Even the good ones don't get it! They urgently need to hear from us, asap.
I talked to my senator this weekend in line at a political picnic, and was horrified. He is one of the really good ones; he is principled and willing to take a stand. No privatization, but he didn't see why raising the age of retirement should be a problem. It's been done before, after all. He didn't know what was meant by the Cat Food Commission. He didn't see it as a benefits cut (15% - 19%). I hope I made a beginning in at least getting him to think harder about this, and I will keep phoning and emailing. But!!!
Please call/email your senators and congresspeople asap about the hardship and injustice of an increase in the Social Security retirement age! Tell them that it is actually a 15% - 19% benefits cut. Please call and email them now - and repeatedly.
This morning, I sent my senator a printout of Paul Krugman's 8/15/10 article, Attacking Social Security ( http://www.nytimes.com/... ) with some additional notes at the bottom:
Look at all the old people already working at McDonald’s and Walmart, in what used to be jobs for high school kids. Would you keep them there, shuffling around ontheir walkers, until they drop? Or until they just starve in a doorway? Nobody will hire anyone over 40 these days, not for real jobs.
Is it fair to finance the Wall Street crooks that way? On the backs of our elderly?
As Krugman says, it is only possible to do this out of "ignorance or indifference to the realities of life for many Americans."
Please let them know how hard this would be for many many people. Please make them think about the cruelty and injustice of that proposal. They have to hear from us.