottom end of Social
Security benefits who need the raise. Many of them are
desperate and they are the people who have little in the
way of creature comforts. Monthly rent for a room might
take half of their benefit.
Never
believe the profound lie that Medicaid and Medicare provide
a �safety net� for these people and that, if all else
fails, they can go to the emergency room. Let George Junior
Bush try getting treatment for cancer in the emergency
room. Republicans have made themselves incapable of pronouncing
the word �increase,� when it comes to social programs
that help the downtrodden. Rather, they prefer to cut
and cut, then cut some more, all the while desperately
fighting for increases in military and defense spending,
cuts in the tax rate for corporations, and reductions
in the tax burden on the wealthy. There are too many Democrats
who have swallowed the toxins of social cuts, as well.
The
American world is, indeed, divided into two parts, the
1 percent and the 99 percent and, as always, the 1 percent
is in charge. Just ask Mitt Romney, who believes, as he
said during the GOP primary campaign, �Corporations are
people, too, my friend.� In that simple declaration, he
placed himself squarely in the corner of the rich and
powerful and showed himself to be securely in the pocket
of Corporate America. That�s the 1 percent, of which he
is a proud member. He will tell you that those people
are the �job creators.� Don�t believe that for a second,
either.
As
economist Richard Wolff said recently in a cogent analysis
of the state of the U.S. economy, the people who claim to be job creators
are not. In reality, all of us, together, are the job
creators. When the people participate in the economy,
the money circulates and that makes for business and industry
that are alive and which create jobs.
When
the wealth of a nation is given to the self-proclaimed
job creators, it disappears and is no longer available
to the national economy and that�s why economies sink,
just like the American economy is sinking. The response
of the Republicans and others on the right is to cut more
and more of those things that benefit the greatest number
of people, including wages. That�s what makes an economy
run. That�s what makes an economy succeed and provide
for the masses of the people.
Let�s
not be fooled that Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare,
as well as other social-benefit programs need to be cut
as is being proposed by so many of the 1 percent. Rather,
those programs, along with benefits (like food, clothing,
and shelter) need to increase for the millions of children
who are suffering in a country that says it cannot afford
to take care of them.
There
is no shame among Republicans and others on the right
who can say with a straight face, �The U.S. can�t afford
to feed, house, clothe, educate, and provide health care
for the children and the poor.� But it won�t matter much
who is shamed and who isn�t, or who has committed shameful
acts, when what�s left of the economy is lying under their
feet.
For
the rest of us, fight any cuts to Social Security and
the other social programs that still exist and demand
that programs that benefit all be increased! The
welfare of our people is too important to be left to the
1 percent and their politicians.
BlackCommentator.com
Columnist, John Funiciello, is a labor organizer and former
union organizer. His union work started when he became
a local president of The Newspaper Guild in the early
1970s. He was a reporter for 14 years for newspapers in
New York State. In
addition to labor work, he is organizing family farmers
as they struggle to stay on the land under enormous pressure
from factory food producers and land developers. Click
here
to contact Mr. Funiciello.
