November 8, 2023
Dear Senator/Representative:
The undersigned organizations write in strong opposition to the formation of a debt commission which has been promoted during the ongoing debate around government funding. The White House has accurately described such a commission as a “death panel” for Social Security.
It is imperative to understand that Social Security does not add a penny to the federal debt. It has its own dedicated revenue, cannot spend a penny unless it has sufficient dedicated revenue to cover the cost of all benefits and associated administrative costs, and has no borrowing authority.
Social Security provides working families with invaluable insurance against the loss of wages in the event of death, disability, and old age. It is essential to its nearly 67 million beneficiaries. It is especially important to women, people with disabilities, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community and others who have been disadvantaged in the workforce.
All of the options for eliminating Social Security’s projected shortfall, manageable in size and still a decade away, are fully understood. In this Congress alone, several legislative proposals that do just that have been introduced with numerous cosponsors. The only reason to make changes to Social Security via a closed-door commission is to cut already modest earned benefits — something the American people overwhelmingly oppose — while avoiding political accountability.
As currently structured, the commission’s recommendations would have priority over other legislative business, and they would have to be considered without amendment. Moreover, if this vote is required to occur right after the upcoming election, incumbents running for re-election will be able to deny their support of highly unpopular and unwise cuts to hard working Americans’ earned benefits — and then vote for those cuts in the lame duck Congress.
Some have made statements comparing this commission to the so-called Greenspan commission that preceded the enactment of the Social Security Amendments of 1983. However, they are nothing alike. The Greenspan commission recommendations were nothing more than recommendations. What was ultimately proposed and considered by Congress went through regular order, with committee hearings and the ability to amend and debate, both in committee and on the floor of both the House and Senate.
Indeed, the late Robert M. Ball—who represented then-Speaker Tip O’Neill both on the commission and in negotiating the Social Security package with the Reagan White House—was so concerned that the Greenspan commission might be invoked to force another commission at a later date, that he requested, literally on his deathbed, that the following warning be published. In his words, “[t]o suggest that the Greenspan Commission provides a model for resolving questions about Social Security’s future would be laughable if it were not so dangerous.”
Congress should not abdicate its responsibility to make hard choices through regular order by hiding behind a fiscal commission. Congress already has a process to confront the federal debt. That process is known as reconciliation. Revealingly, Social Security cuts are excluded from the reconciliation procedure, because, as previously stated,the program is totally self-funded, cannot pay benefits or associated costs without the revenue to cover the costs, has no borrowing authority, and, therefore, does not add a penny to the deficit. Consequently, if a debt commission with jurisdiction over Social Security were to be formed,its purpose would be clear: to cut its modest benefits, while avoiding political accountability.
In short, we consider support for a debt commission to be support for cutting Social Security. We urge you to decline to do so.
Thank you for considering our views.
Sincerely,
ACA Consumer Advocacy
AFL-CIO
AFSCME
AFT Washington Retiree Chapter 8045R
Alliance for Retired Americans
American Family Voices
American Federation of Government Employees
American Federation of Musicians
American Federation of Teachers
American Federation of Teachers, Washington
American Postal Workers Union
Arkansas Community Organizations
Beta Cell Action
Blue Future
BOWL PAC
California Alliance for Retired Americans
Campaign for America’s Future
Center for Common Ground
Center For Economic And Policy Research
Center for Popular Democracy
Church World Service
Citizen Action of New York
Coalition on Human Needs
Communications Workers of America
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces
Consumer Action
District Eight National Alliance of Postal & Federal Employees
Doctors for America
Economic Opportunity Institute
Economic Policy Institute
Equality Federation
Foundation for Integrative AIDS Research
Generations United
Goddard Riverside-NYC
Health Care for America Now
Healthcare for All Minnesota
Healthcare is a Human Right – Washington
Indivisible
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers
Justice for All Network
Justice in Aging
Labor Campaign for Single Payer
Long Beach Alliance for Clean Energy
Long Island Center for Independent Living, Inc.
Massachusetts Senior Action Council
Metro New York Health Care for All
Michigan People’s Campaign
Michigan United
Midtown South Community Council
MomsRising
MoveOn
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
National Employment Law Project
National Federation of Federal Employees
National LGBTQ Task Force
National Organization for Women
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Postal Mail Handlers Union
National Union of Healthcare Workers
National Women’s Law Center
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
New Mexico AFSCME Retirees
New Mexico Alliance for Retired Americans
North Seattle Progressives
Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition
NY Statewide Senior Action Council
NYS Alliance for Retired Americans
Office of Peace, Justice and Integrity of Creation, Sisters of Charity of New York
One Payer States
Our Revolution
P Street
Pacific Islander Health Board of WA
Painters and Allied Trades International Union
People’s Action
Physicians for a National Health Program
Physicians for a National Health Program – NY Metro Chapter
Physicians for a National Health Program – Washington
Progress America
Progressive Democrats of America
PSARA Education Fund
Public Citizen
Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action
Revolving Door Project
Rise Up WV
SEIU 521
Social Security Works
Strengthen Social Security Coalition
Swing Left Bakersfield, CA
Tennessee Health Care Campaign
The Other 98% Lab
The People United
Transportation Trades Department
U.S. Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph
United Mine Workers of America
Unity Fellowship of Christ Church-NYC
Upper East Side for Change
Upper West Side Action Group: MoveOn/Indivisible/SwingLeft
Utility Workers Union of America
VOCAL-NY
Washington CAN
We the 45 Million
West Virginia Citizen Action