Fw: Thanks for Helping Protect Social Security

----- Original Message -----
From: "MoveOn.org"

To:
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 3:29 PM
Subject: Thanks for Helping Protect Social Security


Dear friend,

Thanks for asking Congress to protect Social Security. Please take a moment
to invite your friends and colleagues to sign -- it's important that we act
now to stop Bush from devastating this critical institution. You can just
forward the sample letter below.

Spreading the word is critical, but please only pass this message along to
those who know you, of course -- spam hurts our campaign.

Thanks, for all you do.

Sincerely,

--The MoveOn.org Team
_____________________

Subject: Tell Congress to protect Social Security

Dear friend:

George Bush and Republican leaders have made phasing out Social Security
through privatization and massive benefit cuts their top priority for 2005.
Members of Congress are choosing sides over the next couple of weeks.

We need to make sure they choose correctly now-before a massive
election-style campaign by George Bush and the Wall Street interests gets to
them including what might be a $100 million TV ad campaign.

MoveOn's trying to gather 200,000 signatures to present to lawmakers when
they return after the inauguration. You can sign the petition now at:

http://www.moveon.org/socialsecurity/

Social Security is a complicated issue, but the basics are really pretty
simple:

-- Social Security provides monthly benefits to some 44 million Americans
who are retired, disabled or the survivor of a deceased parent. It provides
most of the income for older Americans--some 64 percent of their support. It
has lifted generations of seniors out of poverty.

-- Social Security is not in crisis. That is an outright lie perpetrated in
order to create the urgency for radical changes. Under conservative
forecasts, the long-term challenges in Social Security do not manifest
themselves until 2042. Even then Social Security has 70 percent of needed
funds. That shortfall is smaller than the amount needed in 1983, the last
time we overhauled Social Security. George Bush's Social Security
crisis-talk is an effort to create a specter of doom -- just like the
weapons of mass destruction claim in Iraq.

-- Phasing out Social Security and replacing it with privatized accounts
means one thing: massive cuts in monthly benefits for everybody. Social
Security privatization requires diverting taxes used to pay current benefits
into privatized accounts invested in risky stocks. Without that money Social
Security benefits will inevitably be cut -- some proposals even cut benefits
of current retirees. These benefit cuts are inevitable, since diverting
Social Security money into privatized accounts means less money to pay
current and future benefits.

-- Every serious privatization proposal raises the Social Security
retirement age to 70. That might be fine if you're a Washington special
interest lobbyist but it is incredibly unfair to blue-collar Americans with
tough, physical jobs, or for African Americans and Latinos with lower life
expectancies.

-- Privatization means gambling with your retirement security. There is
probably an appropriate place for a little stock market risk in retirement
planning -- but it isn't Social Security. Privatization exposes your entire
retirement portfolio to stock market risks -- and the risk that you'll
outlive any of your savings at retirement. You can't outlive your Social
Security benefit.

-- So who does benefit? Wall Street. Giant financial services firms have
been salivating for decades over the prospect of taking over Social
Security. Wall Street would make billions of dollars in profit by managing
the privatized accounts -- money that would come directly from your
benefits.

-- Action is urgently needed today. President Bush and Republican leaders in
Congress are joining forces with the financial services industry for a major
campaign to convince the public there is a major crisis and pressure members
of Congress to vote for privatization. Action is needed now before it is too
late. Please sign MoveOn's petition to protect Social Security at the link
below.

http://www.moveon.org/socialsecurity/

Thanks for doing this.
_____________________

If you've received this email in error, please correct your campaign
subscription information at:
http://www.moveon.org/s?i=-3285954-MjMRSxuPTqs2MToWEWtEKw
_____________________