Printable Version
May 25, 2005
Thursday, May 26, 2005
For Immediate Release |
THIRD SOCIAL SECURITY PETITION TRUTH TRUCK TOUR DESTINED FOR LAWMAKERS' HOME DISTRICTS - Alliance for Retired Americans Launches Western Tour
Washington, DC—Building on the success of its first two Social Security Truth Truck Tours, making 22 stops in 11 states, The Alliance for Retired Americans today announced two additional tours covering the West and Upper Midwest between Memorial Day and the end of July. The centerpiece of the tour remains a flatbed truck carrying more than a million messages to Congress from seniors against privatizing Social Security.
"Our Truth Truck Tours have enabled thousands of seniors to voice their concerns with Members of Congress about reckless dismantling of Social Security," said George J. Kourpias, President of the Alliance, a nationwide grassroots organization representing more than 3 million seniors and retirees. "Our coast- to- coast message is clear: Don't privatize Social Security."
The Western tour begins the morning of May 31 in Seattle, Washington, and will make four additional stops in three states, ending June 3 in Henderson, Nevada. After visiting Seattle, the truck will make its way to Oregon and Nevada (see itinerary below).
When the West and Upper Midwest tours are completed, the four Social Security Truth Truck Tours will have made 41 stops in 19 states and traveled more than 10,000 miles while stopping in the districts of 70 Members of Congress.
"If George Bush has his way, Social Security benefits will be cut and all Americans stand to lose. It's a risk our children and grandchildren can't afford," said Kourpias.
White House and Republican strategists now know that seniors are not only Social Security's "gatekeepers," but also the one group capable of derailing President Bush's campaign to privatize and greatly diminish the highly successful 70-year-old government program. Older Americans, more so than any other age group are against private accounts, recent polls indicate, largely because they fear the negative impact on their grandchildren's generation.
These sentiments and beliefs, coupled with fact that seniors exert great influence and play an outsized role in the general and Congressional elections, is not lost on the president or GOP strategists.
"The president didn't realize when he decided to invent the Social Security 'crisis' that he was actually creating a crisis of his own," Kourpias said. "He didn't expect such a loud and united reaction from thousands of seniors around the country. Everyone knows that Social Security needs to be fixed by strengthening it, so that it can pay the guaranteed benefits Americans earn and deserve for generations to come."
Social Security's effect on reducing poverty among the country's elderly population is remarkable. Income provided by Social Security has helped nearly 13 million seniors 65 and older to live above the poverty line. Without Social Security, nearly half of America's elderly population - 46.8 percent - would be living below the poverty line. The federal poverty line is $9,060 for a single elderly person, or $11,411 for an elderly couple. Today, of the more than 47 million Americans who receive Social Security benefits, 33 million are seniors.
Itinerary for the Western
leg of the next Social Security Truth Truck
Tour:
Thousands of Miles, Millions of
Voices:
Tuesday, May
31: Seattle, Washington
Wednesday, June
1: Portland & Medford, Oregon
Thursday, June 2: Reno, Nevada
Friday,
June 3: Henderson, Nevada
Details for each stop are available upon request.
A tour of the Upper Midwest is planned for early in early July. Details and itineraries for that tour will be available in the coming weeks.