Subject: Stand with Elizabeth Warren: Seniors and veterans deserve a raise
From: "Bob Fertik, Democrats.com" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 05 Mar 2016 14:16:34 -0500

Dear Activist,

Millions of Americans rely on Social Security for most of their income, but this year beneficiaries will not get a cost of living adjustment.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has introduced the Seniors and Veterans Emergency Benefits Act (SAVE Benefits Act) to give seniors, veterans, people with disabilities and surviving spouses who rely on Social Security a one-time payment of $580 to help make ends meet. It would be paid for by closing a loophole that subsidizes excessive CEO pay.

Please join CREDO Action in telling Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow a Senate vote on the SAVE Benefits Act.

Thanks for all you do!

Bob Fertik

Tell Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: Seniors and veterans deserve a raise

Sign the petition to Sen. Mitch McConnell:
"Bring the SAVE Benefits Act to the floor of the United States Senate for a vote."

Add your name:

Dear Friend,

Tens of millions of Americans rely on Social Security for a majority of their income, but this year -- for just the fourth time in the history of the program -- beneficiaries didn't receive a cost of living adjustment. Meanwhile, CEO pay has continued to skyrocket.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has introduced a bill called the Seniors and Veterans Emergency Benefits Act (SAVE Benefits Act)1 that would give seniors, veterans, people with disabilities and surviving spouses who rely on Social Security a one-time payment of $580 to help make ends meet. It would be paid for by closing a loophole that subsidizes excessive CEO pay.

Next week, Sen. Warren, Sen. Chuck Schumer and progressive groups will be delivering the signatures on this petition to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Add your name to the petition now to help build pressure on Sen. McConnell to allow a vote on the bill.

Tell Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: Allow a vote on the SAVE Benefits Act. Click here to sign the petition.

In October, the Social Security Administration announced that there would not be an automatic increase in Social Security benefits in 2016, as there is in most years.2 Right now, the average Social Security benefit is less than $15,000 per year -- and many of the tens of millions of Americans who rely on Social Security to get by desperately need a raise.

Meanwhile, CEO pay at the 350 biggest firms in the U.S. now averages more than $16 million per year -- over 1,000 times more than the average Social Security benefit. In 2014, the last year for which data is available, these CEOs saw their pay increase by 3.9 percent. Incredibly, much of this compensation slips through the so-called "performance pay" loophole, which allows corporations to deduct CEO pay from their taxable income as long as it is based on performance.

The SAVE Benefits Act addresses both of these problems at once by providing a one-time $580 Social Security payment that is paid for by eliminating this egregious loophole. It's a smart bill that will give a much-needed raise to our seniors and veterans instead of wealthy CEOs.

But Sen. McConnell has so far refused to allow a vote on the SAVE Benefits Act. That's why Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Schumer and progressive groups are organizing a big petition delivery next week. Add your name to our petition now to make sure it is included in the delivery.

Tell Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: Allow a vote on the SAVE Benefits Act. Click here to sign the petition.

Thanks for everything you do.

Josh Nelson, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

Add your name:

1. To view the text of the SAVE Benefits Act, click here.
2. "Law Does Not Provide for a Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment for 2016," Social Security Administration, October 15, 2015.

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