Printable Version
June 29, 2005
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
For Immediate Release |
FINAL SOCIAL SECURITY PETITION TRUTH TRUCK TOUR DESTINED FOR LAWMAKERS' HOME DISTRICTS - Alliance for Retired Americans To Launch Tour of Upper Midwest
Washington, DC—Building on the success of three prior Social Security Truth Truck Tours making 46 stops in 22 states, The Alliance for Retired Americans today announced a final tour of the Upper Midwest will kick off on July 5 and continue through July 13. During the 7-day tour, the Truth Truck will make 11 stops in 5 states, visiting the districts of 11 Members of Congress. 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 been a great success, enabling thousands of seniors to let their Members of Congress know they are against the 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. "We feel that our message - don't privatize Social Security - has resonated throughout the country and made an important contribution to the public debate about the dangers of privatization."
The Upper Midwest tour begins the morning of July 5 in Lansing, Michigan before continuing on to Kalamazoo later that day. From Michigan, the Truth Truck will make its way through Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa, making nine additional stops before wrapping up July 13 in Collinsville, Illinois on July 13 (see itinerary below).
"During our Truck Tours, the President's privatization proposal has failed to gain the support of a majority of Americans, not to mention the support of many seniors," said Kourpias. "We care too much about our children and grandchildren's future to let such a dangerous proposal gain any steam."
White House and Republican strategists now know that seniors are the one group capable of derailing President Bush's campaign to privatize and greatly diminish the highly successful 70-year-old government program. Recent polls indicate that older Americans, more so than any other age group, are against private accounts, 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 has bitten off more than he can chew," Kourpias said. "He didn't expect such a loud and united reaction from thousands of seniors around the country. Everyone knows that Social Security's long-term solvency needs to be addressed, but private accounts - whether funded with payroll taxes or from the surplus - are a bad idea and the American public knows it. Social Security must be strengthened so 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 final leg of
the next Social Security Truth Truck Tour:
Thousands of Miles, Millions of
Voices:
Tuesday, Jul 5:
Lansing and Kalamazoo, Michigan
Wednesday,
July 6: Joliet, Illinois
Thursday, July
7: Racine and Green Bay, Wisconsin
Friday, July 8: St. Cloud, Minnesota
Monday, July 11: Cedar Rapids and Davenport,
Iowa
Tuesday, July 12: Peoria and
Champagne/Urbana, Illinois
Wednesday, July
13: Collinsville, Illinois
Details for each stop are available upon request.