Sometimes we fail to listen, we fail to remember, and; when people say things, we fail to believe them.
In the case of this last election, right-wing conservative candidates were honest; they told us they would hold the debt ceiling hostage, and now, the new Members of the new, very narrow Republican majority are working to keep their promises. They work to keep their promises to hold the debt ceiling hostage because they plan to demand cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits as their price for passing the debt ceiling.
What the right-wing conservatives risk is dangerous. The global economy, a recession, or even a depression are serious matters. America’s standing in the world would be endangered, and failure to increase the debt ceiling would force the US Treasury to default on its existing bonds. This US failure to keep its promises means that the economy would crash, jobs would disappear, people who depend upon Social Security would be on the street, mortgages would not be paid, and getting a loan would soon be impossible. Interest rates would rise, and a second Great Depression would be genuine.
Understanding why the new right-wing House majority is choosing to threaten our existence is essential. The answer centers on how right-wing conservatives have spent nearly a century resenting that Social Security works (as does Medicare).
Social Security saved my Grandpa. It could save yours, too.
Today I have chosen to share my family story because it is not only real but also an example of what Congress’ failure to raise the debt ceiling would mean to our lives.
My family came from nowhere – no trust funds, no relatives to help, little education, and nothing but a strong work ethic. My grandfather started his work “career” with a 3rd-grade education and a will to better himself. First, he apprenticed himself out to a linotype operator. These “new” hot metal typesetting systems required casting lines of metal type, with each letter handled individually. The work gave my Grandpa the skills to start his own business – “Pope, the Printer,” which could be found in downtown Des Moines until the Great Depression killed his business.
Grandpa did the design and printing work, and my grandmother, with a high school diploma, kept the books. The family prospered. My mom graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School and took a business course which helped her get a job at Metropolitan Life Insurance.
But then the crash came. Just like almost everyone else, my grandparents lost every dollar they had in their bank accounts. They lost their business, their savings, and the home they were buying. Everything they worked for was gone. They lost their future – nothing left. From then on, life became a patchwork of odd jobs. Grandmother relied on tips as she waited tables at Younkers Tea Room. Except when he worked in the war plant at Tech High, Grandpa never found a long-term job again. There was no money. My grandparents moved into my mother’s new, tiny bachelorette apartment because they were desperate.
No opportunities remained even though they had done all the right things – get more education, start a business, grow their company into a good living, and save money for their old age.
“KA-BOOM!” Everything was gone.
My grandmother died before she could age into retirement, but Grandpa did age into retirement. His last years through the depression were composed of patching life together; he had no savings. But this is where Roosevelt’s Social Security program came into place. Social Security gave him a life in his senior years that had some dignity and enough extra money that he could give me my first bicycle – a used one he painted blue for me. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it kept my Grandpa out of the poor house.
Social Security is the American Safety Net
Social Security touches the lives of every American, both directly and indirectly. Social Security helps older Americans, workers who become disabled, wounded warriors, and families in which a spouse or parent dies. Today, like my Grandpa, 40% of Americans rely upon Social Security as their only income in retirement. Only 6.8 percent of US seniors receive payments from three kinds of income: Social Security, a defined benefit pension, and a defined contribution plan.
In summary, watch out!
The attacks on Social Security are geared up.
Social Security is a model of a simple, universal, and overwhelmingly popular government program. It is more popular than any other government program. Since 1935 — for almost 90 years, our Social Security system continues to prove how Wall Street is wrong when it claims private corporations are more efficient than what we can do together.
Social Security and Medicare are extremely popular and depended upon by almost every American. Although Wall Street and others have tried to cut, privatize, or destroy both for decades, they failed because Americans spoke out; Americans insisted and demanded protection without cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
Always before Wall Street and their right-wing partners tried using fast-tracked commissions, committees, and processes like Mitt Romney’s proposal for his TRUST Act. Wall Street and its conservative pals wanted to cut Social Security behind closed doors without Americans blaming them.
In 2011 – the last federal government shutdown, negotiations resulted in an agreement that prolonged the Great Recession, downgraded the United States’ credit rating, and almost cut Social Security and Medicare.
Now, the “secret” that right-wing conservatives initially kept out of the public’s eyes is no longer secret. Before the election, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) even put it in writing as a promise to the American people; these folks often all bragged about their goal to kill Social Security and Medicare, but not all of us listened.
AMERICA IS A DEMOCRACY.
We must rise. We must use our voices to demand the federal government stay open. We fight to protect Social Security, Medicare, and the US economy by keeping our government open.