Sign the petition: No cuts to the Social Security Administration

The petition to Congress reads: “Over the last decade, Congress has underfunded the Social Security Administration by billions of dollars. The new proposal to further cut SSA funding in the federal budget is nothing more than an attempt to undermine confidence in the program and make it more difficult for the American people to access the system we’ve paid into our entire lives. Fully fund the Social Security Administration and protect and expand Social Security for current and future generations.” Add your name:

Extremist right-wing Republicans are desperate to slash our earned benefit programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. But they know that direct attacks on these programs are deeply unpopular with the American people, so they often resort to backdoor attempts to undermine these vital programs in any way they can. Now, in the new federal budget that is coming up for a vote as soon as next week, Senate Republicans have proposed a $492 million cut to the Social Security Administration (SSA). If this proposal is signed into law, it could lead to longer wait times at Social Security offices, long hold times when people call Social Security, and unnecessary delays in accessing retirement, survivor and disability claims. We must fight back now and show Congress that there is massive grassroots opposition to the latest Republican sneak attack on Social Security. Tell Congress: No cuts to the Social Security Administration. Click here to sign the petition. The SSA provides support to millions of Americans each year at its more than 1,200 Social Security field offices around the country. But for the past decade, Republicans have repeatedly underfunded the SSA, slashing billions of dollars in funding. As a result, more than 1 million people are currently awaiting a hearing regarding their eligibility for Social Security disability benefits. Thousands of people have reportedly died while awaiting a hearing.1 The additional $492 million cut proposed by Republicans would force huge additional service cuts and make this problem even worse. That’s why we’re joining our friends at Social Security Works to demand that Congress reject these draconian cuts, fully fund the SSA and work to expand Social Security for current and future generations. We have to fight back fast before Congress votes on the federal budget as soon as next week, so I hope you’ll add your name today. Tell Congress: No cuts to the Social Security Administration. Click the link below to sign the petition. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/save_ss_2018?t=7&akid=26797%2E3130208%2Ew5WOY4 - Josh Nelson, CREDO Action Add your name: References 1. AP News, "Disability backlog tops 1M; thousands die on waitlist," Sept. 17, 2017.

Stop Republicans in Congress from gutting our earned benefit programs

he petition to Congress reads: "Do not cut, privatize, weaken or otherwise damage Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. You cannot pay for your disastrous tax giveaway to Wall Street and to the top 1% with our earned benefits." Add your name:

