Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, took a birthday cake and red, white and blue helium balloons to Ben Lomond last week to commemorate the 75-year anniversary of Social Security in the United States.
“I really believe this is something to celebrate,” Eshoo began in her remarks to a group of 30 at the Highlands Park Senior Center on Thursday, Sept. 2.
On Aug. 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act to alleviate the effects of the Great Depression and pay workers age 65 and older an income for the work they did before retirement.
“I think, with the swipe of his pen, he lifted the hopes of our entire nation,” Eshoo said, noting that more than 90 percent of older men and women lived in poverty before Roosevelt signed the act.
In doing so, he created the Social Security system, which taxes 98 percent of workers and provides benefits to more than 50 million people nationwide.
“Social Security brought security and dignity,” Eshoo said. “It is an eloquent statement about our country. In this time of great doubt and disdain, Social Security has done extraordinary things.”
Today, one in three seniors depends on Social Security for 90 percent or more of his or her income, Eshoo said.
In December 2008, 27,200 retired workers and their families in Santa Cruz County received more than $19 million in benefits, according to statistics from the Social Security Administration. In California, more than 4.9 million people, including retired and disabled workers, widows and widowers and children received benefits that month.
In Scotts Valley in December 2008, 2,649 people received Social Security benefits; in Felton, 1,041; in Mount Hermon, 110; in Ben Lomond, 824; in Boulder Creek, 1,182; and in Brookdale, 104.
Eshoo lauded that presidents have adapted and changed the scope of Social Security as needed. She especially noted the Reagan administration’s sweeping changes in 1983, when the program faced dire financial prospects.
Social Security tax is paid on the first $106,000 a person earns each year. Eshoo said she supports raising that threshold slightly to generate more cash for the program.
Recent reports show that Social Security is on pace to remain solvent until 2041, at which time the system’s reserves will be depleted.
However, Eshoo is confident Congress and presidential administrations will enact reform to keep Social Security intact for generations to come.
“I believe that everyone that works should be paying into this, because this is a generational program,” Eshoo said. “We are inextricably linked one generation to another.”
Word on the Street
“What do you think about Social Security?”
Asked at the Highlands Park Senior Center in Ben Lomond
“I’m honored and glad it exists. I believe in it, and I think we should be careful to keep paying into it.”
Bob Eback, Ben Lomond
“I think it’s a wonderful thing. I don’t know what we’d do without it.”
Jan Martin, Ben Lomond
“I decided to retire early while at the same time looking for a part-time job. Without (Social Security), it would be very hard to pay my bills and carry on.”
Samy Khalil, Boulder Creek
