Larry Hyland
Chairman
(TSCL) The Senior Citizens League
(P.O. Box 97173, Washington, D.C. 20090-7173)
The Social Security Guarantee
Act
A Bill: "To
guarantee the right of individuals
to receive Social Security benefits
under
Title of the Social Security Act in full
with
an accurate annual cost-of- living
adjustment."
NOW BEFORE CONGRESS
Dear League Supporter,
No
matter what kind of dangerous and irresponsible Social Security reform plan
President Obama and Congress may attempt to enact . . . No matter how many more
billions of dollars Congress takes from the Social Security Trust Fund . . . I
have good news to report!
Social Security "Guarantee"
legislation providing you with a WRITTEN GUARANTEE that your benefits will be
paid in full and as you were promised IS NOW BEFORE CONGRESS.
Imagine
what it would be like if you received a certificate similar to a stock
certificate or CD that you could put in your safe deposit box – a certificate
that GUARANTEES your benefits. That's almost exactly what will happen when this
bill is passed into law – which is why I'm urging you to take this opportunity
to sign the official Congressional Petition I've enclosed and rush it back to
me.
Your
legislative team at the League has been working with Members of Congress to
pass COLA legislation that protects your benefits, gives you a minimum COLA and
corrects the way that the COLA is calculated so it provides an accurate and
fair increase each year.
The
Bill before Congress is now more important than ever, as they focus on a
massive Social Security COLA cut. Over a typical retirement, the average
beneficiary will see their benefits reduced by over $20,970 if this cut is
allowed to go into effect!
The
Social Security Guarantee Act, introduced by Representative Walter Jones (NC-3)
in this session of Congress, is an extraordinary first breakthrough for older
Americans because it provides a written guarantee – in the form of a
certificate – that Social Security recipients can keep in a safe place and
count on. AND, it requires the government to CORRECT the inaccurate and unfair
Social Security COLA.
The
Social Security Guarantee Act, and the certificate you'll receive on passage,
is as close to an IRON CLAD GUARANTEE as you can obtain! And, right now, we are
working to make sure as many Members of Congress as possible support it.
We
have already pulled out all the stops when it comes to lobbying Congress. In
the past year we have visited approximately 100 offices on Capitol Hill, had
personal one-on-one meetings with dozens of Members of Congress, and talked
with well over 100 key Congressional staff members. In particular, we have
focused on how the CURRENT Social Security COLA underpays seniors and how the
new "Chained" COLA will make matters worse and will be potentially
devastating to millions of seniors as it slashes benefits by $30, $50, $80 a
month or more in the coming years.
Your
legal and legislative team at the League has closely monitored and supported a
variety of legislation over the last five years designed to provide some form
of guarantee against Social Security benefit cuts.
But, put simply, The Social Security
Guarantee Act is the best solution because it protects you from benefit cuts
AND requires that you receive an accurate COLA each year!
As
you know from my past letters, the current method for calculating the annual
Social Security COLA is both inaccurate and unfair. Which is why Social
Security recipients receive such a small COLA – or no COLA at all – when we all
know prices have been rising!
And
now they want to change the way the COLA is calculated and permanently reduce
the amount you receive!
The
Social Security Guarantee Act is exactly what we need to protect our benefits
from these kinds of back door cuts and "technical" changes.
Which
is why I strongly urge you to sign the [requested] enclosed petition supporting
The Social Security Guarantee Act.
Your
signature will show our lawmakers that Seniors stand united in demanding that
our Social Security benefits must be guaranteed. Your petition says, in effect,
that we don't trust you!
If
you think I'm too cynical or distrustful, just take a look at the government's
past record of miscalculations and broken promises on Social Security:
• Congress has
already spent our Social Security Trust Fund reserves and replaced them with
worthless IOU's;
• Congress has
already taxed our benefits;
• Congress has
already shortchanged us on our annual Cost-of-Living (COLA) increases, which is
one reason why your COLA was zero for two years, and just 1.7% this year;
• Congress cut
Social Security benefits to "Notch" babies (beneficiaries born from
1917 through 1926);
• In 1983
Congress ALSO cut the benefits of today's Baby Boomers by raising payroll taxes
and the eligibility age;
• The
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Social Security Trustees recently
forecast that the Trust Fund that pays Social Security Disability benefits will
be completely insolvent in just three years, by 2016.
Which
is why Seniors must speak out now.
Help me say in a loud and clear voice,
"Before ANY Social Security reform, we FIRST want legislation that
guarantees our current benefits won't be cut!"
That's
why we are contacting hundreds of thousands of seniors to mobilize a grassroots
army in support of The Social Security Guarantee Act. I urge you to please
return your signed Petition to me immediately in the envelope I've provided.
There
is tremendous power in numbers and my goal is to deliver one million Petitions
to the new Congress asking them to support and vote "YES" to The
Social Security Guarantee Act.
And,
because this campaign is so vital to the future financial security of current
retirees, I urge you to make a special emergency contribution to help me
collect petition signatures and deliver them to Congress.
Even
though many Americans who receive this letter will sign the Petition, some
won't be able to contribute. That's why it's vital you send $10, $15, $25, or
even more if you can.
Please
respond right away with your signed Petition. And please help with your very
best contribution [Click to Sign
a Petition Online].
No
matter how much you send – whether $10, $5, $15, or $25, your contribution is
urgently needed and will be deeply appreciated. We have an expensive battle in
Congress to fight. I know you will do the best you can (TSCL, P.O. Box 97173, Washington, D.C. 20090-7173).
Fighting
For our benefits Guarantee,
Larry
Hyland
Chairman
P.S. We must act NOW. When
Congress passes The Social Security Guarantee Act it will be the first time
since the beginning of Social Security that your benefits are protected from
cuts.
Remember – by demanding the
government give you a certificate that guarantees your benefits, we are doing
no more than asking them to put in writing the promises they already made . . .
And, with the threat of a
COLA change that will reduce the COLA even further, and with the Guarantee Bill
before Congress, NOW is the time to act!
[Click to Sign a Petition Online]
********************
(Sample)
Official Congressional Petition
The Social Security Guarantee Act –
Bill Now Before Congress!!!
A BILL: "To guarantee the
right of individuals to receive Social
Security benefits under title
II of the Social Security Act in full
with an accurate annual
cost-of-living adjustment."
TO: U.S. Senators ________________
and ________________, and
U.S. Representative ________________
I support efforts to make
Social Security more stable and secure, but the Social Security reform
proposals being discussed and debated in Washington are both dangerous and unfair to current Social
Security recipients. You MUST co-sponsor, support and vote for The Social
Security Guarantee Act now before Congress and endorsed by The Senior Citizens
League (TSCL) on behalf of the millions of older Americans who are currently
struggling to survive on benefits that ALREADY fail to keep abreast of
skyrocketing medical, healthcare and Medicare costs.
As one of the many supporters
of TSCL who reside in your constituency, I strongly urge you to oppose any
Social Security reform effort until FIRST passing into law The Social Security
Guarantee Act or a similar legislative protection that provides the strongest
guarantee available under law that Social Security benefits will NOT be cut and
that the annual COLA will be set at a fair and accurate level. In summary there
should be:
√ NO cuts of the
type suggested by deficit reduction plans!
√ NO use of the
lower "Chained" COLA
√ NO Social
Security COLA freezes, reductions, or cancellations!
√ NO Social
Security benefits to illegal aliens!
√ MOST
IMPORTANTLY, I eagerly await your prompt vote of "YES" to The Social
Security Guarantee Act.
Signed__________________________________