GOP Social Security privatization plans would hurt vets

Republican Party plans to slash Social Security benefits and to privatize the program in order to pay for trillions in tax cuts for the rich will hurt the country's veterans, according to a new report from Social Security Works, a coalition of labor, civil rights, and advocacy organizations.

Right now, 9 million veterans, or 40 percent of all former service members, get some Social Security benefits. According to the report, veterans receive an average of $1,289.mIn fact, Social Security benefits extend to millions of spouses and children of veterans as well.Almost 800,000 veterans receive Social Security disability benefits, with an additional 2 million or more spouses and children eligible as well.

The 6,000 service men and women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan have left behind over 4,000 children who are eligible for survivors' benefits and life insurance through Social Security programs.Testimony gathered from veterans for the Social Security Works report suggested that veterans and their families who receive Social Security benefits depend on those resources to get by. Even the smallest cuts would be devastating for them and their families.

For example, Vivian Johnson is the widow of Chief Warrant Officer Christopher Johnson, an Army helicopter crewmember who was killed in Iraq in 2007. "When he was killed," Vivian recalls, "I was working part-time, but his salary is what supported our family. Today, over 40 percent of our income is from Social Security." The rest comes from the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs.Mrs. Johnson said her family's standard of living would be dramatically hurt if Social Security benefits were cut.

continue reading at: http://www.peoplesworld.org/gop-s-privatization-of-social-security-would-hurt-veterans/

Not withstanding it will hurt vets and anyone else, the GOP simply does not care!