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American Stories: Social Security Is a Success
Wealthy lawmakers and pundits who spout off about privatizing Social Security and raising the retirement age, should talk to people like Jerry Conner and Dottie Gutenkauf.
Conner of Londonderry, N.H., and Gutenkauf, who lives in Plainfield, N J., are two of the seniors whose stories are featured on the American Stories website. Launched by the Alliance for Retired Americans, American Stories enables people of all ages to tell what Social Security has meant to them. Check out the seniors’ stories here.
Conner’s mother died when he was nine years old and his sister was seven. His father left home for work at 5:30 in the morning before the children woke up. His mother’s Social Security benefits paid for a baby sitter for the two children. Those benefits also helped replace the income his mother brought in from her job. That meant the mortgage was paid and there was food on the table, Conner says. (See video)
Social Security also has played a big role in Dottie Gutenkauf’s life. The benefits saved her family when she was a child and are keeping her out of poverty in her senior years. She says:
My father died at age 62 in 1947, when I was 13 years old. It was his Social Security that kept my mother and I from going under. While my mother worked as a nurse, her pay by itself was just not enough to cover our living expenses.
Now 75, Gutenkauf has paid into Social Security since her first full-time job at age 17. She says she and her 85-year-old husband depend on their Social Security benefits and his small pension to keep going. These two former college professors have small incomes from an IRA, but Gutenkauf says, ”Social Security is our mainstay!”
Recent polls show the public strongly supports Social Security despite calls by Republicans like Rep. John Boehner to raise the retirement age to 70 and cut Social Security and Medicare supposedly to lower the deficit. One reason Social Security is so popular: Social Security keeps 20 million Americans out of poverty, including some 13.2 million seniors and 1.1 million children.
In fact, Dottie Gutenkauf has a message for Boehner and all his kind:
A promise made should be a promise kept. Most older Americans depend on Social Security, and it and Medicare are great success stories. They should not be tampered with!
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5 Comments
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My story is pretty simple. If it wasn’t for Social Security disability (SSDI), I would be dead. That is not an exaggeration. Because of Social Security, I was able to maintain security (food, shelter, med. care) while benefiting from job retraining, enabling me to have a productive life in spite of disability. Social Security has proved to be a solidly, powerfully pro-American program!
After spending 2 years overseas during WW11, I finally returned to the USA. I was told if you work hard, save or invest your money wisely, I would have a happy retirement life. Immediately, I became involved in the dairt distribution occupation working long hard hours 7 days a week. I purchased 3 duplexes in a prime area along with a GO home and several 2nd trust deeds. Then living on the State of California, my wife divorced me. Her shyster attorneys under California divorce court seized all my property and assets and awarded them to my X wife who lost everything by gambling and partying. I was unable to defend myself as I wasn’t in with the Good Old Boys Clique. If it weren’t for Social Security, which I paid large sums into all my life, I would be homeless and living in the streets. I thank God for Franklin D. Roosevelt for initiating a safe fall back for the elderly who have been abused by the system.
@Cynical. Interesting story. If you have a video camera, you should share your story with SSA on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq8LDXW39CE
Thus far I’ve worked thirty seven years in the airline industry. For cash starved TWA bankrupted by Carl Ichan. On my 65th birthday I’ll receive $152.00 a month from the Pension Board Guarantee Corporation, about 10 cents on the dollar. Without Social Security, how far will $152.00 a month go?
Millions who saw their pensions evaporate in steel, airlines, rail and manufacturing through no fault of their own, would be destitute without a solid Social Security program in place.
And further more, to even suggest raising the age of retirement to 70 years is criminal. There are those gifted by long life and health who may choose to do so but to force people to work that long is inhumane.
THE HAVES AND THE HAVES NOT ! GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT TOUCH SOCIAL SECURITY AT ALL , IN FACT SOCIAL SECURITY SHOULD BE DOUBLE IN MONTHLY PAYMENT TO CATCH UP WITH THE TIMES , CONGRESS TAKES MONEY FROM THE SOCIAL SECURITY ASS A PIGGY BANK AND WHO KNOWS IF THEY EVER PAY IT BACK , DOES ANY ONE KNOW ? CAN THEY SHEED SOME LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT !
THE UNION RETIERMENT IS IN SAD SHAPE ALSO ! THE SAYING GOES THE PALN IS FOR THE PLAN AND NOT FOR ITS MEMBERS !
IF YOU HAVE 40 YEARS OF FULL VESTING YOU MIGHT HAVE A CHANCE TO MAKE IT , BUT ONLY ABOUT 20% OF MEMBERS HAVE THAT , AND THEN YOU DROP DEAD ! UNION NEED TO GET REAL ON PENSION AND HEALTH CARE FOR ALL THE MONEY THAT GOES IN THE SYSTEM , THE ONLY ONE WHO REALLY MADE OUT WAS MADDIE WHO GOR AWAY SCOTT FREE WITH MOST OF THE MONEY IF THEY CAN FIND IT !