Join us tomorrow, Nov. 30, in a National Call Congress Day to fight Social Security cuts! Thanks to those of you who have already pledged to call. It's not too late to commit to participating in this important event.
Call your Senators tomorrow (Tuesday) at 1-866-529-7630, toll-free. The operator will identify your senators by asking for your zip code. Call BOTH of your senators if you have time. It only takes a minute each. If you only have time for one phone call and you live in Pennsylvania, ask for Senator Bob Casey. If you have time to make both calls, ask for Senator Casey first. Then call back through the toll-free number one more time and ask for Senator Arlen Specter.
If you're having trouble getting through on the toll-free number, you can look up your senators' direct lines on National NOW's website.
Here's a sample script:
Hello, my name is [give name]. I am a constituent in [name of your state] and my address is [give your address]. I am calling Senator [Last Name] to urge [her or him] to say no to Social Security benefit cuts. As a women's rights supporter, I am particularly concerned about the millions of women who depend upon Social Security as a person with a disability, as a widow caring for minor children, or as a retiree or spouse of a retiree. Due to unequal pay, time spent out of the workforce for caregiving, and having little to no savings, pensions or investments, women disproportionately rely on Social Security. Please don't cut benefits in any way, including by raising the retirement age. Thank you for your time.Background:
The co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform have proposed increasing the retirement age to 69 (making us work longer), deeply cutting benefits for middle-class workers and reducing annual Cost of Living Adjustments. We need your help to stop them!
Social Security is a promise that must not be broken -- we work hard and our payroll taxes pay for it. It belongs to our children, our parents, our neighbors and us. Throughout their lives, women on average are paid less then men, and they often work at part-time jobs or take extended leave from the workforce for raising children and other forms of caregiving. As a result, women are less likely to have pensions, investments or life savings, so they stand to lose the most if these cuts are made.
Help ensure that Social Security will be there, keeping middle-class women out of poverty and not forcing them to work until they are nearly 70.
If you haven't yet, please sign the "Count on Me" pledge at the National NOW website promising to participate in the National Call Congress Day on Nov. 30. Then, forward this blog/e-mail and tell your friends, family and co-workers to add their voices, too. You can also invite your friends to make calls through the Strengthen Social Security Facebook events page. Don't let politicians cut OUR Social Security.
For additional information and talking points, see our blog on November 19, 2010 titled "Ten Reasons the Social Security Proposal of the Fiscal Commission Co-Chairs Should be DOA."
Please TAKE ACTION and then DONATE.
We'd really appreciate it and so will all those who depend on Social Security.
Thank you!