Womenstake

Cut Cake, Not Benefits: Social Security is 75 Years Young and Still Going Strong

by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security,
National Women's Law Center

This Saturday, August 14, is the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Social Security Act. It was President Franklin Roosevelt who signed the bill into law, but it was Frances Perkins, the first woman in the Cabinet, who made it happen. If you have a couple of minutes this weekend, you can mark the occasion by reading  (or listening to) her speech in 1960 commemorating the 25th anniversary. She reminisced about heading the Committee on Economic Security that worked to design Social Security in the depths of the Great Depression, without a budget, computers—or air conditioning, in sweltering Washington, D.C.

The creation of Social Security in 1935 was an extraordinary achievement—and over the years, it's gotten even better for women and their families. Today, Social Security provides at least half of the income of a majority of women 65 and older. For three out of ten elderly single women and women of color, Social Security is virtually their only source of income. And Social Security isn't just a retirement program; it provides disability and life insurance benefits for young families and does more to alleviate child poverty than any other federal program.

And the really good news is that Social Security can keep going strong and do even more to provide economic security for women and their families for the next 75 years. But policy makers must reject cuts to vital Social Security benefits.

Billionaire Investment Managers Stick Poor Families with the Tab for Medicaid and Education Assistance

by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security,
National Women's Law Center

Last week, the Senate finally passed a measure extending enhanced Medicaid and education funding for states and localities. The aid is urgently needed to protect women's health, women's jobs, and services that women and their families depend upon. The House is coming back from recess to vote on the measure tomorrow.

But this critical assistance comes at a painful and unnecessary price. While part of the $26 billion increase in aid to states and localities is funded by closing international tax loopholes (raising $9.6 billion in revenues), the main way the bill is paid for is by cutting $11.9 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly Food Stamps) for low-income families. These cuts mean that in 2014, SNAP benefits will drop by about $59 a month for a family of four.

This isn't happening because everyone is being asked to sacrifice to get through tough times. It's because billionaire investment fund managers successfully persuaded a minority of Senators to block any attempt to make them pay taxes on their earnings at the same rate as ordinary mortals. 

It’s Not Your Great-Grandmother's Social Security

by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security,
National Women's Law Center

Social Security turns 75 next month, and we're getting ready to celebrate the anniversary of this enduring, successful, and vitally important program. But we also celebrate the changes that have made the program even better for women since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law on August 14, 1935.

A few highlights in the history of Social Security, from a women’s perspective:

• 1939:  Social Security becomes a family insurance program, not just a worker retirement program. Spouses and children gain protection against the loss of income when a worker retires or dies.
• 1950:  Coverage was expanded to domestic and farm workers, and benefits were significantly increased.
• 1956:  Disability insurance was added.
• 1965:  Divorced spouses become eligible for benefits if married for 20 years.
• 1972:  Automatic cost of living adjustments were enacted, protecting benefits from being eroded by inflation over women's longer lifespans. The widow's benefit was increased to 100 percent of the worker's benefit, if both spouses claimed at their full retirement age.
• 1977:  Marriage duration requirement reduced to 10 years.  Supreme Court ruled that requiring widowers but not widows to show dependency was unconstitutional.

For those of you who are thinking, that's interesting, but will Social Security be there for me and my grandchildren? The answer is yes. Social Security can pay 100 percent of promised benefits until 2037, and 76 percent of benefits after that, even with no changes, from the payroll taxes it receives. Currently, it has over $2.5 trillion in reserves in interest-bearing U.S. Treasury bonds, entitled to the full faith and credit of the United States. There is a long-term shortfall in Social Security's finances, but it's manageable — indeed, it’s about the same cost as extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest one percent of Americans. 

We're working to protect and strengthen Social Security. We hope you'll join us in that campaign—and in celebrating Social Security!

NWLC Joins Campaign to Strengthen Social Security

by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security,
National Women's Law Center

The National Women's Law Center is proud to announce participation in the Strengthen Social Security Campaign. The Campaign, composed of dozens of allied organizations from across the human-needs spectrum, aims to reframe the public discourse around Social Security and protect this vital program from cuts in the name of deficit reduction.

As we’ve written before, Social Security hasn’t added a penny to the deficit. (In fact, Social Security has built up surpluses of trillions of dollars which are invested in interest-bearing U.S. Treasury bonds.) Bringing federal deficits under control requires responsible, progressive tax policy and responsible spending, not cuts to a program vital to the economic security of tens of millions of Americans—especially women.

Workers pay dedicated taxes into Social Security to ensure protection for themselves and their families when income is lost due to retirement, disability, or death.  They’ve earned these benefits—and they’re counting on them. When the time comes, we hope you’ll join with us in asking policy makers to protect and strengthen Social Security.

Let Them Eat Cake

by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security,
National Women's Law Center

They don’t get it—or don't care.

Nearly 15 million Americans are unemployed, and nearly 7 million Americans have been out of work for over 6 months.

