Some politicians in Washington are working to end Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid as we know them. They want to cut Social Security benefits and raise the retirement age. The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a budget that would turn Medicare over to insurance companies and slash funding for Medicaid, the program that serves lower-income seniors, women, children and people with disabilities. Social Security belongs to the people who have worked hard all their lives and contributed to it. It is a promise that must not be broken. If you pay in, then you earn the right to benefits.

We need to strengthen Social Security, not cut it. Virginia Organizing opposes any cuts to Social Security benefits, including increasing the retirement age. Virginia Organizing also opposes including Social Security in any deficit-reduction plan. Social Security does not contribute a penny to the deficit; it should not be cut to reduce the deficit.