[URPE] [NYC] REMINDER: URPE at Brecht: The Social Security "Crisis": Rolling Back the New Deal Wed. May 25

[urpe-moderator at lists.econ.utah.edu]

To URPE Members and Friends:

Please forward this to anyone you think might be interested.

Please download and post this flyer at your school, job or organization:
http://urpe.org/SSatBrecht.pdf

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NYC Union for Radical Political Economics and the Brecht Forum present:

THE SOCIAL SECURITY "CRISIS": ROLLING BACK THE NEW DEAL

Date: Wednesday, May 25, 7:30pm

Place: Brecht Forum, 451 West St. (between Bank and Bethune)
***NEW ADDRESS***
See website for directions
212-242-4201
www.brechtforum.org

Speakers: Doug Henwood, Paddy Quick, Mike Whitty

George Bush claims that Social Security is in danger of bankruptcy and
has proposed profound changes in the system, including the incorporation
of private accounts. Social Security is well-positioned to pay benefits
at current levels for as far as they eye can see, and if there's any
problem (which we seriously doubt), the fixes would be exceedingly
minor. The word "bankruptcy" is used to scare younger workers into
thinking they would get nothing at all in Social Security benefits. But
that is a totally incorrect reading of the Social Security Act, and of
the projections of the Social Security Administration as well as the
non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. The word "bankruptcy" is pure
spin. Our panelists will debunk the myth of "crisis" and explain how the
proposed changes would contribute to the right wing effort to preserve a
neoliberal slow-growth, low-wage economy. They will talk about who is
behind the attack on Social Security, who would benefit from its demise,
how private accounts would affect the stock market, and why Wall Street
has mixed feelings about them. Our panelists will emphasize the
ideological value to the Right of discrediting our most successful
government program. They will warn us of the strategic danger of
accepting any cutbacks at all. Political organizations of many types
have joined to protect Social Security -- our panelists will explore
their strategies, focusing on the labor movement, and energize us with
the success we have had in keeping the attacks at bay.

Doug Henwood is the author of Wall Street and After the New Economy
(After the New Economy is coming out in paperback in June);
writer/publisher of Left Business Observer; and host of an economics
radio show on WBAI.

Paddy Quick is a long-time member of the Union for Radical Political
Economics (URPE) and a founding member of the URPE Women's Caucus. She
teaches economics at St. Francis College, Brooklyn, including courses on
U.S. economic history, the European Union, and gender.

Mike Whitty is a Labor Relations Professor in the College of Business
Administration at the University of Detroit Mercy and co-host of the
union radio show Working Detroit (AFL-CIO).  He is also the Director of
the University of Detroit Institute for Building Sustainable
Communities, and National Chancellor of the International Educators for
World Peace for which he is currently hosting the World Peace Conference
at the University of San Francisco.

PLUS: A new song on Social Security by Ray Korona

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