pdf  Retiree News & Views - Sept/Oct 2015

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness is a well-known phrase in the United States Declaration of Independence that gives three examples of the “inalienable rights” which the Declaration says has been given to all human beings by their Creator, and for which governments are created to protect. The three landmark events below are part of the still unfinished history of inalienable rights in our nation.

Happy Birthday Social Security!

At the time, August 14, 1935, many considered Social Security a radical idea. And it hadmany critics. Some likened it to social engineering. Others called it a “handout.” Still others feared an invasion of privacy. They thought of Social Security as little more than a dehumanizing, intrusive government program, where the individual would be under surveillance and reduced to a 9-digit number.

But, in fact, this Depression-era legislation, signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt 80 years ago, was a resounding success among most Americans who appreciated government providing a “helping hand.” It was such a success that within four months of the law’s enactment, almost 26 million Americans were already on the Social Security roster.

Today, the discussion about Social Security is more political than factual. For example: With a $2.7 trillion fund projected to grow to $3.7 trillion by 2022, Social Security is far from broke. As reported by the Alliance for Retired Americans, despite the fact that Social Security is paying out more benefits than it currently is collecting in taxes, the programis not in the red. This is because the Treasury bonds it has in the trust fund are more than enough tomake up the difference. Despite the shortfalls that have occurred 17 times since 1958, the system is still alive and well.

As the politicians ponder the proposals to sustain Social Security, just ask Doris Welch, a longtime union activist and 237 retiree, why it must never end. For her, it adds quality time to her life. As Doris puts it: “Social Security enables me to spend valuable time with my family and my friends on vacation.” So Doris, one of its lead organizers, alongwith some of our other retirees (pictured) and with the New York City Alliance for Retired Americans, NYC Chapters andMolly Krawkowski of JASA, recently made sure to mark the 80th anniversary of Social Security with a spectacular celebration.

Ask anyone who was there and they would say that Social Security is needed not just for them, but for future generations. We cannot forget that Social Security is a family protection program intended for retirees, their surviving families and the disabled.

Civil Rights Act Turns 50

This past July marked the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act by President Lyndon Johnson. This law made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. President Barack Obama, in marking the occasion, said: “Few pieces of legislation have defined our national identity as distinctly, or as powerfully.”

But this law was not the first attempt at ending discrimination in America. In fact, each year, from1945 through 1957, Congress tried to pass legislation which was thwarted through various political maneuvers, including a record-setting one man, 24-hour filibuster by Democratic Senator StromThurmond of South Carolina.Despite Thurmond’s efforts, Congress passed, and President Dwight Eisenhower signed into law, the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which created a civil rights division of the Justice Department and a U. S. Commission on Civil Rights.

President John Kennedy was aiming to make some real and lasting progress by asking Congress, in a televised speech, to “make a commitment to the proposition that race has no place in American life or law.” Tragically, he was assassinated, but rather than letting the struggle die with him, President Johnson, shortly after Kennedy’s death, implored Congress to act, saying: “No memorial, oration or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy’s memory” than the enactment of a civil rights law.

The passage of the Civil Rights Act was also due, in part, to the dedicated and often perilous work of civil rights activists, labor leaders and faith-based organizations who tirelessly struggled for years to end inequality in America. Congressman John Lewis described a 1965, 50-mile march to Montgomery, Alabama, that he led as a young college student in the following way: “I thought that was going to be my last demonstration. I thought I might die that day. We knew the dangers that lay ahead, but we marched anyway, hoping to usher in a more fair society — a place where every American would be able to freely exercise their right to vote...we knew that standing up for our rights could be a death warrant. But we felt it would be better to die than to live with injustice.”

While the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related legislation that came after have forever changed racial inequality in America, much work still remains ahead. Just two years ago, for example, the Supreme Court nullified a key provision in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that curbed discriminatory and restrictive voting rules and statutes. Clearly, what this shows is that, while civil rights have made tremendous strides over the last 50 years, the fight for equality is still a work in progress and it is incumbent upon all of us to remain vigilant.

Medicare Celebrates 50th Anniversary
Landmark social program now covers 49.4 million Americans

Talk about a national health insurance system for Americans goes all the way back to the days of President Theodore Roosevelt, whose platform included health insurance when he ran for president in 1912.

But the idea for a national health plan didn’t gain steam until it was pushed by President Harry S. Truman. On November 19, 1945, seven months into his presidency, Truman sent a message to Congress calling for creation of a national health insurance fund open to all Americans.

The plan Truman envisioned would provide health coverage to individuals, paying for typical expenses such as doctor visits, hospital visits, laboratory services, dental care and nursing services. Although Truman fought to get a bill passed during his term, he was unsuccessful, and it was another 20 years before Medicare would become a reality.

President John F. Kennedy made his own unsuccessful push for a national health care program for seniors after a national study showed that 56 percent of Americans over the age of 65 were not covered by health insurance. But it wasn’t until 1965 — after legislation was signed by President Lyndon B Johnson — that Americans started receiving Medicare health coverage.

Today, Medicare continues to provide health care for those in need. By the end of 2014, there were 49,435,610 people receiving health coverage through a Medicare program. Benefits paid in 2013 amounted to about 14 percent of the federal budget. The retirement wave of baby boomers was once expected to cause Medicare to become a budget buster, but the Congressional Budget Office is now projecting increases in spending to be much smaller than once thought, thanks in part to cost savings embedded in the Affordable Care Act, called Obamacare.