Donald Trump’s Republican lapdogs in Congress recently rammed a massively unpopular, cruel and deeply corrupt Tax Scam into law. Now, Paul Ryan and the rest of the right-wing Republican leadership in Congress is gearing up to slash Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, nutrition assistance and more.1 Republican ideologues like Ryan know their Robin-Hood-in-reverse agenda to enrich their billionaire donors from Wall Street by gutting our earned benefit programs is deeply unpopular. They learned the hard way this past year how unpopular cutting Medicaid is. That is why they are predictably using made-up excuses about the deficit to smear these important programs. We need to make it clear that any attempt to privatize, cut, weaken or damage Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security or any of our earned benefits is completely unacceptable. Tell Congress: Stop the Republican attack on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Click here to sign the petition. Even before the Trump Tax Scam passed, Ryan was talking about his plans to gut Medicaid and Medicare in 2018. “We're going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform,” he promised last month, suddenly rediscovering a passion for the deficit after pushing trillions in tax giveaways to the ultra-wealthy.2 Medicare is a fundamental tool of economic security for more than 58 million seniors, and the program is overwhelmingly popular.3,4 And throughout last summer, activists with the disability rights organization ADAPT and others showed Republicans just how important Medicaid is in their daily lives. The majority of Medicaid beneficiaries are children and working-age adults, Medicaid spends more money on long term care for seniors and people with disabilities than anything else.5 Social Security, meanwhile, is totally funded for the next two decades – longer if everyone pays at the same rate – and the only retirement income that most Americans can count on.6 Donald Trump repeatedly pledged during the 2016 campaign not to attack Medicare, Medicaid or our Social Security system but he has since seriously undermined these programs. Ryan’s ultimate goal is to end Medicare as we know it and replace it with a privatized program.7 Now, Trump and his lapdogs in Congress are not just coming after Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, they are attacking programs like Meals on Wheels, SNAP, and other nutritional assistance that families rely on. Republicans are whipping up a fake deficit hysteria after giving massive giveaways to the rich as a Trojan horse to attack our earned benefits. We must go all out to resist any cuts. Tell Congress: Stop the Republican attack on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Click here to sign the petition. If Ryan gets his way, folks who have been working their whole lives counting on Medicare in their retirement won’t ever be able to enroll – instead they will get a check that might help cover their premium for private insurance, if they are lucky.8 And if the Republicans are successful in their attacks on Medicare and Medicaid, they will come next for Social Security. What’s more, our Social Security system is separate from regular taxes and not affected by the deficit.9 Republicans cannot attack our earned benefits without a major fight. More than 70 percent of Americans rely on these programs at some point in our lives, and we are not going to let Ryan, McConnell and Trump dismantle them.10 Tell Congress: Stop the Republican attack on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/No_Cuts?t=8&akid=26660%2E3130208%2E76vAOT - Kaili Lambe CREDO Action Add your name: Jeff Stein, “Ryan says Republicans to target welfare, Medicare, Medicaid spending in 2018,” The Washington Post, Dec. 6, 2017. Ibid. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, “Medicare Enrollment Dashboard,” accessed Dec. 14, 2017. Dan Mangan, “Medicare, Medicaid popularity high: Kaiser,” CNBC, July 17, 2017. Social Security Works, “Why Medicaid Is Important to Seniors,” accessed Dec. 20, 2017. Carolyn Colvin, "Social Security Funded Until 2034, and About Three-Quarters Funded for the Long Term; Many Options to Address the Long-Term Shortfall," Social Security Matters, June 22, 2016. Josh Marshall, “Ryan Plans to Phase Out Medicare in 2017,” TPM, Nov. 13, 2016. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "Policy Basics: Understanding the Social Security Trust Funds," Sept. 21, 2017. Sarah Ayres Steinberg, "The Safety Net is Good Economic Policy," Center for American Progress, March 31, 2014. Rachel West and Melissa Boteach, "House Republican Cuts to Nutrition Assistance Would Harm Families in Every State," Center for American Progress, Aug. 8, 2017.

Stop Republicans in Congress from gutting our earned benefit programs

The petition to Congress reads: "Do not cut, privatize, weaken or otherwise damage Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. You cannot pay for your disastrous tax giveaway to Wall Street and to the top 1% with our earned benefits." Add your name:

