Elevator Speech

Americans want and deserve a dignified retirement at the end of a lifetime of work. FDR created Social Security as a guaranteed program that we all pay into during our working years and we all withdraw from when we retire. George Bush’s ownership society would end that deal by creating private risk accounts. That may suit the rich who can afford the risk and those lucky enough to place the right bets, but it breaks the historic bargain we’ve had in this country that if you work hard during your productive years you can retire in dignity.

We can strengthen Social Security. Just require that all workers pay the same rate on their income and lift the cap that protects income over $90,000 a year and that solves any projected shortfall. An economy that grows jobs at home rather than sending them overseas, and pays decent wages, means a larger pool of contributors to the Social Security trust fund. We can require companies to keep the promises they make to employees on pensions – and mandate that the shop floor be treated like the top floor when it comes to health care and retirement benefits. We can and should encourage working people to save.

America is a rich country. There simply is no reason for American workers to live their final years in poverty. Surely the measure of a country is how they treat the vulnerable in the dawn of life and the elderly in the dusk of life. We should hold ourselves to that measure. We need to make sure people earn enough to save.