On the recordJanuary 25, 2023
this is becoming a regular appearance on the Senate floor to talk about Social Security. It is something that most Americans think that Congress supports almost unanimously. It is a program that has been with us. President Roosevelt, on August 14, 1935, signed the Social Security Act. Out of that came Medicare, when a Democratic Congress in 1965, with President Johnson's signature, signed it. We know what Medicare means. We know what Social Security means for people who live longer, healthier lives. No matter your income, no matter if you have been a Senator for 20 years, no matter if you are a CEO, no matter if you are a UAW member and at a Ford plant in Avon, no matter if you are a low-income worker at the Hilton Hotel on West Market in Akron, no matter your work, you are eligible, at a certain age, for Social Security and Medicare. So what is the debate about? Well, the debate is philosophical, and I am not even sure what. It is partly my conservative colleagues who generally want to privatize Medicare and Social Security. For them, it seems to be something philosophic or ideological or sometimes it is just people wanting to support the insurance industry because if you privatize Medicare and Social Security, yes, it will help the insurance companies; yes, it will help the banks.…





