- by John LaeschMr. President where is your legislative proposal to increase and strengthen Social Security?As the National Democratic Party Attempts to steer their corporate candidate into the white house, they are now openly wooing progressive voters with empty rhetoric. The first salvo of false promises comes from the sitting president. Sandwiched between 2008 and 2016 rhetoric promising to increase Social Security, the president actually proposed cutting Social Security as part of a “grand bargain.”Please sign my petition that calls on President Obama to introduce legislation that would back up his campaign rhetoric. Watch this video of Bernie Sanders defending Social Security after proposing legislation that accomplish President Obama’s rhetorical goals.In a June 1, 2016 economic policy speech, President Obama reversed his 7-year long position on Social Security, stating that we need to increase Social Security. His words according to an article on Commondreams.org:
We can’t afford to weaken Social Security. We should be strengthening Social Security. And not only do we need to strengthen its long-term health, it’s time we finally made Social Security more generous and increased its benefits so that today’s retirees and future generations get the dignified retirement they’ve earned.
And so, after attempting to cut Social Security with an actual proposal as part of a “grand bargain,” the president is reversing course.My quibble here is that there is no proposal to the United States House and Senate that seeks to accomplish this fair and just rhetoric. When President Obama wanted to cut Social Security, there was a proposal.Mr. President, if you are serious, we expect a proposal to increase Social Security. It is June 8th, 2016 and the U.S. House of Representatives is in session.If you need someone to advance this idea in the U.S. Senate, Bernie Sanders has already submitted a proposal, S. 582, the Social Security Protection Act of 2011, to raise the cap on Social Security to $250,000. Call him.And to strengthen my argument that President Obama’s recent Social Security rhetoric is nothing more than empty words, let’s re-visit Obama’s 2008 campaign when he said, “What we need to do is to raise the cap on the payroll tax so that wealthy individuals are paying a little bit more into the system.”Voters are smart enough to see through the rhetoric. In a campaign year that could potentially highlight Clinton’s trustworthiness issues, voters will be looking for a little less sizzle and a lot more steak.Do we trust a president who proposed cutting social security even though his 2008 and 2016 campaign rhetoric promised otherwise?Do we trust a former U.S. Senator who never once proposed strengthening and increasing Social Security while serving in the senate, and who happens to be swimming in the same Goldman Sachs cash that the president has allowed to seduce him?We cannot afford 4 more years of empty rhetoric.I trust the man who actually proposed legislation. I trust Bernie Sanders. I quit voting for empty rhetoric. It doesn’t get us anywhere good.The hedgers and bankers have long wanted to “privatize and modernize Social Security,” increasing their percent of the profit while gambling in more speculative, risky investment strategies that would hurt senior citizens.