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<br />RESOLUTION NO'
<br />
<br />7977-05
<br />
<br />BY'
<br />
<br />Corrigan~ DeMe~~ Dunn,
<br />FitzGerald, Madigan.
<br />
<br />A RESOLUTION encouraging the United States Congress to first commit to paying back
<br />to the Social Security Trust Fund all of the money borrowed from the fund; encouraging
<br />the United States Congress to carefully study potential changes to the Social Security
<br />system; encouraging the United States Congress to adopt changes that strengthen
<br />Social Security's family income protections; and encouraging the United Stated
<br />Congress to reject proposals that would divert money out of Social Security and into
<br />private accounts,
<br />
<br />WHEREAS, Social Security's income protections, guaranteed, I~elong benefits, cost-of-
<br />living adjustments to guard against inflation, increased benefits for families, greater
<br />income replacement for low-income workers, and disability and survivor benefits, are the
<br />backbone of retirement security and family protection In the United States; and
<br />
<br />WHEREAS, Social Security provides crucial, often indispensable income protection for
<br />the 47 million individuals, one of every six Americans, receiving benefits; and
<br />
<br />WHEREAS, Social Security is the nation's most successfui and most important family
<br />income protection program, but it has long term funding needs that need to be
<br />addressed; and
<br />
<br />WHEREAS, some policymakers propose to address these needs by cutting guaranteed
<br />benefits and privatizing Social Security, that is, diverting a third or more of workers'
<br />payroll tax contributions out of the Social Security Trust Fund and into private investment
<br />aè::',i~unts; and
<br />
<br />WHEREAS, privatization will worsen Social Security's funding needs by draining
<br />resources from the Trust Fund into private accounts, increasing the federal deficit by two
<br />trillion dollars over the first decade alone and more in the future and putting the United
<br />States deeper in debt to foreign creditors; and
<br />
<br />"
<br />,
<br />
<br />WHEREAS, some officials and members of Congress have suggested the federal
<br />government will not pay back money it has taken from the Social Security Trust Fund
<br />over the [past twenty years and used for other things, thereby denying working families
<br />the money they paid into Social Security and leading to further benem cuts; and
<br />
<br />WHEREAS, privatizing Social Security will cut guaranteed benefits by thirty percent
<br />(30%) for young workers, even for those who do not participate in private accounts,
<br />denying them benefits they have earned and imperiling their economic security; and
<br />
<br />WHEREAS, cutting guaranteed benefits will hurt women and people of color, as they are
<br />more likely than white men to rely on Social Security for most of their retirement income,
<br />they earn less money than white men and are, therefore, less able to save for
<br />retirement, and they are less likely than white men to receive job-based pensions in
<br />retirement; and
<br />
<br />WHEREAS, ,diverting resources from Social Security to fund private accounts will
<br />threaten guaranteed survivor and disability benefits, thus harming working families,
<br />particularly African Americans, as roughly one in five workers dies before retiring and
<br />nearly three in ten become too disabled to work before reaching retirement age; and
<br />
<br />WHEREAS, privatizing Social Security will burden state and local governments, as cuts
<br />in guaranteed benefits will" increase demands for public assistance at the very moment
<br />growih in the federal deficit due to privatization induces the federal government to shift
<br />gre~ter responsibility ohto sate ~nd local governments; and
<br />
<br />WHEREAS, Congress should not rush through drastic and damaging changes in Social
<br />Security that undermine its family income protections, but instead, should take the time
<br />needed to develop careful and thoughtful reforms that address Social Security's funding
<br />needs without slashing benefits or exploding the deficit, now, therefore:
<br />
<br />BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD, STATE OF OHIO'
<br />
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