Social Security celebrated on its 90th Birthday

 

The Dixwell-Newhall Senior Center at the Q House in New Haven was decked out with a big sheet cake for the 90^th birthday of Social Security and 60^th birthday of Medicare. The room filled with retirees concerned that Social Security be preserved and expanded, not privatized or shut down and Medicare / Medicaid be fully funded not robbed to pay for tax cuts for the super rich, mass deportations and war in the Billionaire Budget Betrayal.

Alliance for Retired Americans Regional board member Roger Boudreau and national staff member Tommy McLoughlin traveled to New Haven from Rhode Island to discus the attacks on these programs and encourage the retirees to make their voices heard.

The celebration at the Dixwell-Newhall Senior Center was one of many across the country. Another celebration at the Senior Center in East Hartford was hosted by Rep. John Larsen.

The ARA, with 59,000 members in Connecticut, has been in the forefront of the fight to preserve and expand Social Security for the 737,000 retirees, survivors, children and people with disabilities in Connecticut who depend on Social Security to make ends meet. These benefits contribute more than 1.5 billion dollars to the Connecticut economy every month.

The manufactured crisis created by the Trump administration and DOGE puts all this at risk. “This is nothing less than a calculated cruel plan to weaken Social Security and pave the way for benefit cuts or privatization,” emphasized the ARA emphasizing it is not about waste, fraud and abuse.

“The Alliance for Retired Americans is calling on every member of Congress to act,” they said. “and pass legislation that preserves field offices, safeguards our personal data and ensures transparency and accountability.”

Social Security Strong demands included: “Fully staff the Social Security Administration to reduce wait times and ensure high quality service delivered by professionals, not machines. Protect the private information that millions of Americans have entrusted to the Social Security Administration. Make the rich pay their fair share so that we can expand Social Security and keep it strong for the next 90 years.