Dear Friends,
Elizabeth Warren has introduced a bill along with Bernie Sanders and 16 other Democratic Senators to provide a one time payment to seniors and veterans who are not getting a cost of living increase in 2016 because of the way in which the cost of living is calculated. The amount of the payment is 3.9% which is the average raise for the top CEOs. It would be paid for by eliminating a corporate loophole. It is a great idea and not just because I am on Social Security. You can read more here, here and here.
I searched the internet for quite awhile to find what Hillary Clinton had to say about this legislation, and I found nothing. She is probably for it, but she certainly is not expending any energy to help the legislation get a hearing or passed. While Secretary Clinton has said many times that she supports Social Security and will work to keep it from being cut back, she is not pushing to expand it. An article on the Huffington Post website entitled "Hillary Clinton Hesitates on Expanding Social Security" (here) summarizes the differences between Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders on this issue.
"I fully support Social Security and the most important fight we're going to have is defending it against continuing Republican efforts to privatize it," Clinton said, after hesitating.The difference is clear, not only will Bernie Sanders fight to expand Social Security, he will lead with specific proposals while Hillary Clinton will give support to maintain and maybe perhaps expand for some if pushed really hard but with no specifics. Bernie Sanders is a true leader.
Asked again whether she would expand Social Security benefits, Clinton conceded that she would expand benefits for some of the program's poorest beneficiaries, specifically citing widows and single women.
"I want to enhance the benefits for the poorest recipients of Social Security,” Clinton said. “We have a lot of women on Social Security, particularly widowed and single women, who didn't make a lot of money during their careers and they are impoverished and they need more help from the Social Security system."
Sanders, by contrast, has introduced a bill that would expand Social Security across the board and increase its solvency by lifting the cap on earnings subject to Social Security payroll taxes.
Responding to Clinton, Sanders said the reason he so strongly supports expansion is because he believes current benefits are inadequate for the vast majority of seniors.
Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal
