It is critical that we protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare for our seniors and people with disabilities. These are programs that seniors have paid into their entire lives and deserve to enjoy in their retirement.  It has been a crucial social safety net for millions of Americans for more than 80 years.  I am opposed to any plan that cuts these critical programs that ensure our seniors and people with disabilities do not have to live in poverty.  If anything, we must put more funding into these vital programs, so these benefits will be there for generations of Americans.  

Social Security is among the most important programs ever created by our government. Older Americans have worked hard and made sacrifices to ensure a better, stronger country for future generations.  They need to be rewarded for their work.  I want to increase and strengthen Social Security to improve the short-term and long-term health in three ways.  We need to increase monthly benefits for all Social Security beneficiaries.  We need to change the way the Social Security Administration calculates the Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA), so benefits better reflect the increasing costs facing seniors today.  Finally, we need to eliminate the current taxable cap and make sure the wealthiest Americans contribute the same percentage of their wage earnings to Social Security as everyone else.

We must protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare because our seniors deserve to retire with dignity.