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Social Security Medicare
WHEREAS, Social Security has operated as a retirement security program for more than 75 years and provides a substantial safety net for more than 53 million Americans, including retirees, the disabled, children and families; and Medicare has provided quality affordable health care for nearly 45 million Americans annually since 1965; and
WHEREAS, the 2008 financial collapse demonstrated the instability of our financial markets and devastated Americans’ private pensions and 401k plans, causing record single-year investment losses of 37%; and
WHEREAS, growth in medical costs, including health insurance coverage, continues to outpace that of inflation and most other household expenses, and out-of-pocket spending on health care absorbs three times as much household spending for Medicare households than for working-age households; and
WHEREAS, Social Security is not in a state of crisis, currently holds $69.3 billion in reserves and can pay out 100% of benefits owed for the next quarter century and 75% thereafter; and
WHEREAS, individual life expectancy is influenced by a number of determining factors including level of education, income, race, and gender and it is already impossible for many individuals employed in dangerous, stressful, or physically taxing occupations to continue working until age 65; and
WHEREAS, Social Security is a self-funded program which operates off-budget and does not contribute one penny to the national deficit.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters supports efforts to ensure that both the Social Security and Medicare programs remain solvent for generations to come; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Teamsters Union opposes efforts to address both the Social Security and Medicare programs’ long-term solvency in conjunction with efforts to address the nation’s long-term debt; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Teamsters Union opposes efforts to address Social Security’s long-term solvency that include raising the retirement age, privatization, or reducing benefits is any way and supports efforts to address the program’s long-term solvency by increasing revenues including lifting the payroll tax cap so that the 6 percent of the population that makes more than $106,800 a year pays Social Security taxes on all of their wages just like everyone else who makes less than that amount has to do; and
FINALLY, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Teamsters Union opposes proposals, like that of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), which would dramatically cut benefits by replacing Medicare with vouchers to purchase health insurance in a broken marketplace and would nearly double out-of-pocket medical care costs for the typical 65-year-old.