Don't Privatize Social Security

Although the Bush administration's attempt to privatize Social Security failed in 2005, President Bush has made it clear that Social Security privatization is still one of his priorities.

The 2005 proposal would have forced drastic cuts in retirement benefits for America’s workers—whether or not they chose to take part in the scheme.

It's likely that any new plan would be similar to the one proposed in 2005. Take a look and see how that plan would shortchange your retirement.

Privatizing Social Security Would:

• Slash guaranteed benefits by as much as $9,000 per year.

   

• Take away 70 cents in retirement benefits for every $1 in a private account and return the money to government coffers.

   

• Prohibit you from controlling the money in your private accounts. Politicians will pick Wall Street firms to control your investment accounts, a process corrupted by politics.

   

• Saddle our children with $4.9 trillion in debt over the next 20 years alone, most of which we would owe to foreign countries.

Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security would make working families’ retirement problems worse, not better. But it would give billions of dollars in privatized account management fees to rich Wall Street outfits—the same ones that can afford high-priced lobbyists on Capitol Hill.

We beat the big-money lobbyists last time. If they try again, we have to do it again. When candidates ask for our votes, demand that they keep the “security” in Social Security.

Do your part to stop Social Security privatization. Click here to sign our petition to incumbents and candidates for Congress. The petition urges your members of Congress and candidates to strengthen Social Security, rather than privatize it, and to oppose cutting benefits, running up huge new debt or raising the retirement age to pay for privatization.