VICTORY: Hillary Clinton Commits to Never Cut Social Security
On Day One After Online Ads from Social Security Works and PCCC Were Announced to Blanket New Hampshire, Sec. Clinton Promises No Cuts
Statement from Nancy Altman, President of Social Security Works
“Today, Hillary Clinton clarified her position that she, like Bernie Sanders, will oppose all Social Security benefits cuts, including, of course, raising the retirement age which is an across the board benefit cut. Expanding, not cutting, Social Security is profoundly wise policy and what an overwhelming majority of Americans want.”
Statement from Stephanie Taylor, Co-Founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee
“This is a huge victory for American seniors. Today, after thousands of Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Social Security Works members took action– Hillary Clinton took cuts to Social Security off the table. Now, we can finally move to the conversation we should be having in a Democratic primary: how to best expand Social Security.”
Today’s victory came just as online ads from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Social Security Works were announced to blanket New Hampshire. See the ads: http://boldprogressives.o
Thousands of people have also signed a petition in the last 36 hours calling on Sec. Clinton to promise never to cut Social Security: ExpandSocialSecurity
See the initial challenge to Sec. Clinton by PCCC on Fox & Friends Feb 2nd: https://www.youtube.com/w
Facts on Social Security:
-
Two thirds of American seniors rely on Social Security for most of their income.
-
The average benefit received by women in 2014 was $13,016—just $1,346 over the federal poverty limit for an individual.
-
The average Social Security benefit is just $16,092 a year, less for African Americans and Latinos. This barely clears the poverty line.
-
94% of Americans oppose cuts to Social Security, and vast majorities of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans support expansion.
Note to press: PCCC staff are available for interviews by phone or in-person from Baltimore, MD. To schedule, please contact Press@BoldProgressives
Social Security Works is the convening member in the Strengthen Social Security Campaign, a coalition comprised of more than 350 national and state organizations representing more than 50 million Americans from many of the nation’s leading aging, labor, disability, women’s, children, consumer, civil rights and equality organizations.
More on PCCC at BoldProgressives.org or @boldprogressive
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) has nearly 1 million members nation-wide fighting for bold progressive change. The PCCC has raised $5.5 million for progressive candidates and committees since its founding in 2009.
The PCCC has not endorsed any candidate for president in the 2016 cycle, focusing instead on incentivizing all Democratic candidates to adopt Elizabeth Warren-style positions, including expanding Social Security benefits, debt-free college, and corporate accountability.
The PCCC led the organizing to make debt-free college a central 2016 issue — working with a coalition of groups that included Democracy for America, think tank Demos, and others. Bloomberg reports, “The phrase ‘debt-free college’ was hardly present in the national political lexicon until the Progressive Change Campaign Committee launched a campaign in January to push Democrats to support the idea.” Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have embraced this national goal.