Yet, once again, a minority of Senators blocked help for millions of struggling families. Hold your Senators accountable for their actions by making a phone call today. 

Providing unemployment benefits and other assistance to families and helping states and localities protect jobs and services aren’t just compassionate. They are the best ways to help a fragile economy.

While your Senators are home, they need to hear from you. We can't let another week go by without giving families the support they need.

Tell your Senators that we need legislation that extends unemployment insurance benefits and emergency assistance for families in crisis. And it needs to include additional Medicaid funding for states, or else we'll face further cuts to health care, education, emergency assistance and other vital services for children and families. That's right, inaction means more pink slips.

We need your help. Contact your home offices and demand real help for families, states, and the economy.

Thank you for continuing to fight for women and families.

Anything to Avoid Raising Taxes on the Wealthy: Cut Social Security Benefits to Pay for the War?!

by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security,
National Women's Law Center

In recent weeks, responsible proposals to close tax loopholes for wealthy investment fund managers, business owners who disguise their earnings to avoid payroll taxes, and corporations that shift jobs and profits offshore have been scaled back — and successfully filibustered, killing those proposals along with urgently needed help for families and states. This week, opposition to a modest tax on large financial institutions threatened to bring down financial regulatory reform, and the proposal was quickly dropped.

Where do policy makers who are unwilling to raise taxes on billionaire hedge fund managers, financial institutions making huge profits thanks to taxpayer bailouts, and multinational corporations dodging U.S. taxes think they’ll get the revenue they need?

House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) has an idea. In an interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Rep. Boehner suggested paying for the war in Afghanistan by cutting Social Security benefits. Specifically, he suggested increasing the Social Security retirement age to 70 for people who have at least 20 years until retirement, tying cost-of-living increases to the consumer price index rather than wage inflation, and limiting payments to those who need them. 

New Data Show Senate Must Act to Protect Jobs for Women (Not Tax Loopholes for Investment Managers)

by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security,
National Women's Law Center

Today’s data on the employment situation show the urgent need for the Senate to act quickly on jobs legislation.

In May, fifteen million Americans were unemployed, including 6.8 million who have been unemployed for six months or more. The overall unemployment rate was 9.7 percent—and unemployment rates were even higher for several groups of women. Unemployment among women who head families was 11.6 percent; among Black women, 12.4 percent; and among Hispanic women, 10.3 percent.

The economy added 431,000 jobs in May—but 411,000 of those jobs were temporary Census jobs. There was a small increase in private sector employment—41,000—but in the women-dominated state and local government sector, 22,000 jobs were lost. With many states in economic crisis and Recovery Act funding set to expire, many more jobs will lost—unless Congress acts.

Congress Leaves for Memorial Day without Getting Help to Families and States in Crisis

by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security,
National Women's Law Center

The House just passed a bill that’s still called “The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act.” But, with Blue Dog Democrats threatening to join House Republicans in voting against the stronger bill we urged the House to pass at the beginning of the week, some critical provisions to protect jobs and vital services were dropped. And the Senate has left town without taking up the bill ― so unemployment insurance benefits will expire ― again.

The House bill does extend enhanced unemployment benefits for long-term jobless workers, at least through November. It also extends funding for the TANF Emergency Fund, which states are using to create jobs and help families in crisis, and provides funding for summer jobs.

But additional Medicaid assistance to states ― urgently needed to protect health care services for low-income women and their families and ease the pressure on state budgets, preserving jobs and other vital services ― was dropped. Funding to extend COBRA subsidies to help workers who lose their jobs hang on to health care coverage was eliminated.

Taxes Aren’t Just for the Little People, After All

by Reggie Oldak, Senior Counsel,
and Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security,
National Women's Law Center

Congress is taking aim at a major tax loophole that allows extremely wealthy investment fund managers (the top 25 hedge fund managers earned an average of over $1 billion each last year) to pay lower tax rates than teachers, nurses, and other hard-working Americans. 

The provision to increase taxes on "carried interests" is included in the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010 (H.R. 4213), introduced jointly by acting House Ways and Means Committee Chair Sander M. Levin, D-Mich., and Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus, D-Mont. yesterday. Both the House and the Senate are expected to vote on the bill next week, before they recess for Memorial Day.

Voters in Arizona Overwhelmingly Approve Tax Increase

by Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security,
National Women's Law Center

As pundits analyze the significance of Tuesday’s election results, there’s one outcome they shouldn’t overlook. Voters in Arizona—Arizona!—approved an increase in the sales tax to avoid deep cuts to education and other services. The measure, supported by Governor Jan Brewer (R), raises the state sales tax by one cent for the next three years.

And it wasn’t even close. According to the latest results available, with 88 percent of precincts reporting, the sales tax increase had 64 percent of the vote.

Needless to say, this probably doesn’t mean that most Arizona voters want to pay higher taxes. But faced with the choice of taxing themselves more—or making the deep cuts proposed by the legislature to education, health care, and public safety—the voters chose the tax increase. Politicians should take note.