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Excerpt...Remarks of Senator Barack Obama at the AARP Life@50+ National Expo

September 06, 2008

For generations, we have worked to keep a simple promise in this country - that those who have worked hard their entire lives have the right to retire with dignity and security.

Now, let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect. But the record’s clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time. And I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to take a 10 percent chance on change.

And since he’s not offering much change, that’s why you didn’t hear much about his plans for the future this week. You didn’t hear much about their health care plan that would actually tax your benefits for the first time ever, or about their plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement, or how they plan to fix the economy they’ve ruined or help you live comfortably in your later years. Because, in the words of John McCain’s campaign manager, this election “isn’t about the issues.”

Well I’m running for President because I believe this election is all about the issues. It’s not about me, or John McCain, it’s about you. It’s about your lives. It’s about your future.

And securing your future starts with protecting Social Security - today, tomorrow and forever. Now, John McCain said that the way Social Security works is, and I quote, “an absolute disgrace.” Wrong. For millions of Americans, it’s the very difference between a comfortable retirement and falling into poverty. More than half of seniors depend on it for more than half of their income. And as the first baby boomers become eligible for benefits this year, there are steps we can take to secure its future for generations to come.

That doesn’t mean embracing George Bush’s failed privatization scheme, as John McCain has. Privatizing Social Security was a bad idea when George Bush proposed it, and it’s a bad idea today. It would take the one rock-solid, guaranteed part of your retirement income and gamble it on the stock market. That’s why I stood with AARP against this plan in the Senate, and that’s why I won’t stand for it as President.

But his campaign has gone even further, suggesting that the best answer to the growing pressures on Social Security might be to cut cost-of-living adjustments or raise the retirement age. I will not do either.

Right now, the Social Security payroll tax is capped. That means most middle-class families pay this tax on every dime they make, while millionaires and billionaires only pay it on a very small percentage of their income. That’s why I’ll work with members of Congress from both parties to ask people making more than $250,000 a year to contribute a little bit more to keep the system sound. It’s a change that would start a decade or more from now, and it won’t burden middle-class families. In fact, 99% of Americans will see absolutely no change in their taxes - 99%.

If you want change - if you want to restore that fundamental promise we’ve made from generation to generation, then I ask you to give me your vote on November 4th. And if you do, I promise you - we will change this country together.