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Brian Higgins on Social Security

Democratic Representative (NY-27)

 


Bush raided the Social Security trust fund for tax cuts

Bush raided the Social Security trust fund to pay for a tax cut for the wealthiest 1% of Americans in this nation. The preservation of Social Security-both in its existence & in its value-is an issue of critical importance. Republicans offer platitudes and promises for our seniors, but Democrats have a proven record of delivering for our nation’s seniors. I’ll always work to protect and preserve Social Security, and to ensure that our nation keeps its promise to the men and women that made us great.
Source: 2004 House campaign website, HigginsforCongress.com , Nov 2, 2004

Create Retirement Savings Accounts.

Higgins adopted the manifesto, "A New Agenda for the New Decade":

Balance America’s Commitments to the Young and the Old
An ever-growing share of the federal budget today consists of automatic transfers from working Americans to retirees. Moreover, the costs of the big entitlements for the elderly -- Social Security and Medicare -- are growing at rates that will eventually bankrupt them and that could leave little to pay for everything else government does. We can’t just spend our way out of the problem; we must find a way to contain future costs. The federal government already spends seven times as much on the elderly as it does on children. To allow that ratio to grow even more imbalanced would be grossly unfair to today’s workers and future generations. In addition, Social Security and Medicare need to be modernized to reflect conditions not envisioned when they were created in the 1930s and the 1960s. Social Security, for example, needs a stronger basic benefit to bolster its critical role in reducing poverty in old age. Medicare needs to offer retirees more choices and a modern benefit package that includes prescription drugs. Such changes, however, will only add to the cost of the programs unless they are accompanied by structural reforms that restrain their growth and limit their claim on the working families whose taxes support the programs.

Source: The Hyde Park Declaration 00-DLC7 on Aug 1, 2000

No severe changes; no privatization.

Higgins signed H.RES.1077

Source: Resolution Against Severe Changes 10-HR1077 on Feb 5, 2010

Reject privatization; don't raise the retirement age.

Higgins signed the Social Security Protectors Pledge

Some 200 Democratic House and Senate candidates have signed on to a pledge rejecting any effort to privatize or scale back Social Security benefits or raise the retirement age. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee sponsored this pledge among Congressional candidates.

Source: PCCC Survey 10-PCCC on Aug 11, 2010

Sponsored keeping CPI for benefits instead of lower "Chained CPI".

Higgins co-sponsored Resolution on CPI

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION expressing the sense of the Congress that the Chained Consumer Price Index (CPI) should not be used to adjust Social Security benefits.