Hands off Social Security and Medicare!

CWAers, including retirees, joined dozens at a U.S. Capitol rally last week to tell Tea Party Republicans to keep their hands off Social Security and Medicare and to protect the programs from benefit cuts, privatization and being vouchered.

"The last thing we need to be talking about is cutting Social Security," U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told an energized crowd at the "Hands off Social Security and Medicare!!" rally. "Two thirds of seniors rely on social security for most of their income. For 15 million people, Social Security is all that stands between them and poverty. The benefits are modest, about $1,200 a month. And, understand this, Social Security is not charity. Social Security is what people work a lifetime for."

Besides Warren, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress addressed the rally, which was sponsored by a coalition of labor and other advocacy groups, including CWA, the Alliance for Retired Americans, National Education Association, and Social Security Works.