Social Security Works!: Why Social Security Isn’t Going Broke and How Expanding It Will Help Us AllA growing chorus of prominent voices in Congress and elsewhere are calling for the expansion of our Social Security system—people who know that Social Security will not “go broke” and does not add a penny to the national debt. Social Security Works! will amplify these voices and offer a powerful antidote to the three-decade-long, billionaire-funded campaign to make us believe that this vital institution is destined to collapse. It isn't. From the Silent Generation to Baby Boomers, from Generation X to Millennials and Generation Z, we all have a stake in understanding the real story about Social Security. Critical to addressing the looming retirement crisis that will affect two- thirds of today's workers, Social Security is a powerful program that can help stop the collapse of the middle class, lessen the pressure squeezing families from all directions, and help end the upward redistribution of wealth that has resulted in perilous levels of inequality. All Americans deserve to have dignified retirement years as well as an umbrella to protect them and their families in the event of disability or premature death. Sure to be a game-changer, Social Security Works! cogently presents the issues and sets forth both an agenda and a political strategy that will benefit us all. At stake are our values and the kind of country we want for ourselves and for those that follow. |
Contents
1 THE CHANGING CONVERSATION | 3 |
2 SOCIAL SECURITY WORKS FOR ALL GENERATIONS | 21 |
3 THE PRECARIOUS LIVES OF TODAYS OLD | 39 |
4 THE COMING RETIREMENT INCOME CRISIS | 55 |
5 THE DEBT OWED TO THOSE WHO CARE | 73 |
6 THE NEW GILDED AGE | 88 |
7 EXPAND SOCIAL SECURITY FOR ALL GENERATIONS | 107 |
8 PAYING THE BILL | 123 |
11 THERE THEY GO AGAIN | 185 |
12 PASSING SOCIAL SECURITY FORWARD | 200 |
APPENDIX A | 209 |
APPENDIX B | 216 |
APPENDIX C | 228 |
APPENDIX D | 236 |
NOTES | 239 |
| 289 | |
9 THE BILLIONAIRES WAR AGAINST SOCIAL SECURITY | 143 |
10 THE CONVENTIONAL WISDOM IS JUST PLAIN WRONG | 159 |
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Social Security Works!: Why Social Security Isn't Going Broke and how ... Nancy J. Altman,Eric R. Kingson No preview available - 2015 |
Common terms and phrases
2014 Annual Report AARP actuaries adults African Americans Alan Simpson Altman amount Atlantic Philanthropies average baby boomers beneficiaries Budget caregivers Center chapter child Commission Congress contributions costs cut Social Security debt deficit Disability Insurance Disability Insurance Trust dollars earnings Economic Policy Institute employers enacted estimates expand Social Security Federal Old-Age full retirement age households increase Index inequality inflation Insurance and Federal Insurance Trust Funds investment Kingson legislation living maximum Medicaid Medicare million National Obama old age Old-Age and Survivors older parents pension percent of taxable percentage Peterson Plan Ponzi scheme poverty President proposal protection Reagan retired worker retirement income crisis revenue risk Senate seniors Social Insurance Social Security Administration Social Security benefits Social Security system Social Security Trustees Social Security’s spending spouses Survivors Insurance taxable payroll today’s trillion U.S. Census Bureau wage insurance women