Hold on to Your Wallet

Grab Your Wallets and Pocketbooks and Hold Tight!  

Mitt Romney is aiming to get back on the national stage, and this time Little Lord Fauntleroy is threatening our Social Security and Medicare to accomplish his goal.

  

Earlier this month, the Republican Senator from Utah, convinced three other members of the Senate to join him as co-sponsors of his TRUST (Time to Rescue United States Trusts) Act. The bill is falsely aimed at reducing the federal deficit.  “Falsely” because even as the guru of trickle-down economics, Ronald Reagan once declared, “Social Security has nothing to do with the deficit.” The Gipper went on to say that the retirement savings trust is a pay-as-you-go program, which is supported by payroll contributions made by workers and their employers.  It has never added a penny to the national debt, but for some reason many right-wing politicians run with the false narrative that the answer to fixing the national debt is found in reducing Social Security.

But truth be damned, Romney charges on telling anyone who will listen to his baseless claim that, “If you ever want to see a balanced budget, if you ever want to get out of debt, you have to deal with these trust funds. The trusts that the Senator refers to are: Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance, S.S. Disability Insurance, Medicare Hospital Insurance, and the Highway Trust Fund.

Most Steelworkers are aware of the Social Security trusts.  However, some may be unfamiliar with the Highway Trust. The fund is a federal program that is funded by fuel and other related excise taxes. It is actually two accounts. One account provides dollars to support mass-transit expansion and development; while the other supports improvements of surface transportation and infrastructure repairs.  

So, how would the Romney TRUST Act work?  If the bill is passed, the U.S. Treasury Department would have 30 days to prepare and deliver a report to Congress on the status of the trusts. Congressional leaders would then form a “rescue” committee for each trust fund.  Those committees would be made up of at least two members of each political party. They would meet to develop legislation to repair the funds’ solvency and identify other improvements.

Finally, any qualified legislative proposals arising from the committee process will get expedited consideration before the House and Senate.  Critics are concerned that the expedited process is akin to “FAST TRACK!”  They fear that proposals would get hammered out in closed-door sessions. Once they were approved by the rescue committee, they would be sent for a floor vote of yes or no.  There would be no hearings, no debate, and no amendment. If that process sounds familiar, it’s the same process used to pass every failed trade agreement the country has ever entered into, and we have all seen how well that worked out!

Romney’s TRUST Act is a ploy being perpetrated in the name of bi-partisanship. Its real goal is to cut benefits, raise the retirement age, and ultimately privatize the trusts working-class families have come to rely on.  These trusts have been disguised as fiscal responsibility. Don’t be fooled by gimmicky marketing, now is the time to expand Social Security and Medicare -- not to cut them!

Jay McMurran, District 2 SOAR Board Member