On the recordJuly 15, 2011
The huffing and puffing over the debt crisis is reminiscent of Washington's tumult over the Wall Street bailout: Panic the public with claims the sky is falling and then start to drop things from the sky. In this case threats that Social Security checks will not be sent out. We must avoid default, but Social Security didn't cause the debt crisis. Social Security has nothing to do with the debt crisis. Withholding Social Security checks or cutting Social Security benefits would represent a default to the American people and an abandonment of the principles of the economic justice that created Social Security. The White House wants a big deal, a $4 trillion debt deal. But that deal must not come from cuts to Social Security--or Medicare, for that matter. Millions of senior citizens, who in their lifetime built this country, who fought for this country, who depend on their Social Security check as an economic lifeline want to see if their concerns are a big deal to us. ____________________
