It's paramount that our nation keep its promises to the people.

"Under the guise of deficit reduction, some in Congress are using scare tactics to mislead the American public into making sweeping cuts to Social Security. I strongly oppose such cuts, which would break critical moral commitments we have made as a nation, because they are unnecessary and unwise, and, ultimately, unconscionable.

Despite the claims of skeptics and cynics, Social Security is in fact a great American success story. Before Social Security, more than half of all seniors lived in poverty. Today, that number is less than 10 percent, still too large but a historic achievement. More than 50 million Americans nationwide rely on Social Security - and more than half a million of them reside in Connecticut. Raising the eligibility age or imposing a means test would harm middle-class families and contradict the founding principles of Social Security.

People who work behind a desk may be capable of working into their late 60s, but seniors who perform manual labor cannot and should not. A means test undercuts the principle that Social Security is a shared, common social contract. Some of the other proposed cuts to Social Security would severely reduce staff, delaying distribution of basic retirement claims and disability payments."

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