Several dozen members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus have written to President Obama [pdf], to request a meeting with the President prior to the State of the Union address, and to ask him to make something crystal clear to Republicans: "We urge you to send a clear message in your State of [the] Union Address: Hands off Social Security!"
You have a unique opportunity to set forth a framework of democratic values and to call for protecting Social Security for generations to come. Social Security is a promise to every American: If you pay into the system, you earn the right to guaranteed benefits during your retirement. As members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, we stand with you and urge you to reaffirm your support for guaranteed Social Security for America's seniors.
As you know, Congressional Republicans have long targeted Social Security for privatization. They have invented a Social Security "crisis" myth to promote their radical schemes to dismantle the cornerstone of retirement security for millions of Americans...
The promise of Social Security is one that we must keep. We urge you to send a clear message in your State of the Union Address: Hands off our Social Security!
Greg Sargent notes that the White House is trying to do damage control with House Dems following the tax deal, so perhaps this letter will find a good reception in the White House. But beyond that, it's a good reminder that then-candidate Obama delivered this same message about Social Security quite well, and successfully, in 2008:
...I believe that cutting benefits is not the right answer; I've seen too many seniors all across the country who are struggling with the limited Social Security benefits that they have; that raising the retirement age is not the best option....
John McCain's campaign has gone even further, suggesting that the best answer for the growing pressures on Social Security might be to cut cost of living adjustments or raise the retirement age. Let me be clear: I will not do either....
I think that's why the best way forward is to first look to adjust the cap on the payroll tax. Ninety-seven percent of Americans will see absolutely no change in their taxes under my proposal--97 percent. What it does allow us to do is to extend the life of Social Security without cutting benefits or raising the retirement age.
That's on point on policy, and on point on politics, both of which the CPC seek to remind Obama of in their letter. Social Security has been the most successful long-term domestic program the United States has ever had, and changing it in its fundamentals wouldn't just be unnecessary and unpopular, it would be bad policy for future generations of American workers.