In Honor of its 75th Anniversary, Trivedi Promises to Keep Our Pact with All Generations of Americans
Leading up to the anniversary of Social Security this Saturday, Manan Trivedi, Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District, signed a pledge to keep the promise that President Roosevelt made to all generations of hard-working Americans 75 years ago. While his opponent, who has a poor record fighting for Social Security, was preparing for a fundraiser with John Boehner, Trivedi was proposing his solutions to begin down the path toward solvency for the Social Security trust fund and pledging to safeguard this essential program.
In the attached photo, Trivedi stands in front of the signed pledge as he answers questions from the residents of Golden Living Community, a Phoenixville nursing home.
“This legislation, which I see as one of the most significant acts of law, when it was passed 75 years ago, was a family insurance program,” Trivedi said. “It was designed to ensure, in a time when many worked dangerous jobs, that if you worked hard and put in your time, Social Security would be there when you and your family most needed it. It was a promise to all generations that they would not fall through the cracks, and that is a promise I intend to keep.”
Symbolic of the candidates’ stark differences on this issue, while Trivedi was making his pledge to seniors, Gerlach was on his way to dinner with the Republican House Minority Leader. Over the years, Gerlach has regularly voted against protecting the Social Security fund. This evening, John Boehner is hosting a high-dollar fundraising event for Gerlach. In June of this year, Boehner, whose job it is to craft and execute the Republican agenda, came up here to Pennsylvania to float the idea to means-test Social Security and raise the retirement age to 70.
“The leader of the Republican party came to our home state to float his ideas for breaking down the assurances Social Security gives,” Trivedi said. “And now, while I am here discussing this issue that is so important to our community, Congressman Gerlach is getting ready to take the money raised by John Boehner. It seems that after all those years in Washington, Congressman Gerlach has grown fonder of the Republican leadership than the people he is supposed to represent. He’s had a poor record on fighting to protect the Social Security trust fund, and Gerlach has shown that he’ll do what it takes to stay close to his Washington friends and the money they bring.”
To ensure the future of the trust fund, Trivedi laid out what he described as a good first move toward restoring and protecting the Social Security trust fund. Step one of his plan is to cut Washington off by stopping the federal government from borrowing against the Social Security trust fund, a practice they have been doing for years. The second step is to pay back all those borrowed dollars — with interest.
“Washington may not like me for this, but this is the best way to keep the promise we made 75 years ago. The first step,” Trivedi said, “is to stop borrowing against Social Security. We cannot let Congress try to use Social Security as a piggy bank. Second, we must pay the Social Security trust fund back — with interest.
“After Washington bailed out those big banks on Wall Street, they told them that they had to pay back those loaned funds with interest. Well, it’s time Washington learned to do the same thing.”
After he had laid out his proposal, Trivedi signed his name to a large placard that read “Manan Trivedi’s Pledge to Protect Social Security for Pennsylvania’s Seniors.” The pledge read:
I pledge to the people of the Sixth Congressional District of Pennsylvania and to the American people that I will work to strengthen and protect Social Security and fight all efforts to privatize Social Security.
I, Manan Trivedi, will oppose all efforts to privatize Social Security
I will oppose diverting any Social Security revenues to fund private investment accounts or substituting private investment accounts for any portion of Social Security’s guaranteed benefits.
I will oppose any plan that includes cutting guaranteed Social Security benefits to finance private investment accounts or any plan that raises the retirement age.
I pledge to fight Social Security privatization plans and work for real solutions that strengthen Social Security for the long term.
Manan Trivedi is the Democratic nominee for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District. He is a primary care physician, a former Lt. Commander in the U.S. Navy, and an Iraq War veteran from Berks County.
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