Nancy J. Altman

Nancy J. Altman is president of Social Security Works and chair of the Strengthen Social Security coalition. She has a 40-year background in the areas of Social Security and private pensions. Her latest book is The Truth About Social Security. She is also the author of The Battle for Social Security and co-author of Social Security Works!

Articles by this author

"Seniors, people with disabilities and all Social Security beneficiaries know that their costs have gone up more than 1.3 percent over the last year," writes Altman. "They know that their prescription drug prices have gone up more than 1.3 percent. They know their out of pocket costs for doctors’ visits have gone up more than 1.3 percent." (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images) Views
Tuesday, October 13, 2020
Social Security's Cost of Living Adjustment Is Inadequate. Democrats Have a Plan to Fix That.
Social Security is the primary income of three out of five beneficiaries aged 55 and older. This vital institution is virtually the only income of a third of them. Our Social Security system lifts more than 21 million Americans—including over a million American children—out of poverty and lessens...
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"Though few seem to realize it, Trump has provided the nation with a roadmap of how he could unilaterally destroy Social Security, without the need for Congress, once the election is over," writes Altman. (Photo: Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images) Views
Thursday, September 10, 2020
Fact Checking the Fact Checkers: Trump Does Indeed Plan To Destroy Social Security
Donald Trump ’s nonstop lies, together with his endless cries of “fake news” and “hoax,” make the role of media fact checkers more important than ever. Unfortunately, on the crucial issue of Social Security, too many of them are furiously defending Trump from his own words. Instead of acting as a...
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"Just as justice delayed is justice denied, delaying Social Security's dedicated revenue is the foolproof way to deny Social Security benefits," writes Altman. "Denying those benefits would provide Trump and his allies in Congress enough leverage to force whatever concessions they choose to extract." (Image: iStock/via Getty Images) Views
Monday, September 07, 2020
This Labor Day, Social Security’s Future Hangs in the Balance
Labor Day is a time to celebrate the essential contributions workers make to our collective wealth and wellbeing. During this Covid-19 pandemic, the commonly-used phrase "essential workers" brings to mind the often underappreciated but crucial contributions that workers such as nurses, grocery...
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"Trump has already ordered the Treasury Department to stop collecting Social Security's dedicated payroll contributions for the next four months pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code, which permits deferrals of taxes when a disaster is declared," writes Altman. (Photo: AFGE) Views
Thursday, September 03, 2020
Social Security Could Come To a Screeching Halt
Donald Trump once claimed that he could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue in New York City and not lose any voters. He's now seeing whether the same is true if he kills Social Security. His unilateral, unprecedented step of deferring the collection of payroll taxes, the backbone of Social...
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"Just as enacting Social Security was a solution 85 years ago, expanding Social Security, while requiring the wealthy to pay their fair share, is a solution we should embrace today," writes the authors. (Photo: Courtesy of AFGE, Flickr | CC 2.0) Views
Friday, August 14, 2020
Happy 85th Birthday to Social Security—Crown Jewel of the New Deal
Eighty-five years ago, on Aug. 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. On that momentous day, he proclaimed , “If the Senate and the House of Representatives in this long and arduous session had done nothing more than pass this Bill, the session would be...
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In this undated historic photo, which shows the GOP's long quest to gut the vital and popular retirement program, citizens in favor of protecting the institution of Social Security rally en masse on the U.S. Capitol grounds prior to scattering to lobby their Congressmen on this issue. (Photo: Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) Views
Thursday, July 23, 2020
Warning, Warning: Republicans Are Plotting to Raid Social Security
Donald Trump is obsessed with defunding Social Security. In the midst of a catastrophic pandemic, millions of Americans are facing eviction and hunger if Congress doesn’t act now to extend unemployment benefits. Essential workers are in desperate need of testing and protective equipment. But Trump...
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Demonstrators march down Pennsylvania Avenue near the Trump International Hotel during a protest against police brutality and the death of George Floyd, on June 3, 2020 in Washington, DC. Protests in cities throughout the country have been been held after the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. (Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) Views
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Solidarity Will Turn the Impossible Into the Inevitable
Starting with the original sin of slavery, those in our nation who were born White have exerted power over those who were born Black. Black Lives Matter is a powerful response to the implicit attitude that Black lives are disposable. As horrific as it was to watch the torture and murder of George...
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Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Bloomberg (Still) Wants to Cut Social Security
Of all the Democrats contending for the presidential nomination, Michael Bloomberg is the worst choice to debate Donald Trump on an overwhelmingly important issue: Social Security’s future. Bloomberg’s position on Social Security is to the right of Trump’s stated position — and widely out of step...
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New polling from Data for Progress shows that Democrats, Republicans, and Independents are united in their support for policies that would radically restructure the current system. (Photo: Floris Van Cauwelaert/flickr/cc) Views
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
You Might Be Surprised at How Far Americans Are Willing to Go to Overthrow the Power of Big Pharma
As the 2020 election looms, "Morning Joe" pundits love to talk about "electability." The out-of-touch television personalities chide the left for advocating policies they perceive as unpopular with the electorate. Yet, "electability" appears differently to primary voters, who increasingly see...
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Congress should address our nation’s looming retirement income crisis by increasing Social Security’s modest benefits. (Photo: Courtesy of AFGE, Flickr | CC 2.0) Views
Friday, September 06, 2019
Joni Ernst Wants to Cut Social Security Behind Closed Doors
Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) just said out loud what Republican politicians usually only talk about in secret meetings with their billionaire donors: The GOP wants to cut our earned Social Security benefits—and they want to do it behind closed doors so that they don’t have to pay the political price...
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