VIDEO: Save Access to Seattle Social Security Offices!
Stop Closing the Doors on the Community
From the International Examiner | By Michael Yee
Michael Yee
The turnaround in our local economy that we all wished for in 2011 didn’t occur. If you’re like me, you’re apprehensive about 2012. Cuts to federal, state and city government budgets seem to continually loom over us, affecting our lives one way or another. Politicians and elected officials point fingers at each other and at no meaningful solutions.
I am tired of the droning rhetoric around taxes and eliminating services. But as tired as I am about it all, I know this is when I have to be more diligent. This is when I need to find time to write more. This is when our community needs to be more diligent about community issues by being better informed, working hard and demanding that our voices be heard.
What’s on my International District radar for 2012? Issues that I believe impact our community disproportionately.
Social Security Administration
The Social Security Administration (SSA) plans to close neighborhood offices in the International District and Belltown this spring. A new SSA office would open on the 9th floor of the high-security Jackson Federal Building. The community has already raised strong objections about the barriers to service that would result from the closures.
I understand the needs for cuts at all levels of government. But I object to some of them, when they are made under the guise of efficiency and effectiveness. I’ll spare you my tirade on government waste and bureaucracy. What I will focus on will be preserving and providing equitable access to services. Closure of the ID SSA office will result in the most vulnerable populations suffering disproportionately. Prioritizing by the needs of the majority is not leadership or effective management.
I encourage you to be part of a public meeting about the ID SSA office, to be held on Friday, Jan. 13 at the Chinatown/International District Community Center, located at 719 8th Ave. S., in Seattle from 1:30 – 3 p.m.
Neighborhood Social Security offices abruptly slated for closure – community rallies for time to respond
The Jackson Federal Building in downtown Seattle
With little apparent notice to affected communities, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced plans to consolidate two local offices into the high-security Jackson Federal Building located on Second Avenue, possibly as early as March of this year. The move could put Social Security benefits out of reach for many vulnerable populations, including those with physical and mental disabilities.
The Social Security offices in Belltown and the International District each serve about 150 people per day, and the SSA says consolidating the two will save money – but community leaders counter that doing so risks harming many people who rely on Social Security benefits.
“People with physical and mental disabilities will be most negatively impacted by this move,” says Alex Doolittle, Executive Director of Seattle Community Law Center. “The Jackson Federal Building is a high-security facility that requires visitors to pass through a security system operated by people in uniform, show current state or federal picture ID, and there is no interpreter assistance available. These requirements are a burden for people living with disabilities, particularly mental health impairments and those that do not speak English, and they present an impassable barrier to accessing public benefits and information about public benefits.”
During a meeting with some community members in December, SSA officials stated they are “locked into the Federal Building,” and are moving ahead with the relocation/consolidation. But community leaders, many of whom only recently learned of the move, are asking the SSA to slow down – and they question why more effort wasn’t made to solicit input from local communities.
“Many of us only learned about this decision late last year. It really blindsided us,” said Sharyne Shiu Thornton, Deputy Director, Inter*Im Community Development Association. “The Social Security Administration says it mailed 800 letters to local ‘community leaders’ – but many report never receiving such information, and there’s little evidence of any other outreach about this decision to community leaders or community groups, at least in the International District.”
Local leaders have organized a community forum on Friday, January 13 1:30-3:00 p.m., at the International District/Chinatown Community Center, 719 8th Avenue South.
SSA Regional Commissioner Stanley Friendship has been invited to attend. Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn will attend, as will representatives from the offices of Senator Patty Murray and Representative Jim McDermott.
USA Today: Social Security isn’t the problem
(Originally published 2/21/2011)
Jacob Lew
By Jacob Lew, President Obama’s Chief of Staff | USA Today:
The budget put forward by President Obama last week is a blueprint for how we can live within our means and win the future. As this begins the budgeting process in Washington, we need to be clear about the causes of the pressing fiscal problems we face. Specifically, looking to the next two decades, Social Security does not cause our deficits.
Social Security benefits are entirely self-financing. They are paid for with payroll taxes collected from workers and their employers throughout their careers. These taxes are placed in a trust fund dedicated to paying benefits owed to current and future beneficiaries.
When more taxes are collected than are needed to pay benefits, funds are converted to Treasury bonds — backed with the full faith and credit of the U.S. government — and are held in reserve for when revenue collected is not enough to pay the benefits due. We have just as much obligation to pay back those bonds with interest as we do to any other bondholders. The trust fund is the backbone of an important compact: that a lifetime of work will ensure dignity in retirement.
According to the most recent report of the independent Social Security Trustees, the trust fund is currently in surplus and growing. Even though Social Security began collecting less in taxes than it paid in benefits in 2010, the trust fund will continue to accrue interest and grow until 2025, and will have adequate resources to pay full benefits for the next 26 years.
For years, the surpluses in the Social Security trust fund have helped to mask our deficits elsewhere. Now that we are paying Social Security back, the problem is not with Social Security, but with the rest of the budget. In 2001 and 2003, Washington cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans and later expanded Medicare without paying for it. Blaming Social Security for our fiscal woes is like blaming you for not saving enough in your checking account because the bank lost all depositors’ money.
The problem is not Social Security; the problem is the mismatch between outlays and revenues in the rest of the budget. Closing that gap and paying down our debt will take tough choices, and the president’s budget makes them. Strengthening Social Security is an important, but parallel, issue that needs to be addressed as quickly as possible. But let’s not confuse it as either the cause of or a solution to our short-term fiscal problems.
From the Coalition: Strengthen Social Security in 2012
By Robby Stern, President of the Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans
At its final 2011 coalition meeting, the Social Security Works Washington Coalition adopted priorities for protecting and strengthening Social Security in 2012.
Over the past year, the Coalition successfully fought efforts to weaken Social Security through the application of the chained CPI formula that would reduce the annual cost of living increases and the proposal to raise the age of eligibility. We have been unsuccessful in our efforts to stop the cutting of the payroll deduction that is likely to be extended into 2012.
Also in 2011, the Coalition embarked on an educational campaign and particularly made efforts to reach out to young people with the goal of fighting the propaganda that Social Security will not be there for them when they are ready to retire. Besides releasing the video “Just Scrap the Cap” which has been viewed by more than 63,000 people, we held well-attended educational events at Everett Community College and University of Washington.
At the event at Everett Community College, Rep. Rick Larsen committed to supporting the elimination of the cap when it comes before the House for a vote. We now have that commitment from Rep. McDermott and Rep. Larsen but we can and must do better.
This year, our Congressional allies in the House and the Senate introduced legislation to eliminate the cap on contributions. The 2012 elections will be very important in determining whether this goal can be achieved in the near term.
In 2012, the Social Security Works Coalition – including PSARA – will work to make elimination of the cap a major election issue. We will tie scrapping the cap to the interests of the 99% rather than the 1%, pointing out that the elimination of the cap should result in much needed improvements in Social Security. These improvements include raising the benefits received by low income earners, increasing survivor benefits, restoring funding for child survivors up to age 22 to assist them in paying for higher education and expanding survivor benefits to include domestic partners.
Our local coalition is urging the national campaign, led by the Strengthen Social Security Coalition, to adopt a similar program around the country.
Social Security Works WA will also expand our educational outreach with plans presently in the works for an educational event at Highline Community College in early 2012.
We anticipate further attacks on Social Security and will be responding as necessary.
Be on the look out for “Scrap the Cap” buttons as we work to popularize this effort. Wear them proudly and explain to people when they ask, what we are doing and why!