Donald Trump’s Republican lapdogs in Congress just rammed a massively unpopular, cruel and deeply corrupt Tax Scam into law. Now, Paul Ryan and the rest of the right-wing Republican leadership in Congress is gearing up to slash Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, nutrition assistance and more.1 Republican ideologues like Ryan know their Robin-Hood-in-reverse agenda to enrich their billionaire donors from Wall Street by gutting our earned benefit programs is deeply unpopular. They learned the hard way this past year how unpopular cutting Medicaid is. That is why they are predictably using made-up excuses about the deficit to smear these important programs. We need to make it clear that any attempt to privatize, cut, weaken or damage Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security or any of our earned benefits is completely unacceptable. Tell Congress: Stop the Republican attack on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Click here to sign the petition. Even before the Trump Tax Scam passed, Ryan was talking about his plans to gut Medicaid and Medicare in 2018. “We're going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform,” he promised last week, suddenly rediscovering a passion for the deficit after pushing trillions in tax giveaways to the ultra-wealthy.2 Medicare is a fundamental tool of economic security for more than 58 million seniors, and the program is overwhelmingly popular.3,4 And throughout the summer, activists with the disability rights organization ADAPT and others showed Republicans just how important Medicaid is in their daily lives. The majority of Medicaid beneficiaries are children and working-age adults, Medicaid spends more money on long term care for seniors and people with disabilities than anything else.5 Social Security, meanwhile, is totally funded for the next two decades – longer if everyone pays at the same rate – and the only retirement income that most Americans can count on.6 Donald Trump repeatedly pledged during the 2016 campaign not to attack Medicare, Medicaid or our Social Security system but he has since seriously undermined these programs. Ryan’s ultimate goal is to end Medicare as we know it and replace it with a privatized program.7 Now, Trump and his lapdogs in Congress are not just coming after Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, they are attacking programs like Meals on Wheels, SNAP, and other nutritional assistance that families rely on. Republicans are whipping up a fake deficit hysteria after giving massive giveaways to the rich as a Trojan horse to attack our earned benefits. We must go all out to resist any cuts. Tell Congress: Stop the Republican attack on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Click here to sign the petition. If Ryan gets his way, folks who have been working their whole lives counting on Medicare in their retirement won’t ever be able to enroll – instead they will get a check that might help cover their premium for private insurance, if they are lucky.8 And if the Republicans are successful in their attacks on Medicare and Medicaid, they will come next for Social Security. What’s more, our Social Security system is separate from regular taxes and not affected by the deficit.9 Republicans cannot attack our earned benefits without a major fight. More than 70 percent of Americans rely on these programs at some point in our lives, and we are not going to let Ryan, McConnell and Trump dismantle them.10 Tell Congress: Stop the Republican attack on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Click the link below to sign the petition. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/No_Cuts?t=8&akid=26541%2E3130208%2ET8evpT - Kaili Lambe CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: Jeff Stein, “Ryan says Republicans to target welfare, Medicare, Medicaid spending in 2018,” The Washington Post, Dec. 6, 2018 Ibid. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, “Medicare Enrollment Dashboard,” accessed Dec. 14, 2017. Dan Mangan, “Medicare, Medicaid popularity high: Kaiser,” CNBC, July 17, 2017. Social Security Works, “Why Medicaid Is Important to Seniors,” accessed Dec. 20, 2017. Carolyn Colvin, "Social Security Funded Until 2034, and About Three-Quarters Funded for the Long Term; Many Options to Address the Long-Term Shortfall," Social Security Matters, June 22, 2016. Josh Marshall, “Ryan Plans to Phase Out Medicare in 2017,” TPM, Nov. 13, 2016. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "Policy Basics: Understanding the Social Security Trust Funds," Sept. 21, 2017. Sarah Ayres Steinberg, "The Safety Net is Good Economic Policy," Center for American Progress, March 31, 2014.

Time to take back our country

Our Senators have disregarded the will of the people. In this time of great income inequality, both houses have passed tax plans that give huge tax cuts to billionaires and big corporations at the expense of the rest of us.

These tax plans will increase the deficit by 1.4 trillion dollars which will lead to dismantling vital social safety nets such as medicaid, medicare and even social security. Remember the uproar when they tried to dismantle the Affordable Care Act? This bill has a sneaky provision that would destroy it. But it's not only the elderly who will suffer. Students would no longer be able to deduct the interest from their college loans. Tuition waivers for graduate students would be considered taxable income. This bill would also be devastating to our wildlife. Despite whole species going extinct everyday from lack of habitats, this bill would allow oil companies to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

This bill disregards the needs of the American people. It increases the financial divide by handing over billions of dollars to the richest people the planet has ever known. They will have even more expendable income to buy our politicians. They will end up privatizing our decaying infrastructure - including our depleted waterways. They will OWN US.

We can't take this lying down. We have got to do everything we can to stop this disastrous tax bill from destroying the country as we know it. Fortunately, there is still time while the bill is being worked on in the conference committee. You can reach your House members at the Whitehouse switchboard: (202) 224-3121. Ask them not to pass either version of the bill as they now stand, but to work with Democrats to construct a bill that addresses the needs of individuals and families.

This is just the first step. We need a government that represents the people. Time to get organized and stand up for America!