AARP Threatens Lawmakers for Trying to Fix Social Security Retirement
In a recent Bloomberg Business Week article titled ‘Warning Congress not to Mess with Grandma’, the magazine details the concerted attacks on members of Congress who try to
fix the impending bankruptcies of Social Security (The Social Security Disability program will be bankrupt in 3 years in 2016 and the Social Security Retirement Program will be bankrupt in 2033). These attacks are coming from AARP and related organizations. There are 3 problems with these attacks. First, many of us want these bankruptcies resolved so we know what we are going to receive in social security retirement benefits. If nothing is done soon, I will have my social security retirement benefits cut by 23% in 2033 when I am 85, an age when I am unlikely to be able to work again. That is not fair. The second problem with these attacks are that my children and their generation will have no social security to rely on. That is not fair. The third problem with these attacks is that they suggest these organizations want to hide these impending bankruptcies from the public at large and the aged public specifically and not allow public discourse and public action to resolve these bankruptcies. This is fantasyland and like the proverbial ostrich sticking his head in the sand. The AARP has communicated a bit on its website presenting both sides of the argument. However, it has not communicated more broadly about these pending bankruptcies nor has it set out a thoughtful robust plan to resolve them, and then lobbied the Congress to adopt this plan.
These Social Security impending bankruptcies need to be addressed now. As you have seen in our recent blogs and can review in our website, there are straight forward steps that can be taken to solve these problems. We need to come together as a people and have our Congress and President discuss, debate, decide, and resolve this issue. It is not rocket science but it will be hard and not without personal sacrifice and trade-offs. If we do not take up the issue now, it will just get harder over time and it will imperil our country and its ability to survive in the future.
Harry Pukay-Martin
