LOCAL
4,000-plus hear about importance of Social Security, Medicare
By DAVID GROVES
The Stand
(Aug. 10, 2015) — When Sen. Bernie Sanders accepted an invitation to speak at the Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid birthday celebration on Saturday, organizers may have wondered whether the event’s message about these critically important programs would be overshadowed by Bernie-mania. That didn’t turn out to be a problem.
Instead, it was two women from the Black Lives Matter movement who seized the microphone and the headlines, preempting the Democratic presidential candidate’s speech at Seattle’s Westlake Park and supplanting the event’s message. Much has been written about that disruption — see columns by WSLC Secretary Treasurer Lynne Dodson, state Sen. Pramila Jayapal, and this passionate Facebook post by Ijeoma Oluo of Shoreline for some of the best.
Here’s what happened during the hour and 45 minutes that preceded that drama.
They did, however, get an education about America’s most successful anti-poverty programs, the threats against them, and the growing support for not just protecting but also expanding their benefits.
They got to hear from Lynne Dodson (below), Secretary Treasurer of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO:
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. These are the programs that make lives better for everyone. They need to be constantly defended against those who would enrich themselves by cutting off the most vulnerable, seniors, the disabled, the poor, and people of color… On this important birthday, we need to recommit ourselves in the labor movement and the entire movement for social justice. We need to protect and improve these programs.
“Social Security doesn’t just benefit the elderly and the disabled,” Owens said. “I’m 16 years old and I’m benefiting from Social Security… That’s why I’m fighting for the protection and expansion of Social Security benefits and I’m fighting to ‘Scrap the Cap’ so the rich can pay their fair share of taxes and help support Social Security.”
Sawant added:
That is the real complaint by the corporate establishment with what they like to call ‘entitlement’ programs. They object because it conflicts with their entitlement, their deeply felt sense of entitlement to make profits off the backs of workers and retirees.
They got to hear Congressman Adam Smith (D-9th) make an impassioned call to action not only to strengthen Social Security but to tackle income inequality.
“We have to be relentless in telling corporations that this is not acceptable. It is not acceptable to pay your CEO $40 million a year and pay your employees minimum wage.”
On Saturday in Westlake Park, more than 4,000 people got to hear from these and other elected and community leaders. They heard how the struggle to protect and strengthen Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is inextricably linked to struggles to address income inequality, immigration reform, prison sentencing reform, and other social movements — including the Black Lives Matter movement.