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Press Release
Iowans United to Protect Social Security
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Date: August 19, 2005
For more information, contact:
Matt Russell, 515-277-5077 (ext 15)
Iowans Celebrate 70 Years of Social Security
Social Security Supporters Deliver Birthday Cakes to Senator Grassley and Congressman Nussle Calling on them to Cut the Cake, Not the Benefits
WATERLOO, IA – Iowa Citizen Action Network (ICAN), the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO and Iowans United held a Social Security 70th Birthday Party today to highlight 70 years of guaranteed benefits under Social Security.
"This morning we are here to celebrate the achievements of Social Security," said Betty Ahrens, co-executive director of ICAN. "We are also here to demand that our representatives in Washington, D.C. maintain the most successful program in the history of our great country. Specifically we are calling on Senator Grassley and Congressman Nussle to oppose any changes to Social Security that would cut guaranteed benefits, would divert money from Social Security to private accounts, or would increase the federal deficit to pay for private accounts."
"Mr. Grassley and Mr. Nussle, Iowans don’t want this risky privatization plan" said Don Rowen, retiree from Des Moines and past executive president of the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. "Listen to us, not the White House! I want Americans to keep celebrating the success of Social Security. I do not want a return to the kind of poverty for seniors and the disabled that existed when Social Security was born."
"It's ridiculous that the President keeps saying that it's young people like me who will benefit from privatization when his own advisors admit that their plan will cut benefits deeply and explode the national debt," said Eric Hungerford, student at Kirkwood Community College in Iowa City.
This past weekend, Americans across the country celebrated the 70th Anniversary of the creation of the Social Security program, our country’s most effective and oldest safety-net. Signed into law in 1935 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Social Security Act was the first major piece of legislation aimed at providing financial security for our nation’s retired guaranteeing benefits for workers who contributed to the program.
ICAN and Iowans United also delivered birthday cakes to the Waterloo offices of Senator Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Congressman Jim Nussle, member of the House Ways and Means Committee and candidate for Governor.
# # #
Faces and Voices of Social Security Campaign
FACT SHEETS
Privatization: Fact Vs Fiction
Is the McCrery-Shaw Bill Privatization?
REPORTS
Institute for America’s Future: Rural Communities Rely on Social Security Income Nearly TWICE as Much as Non-Rural Communities
The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities: Why the President’s Social Security proposals could ultimately lead to the unraveling of Social Security
Institute for America's Future: Privatization = $152,000 Cut in Social Security Checks for Typical Iowan
RESOURCES
Americans United to Protect Social Security
Midwest Academy: The Bush Plan Weakens Social Security
IN THE NEWS
09/30/05, Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier: Public hearing highlights poverty, budget spending
09/29/05, Mason City Globe Gazette: Guest View: Finding Budget 'High Ground'
09/29/05, Cedar Rapids Gazette: Advocates hope to avoid program cuts
09/27/05, Quad City Times: Putting a face on budget plight
09/20/05, Des Moines Register: Hearings planned on cuts to social programs
08/20/05, Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier: Labor group joins protest of Social Security proposal
08/04/05, Washington Evening Journal: Washington stop on Social Security roadshow
07/26/05, Clear Lake Reporter: Social Security Town Hall Discussion to Take Place in Clear Lake
07/06/2005, The Hawk Eye: Group aiming to take stand against Social Security privatization
PRESS RELEASES
02/09/06 - Iowans Call on Nussle to Reject Social Security Cuts and Privatization
8/19/05 - Iowans Celebrate 70 Years of Social Security
8/12/05 - Who Is Ducking? Congressman Jim Nussle on Social Security Privatization
8/3/05 - Rural Iowans to Discuss Effects of Proposed Changes to Social Security
