Labor & Employment Law

Activists Tell Pa.?s Toomey, ?Hands Off Social Security?

By Mike Hall

At a rally last night, Pennsylvania senior, community and worker activists condemned Republican Senate candidate Rep. Pat Toomey?s call to privatize Social Security.

Pat Worrell of the community group Action United says the action, outside Philadelphia?s National Constitution Center prior to a debate between Toomey and Rep. Joe Sestak (D), was called to tell Pat Toomey, in no uncertain terms, that

Pennsylvanians oppose his reckless suggestion to divert taxpayer dollars from Social Security to Wall Street. The recession has made it clear that the last thing we need is our Social Security exposed to the insecurity of the stock market.

During the debate, Sestak, who has the backing of the Keystone State?s unions, asserted his support for strengthening, not privatizing, the nation’s most successful social program.

Oh, I?m so opposed to privatizing Social Security, like my opponent supports, and has written in his book that we should do it.  We have to preserve for our seniors Social Security. If it had been privatized in this last…this recession…depression, 20 million seniors would have moved into poverty.

My opponent wants to take it and invest it to where he made his fortune.  And I applaud your fortune on Wall Street.  But he then wants to invest it there.  What broker?s gonna come forward during a recession and say, “Hey, don?t worry.  I?ll back it up.”  He wants to take the security out of Social Security.

Toomey?s one of several Republican candidates to back privatizing Social Security or raising the retirement age. Rand Paul in Kentucky, Joe Miller in Alaska, Sharron Angle in Nevada and others back such Social Security schemes. Miller even calls Social Security unconstitutional.

Nancy Altman, co-director of Social Security Works, says that for 75 years Social Security has

worked to keep America?s retirees, children, surviving spouses and people with disabilities afloat. Social Security is a successful program that belongs to the American people, and we should not and will not stand by as Pat Toomey and politicians like him try to destroy it.

Click here for more pictures from last night?s rally.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on October 21, 2010 (boomark / email).