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Influential work

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The Best of Duke Ellington - Duke Ellington Greatest Hits Full Album - Duke Ellington Best Songs

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(Connection to Harlem Renaissance) Even though he was a black artist he was able to perform in the Cotton Club which would broadcast almost nightly, and by 1930 Ellington and his band were famous. And even as early as this, Ellington was beginning to be recognized as an important serious composer.

Even though his music is not as relevant he is still an important person in history setting the road for black artist today.

(Lasting impacts) Today Duke Ellington is not a person heard of often but what I most know him for is being a character in big mouth helping others with his own stories and experiences.

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(Known for) Considered one of the greatest jazz composers of all time, Duke Ellington had an enormous impact on the popular music of the late 20th century. Among his more than two thousand songs are such hits.

(Reason chosen) Duke Ellington's music is very good and respected in his time while being a black artist. He was also a character in my favorite show Big Mouth.

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The State of the Union is the perfect time for Biden to renew his promise to expand Social Security

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The State of the Union is the perfect time for Biden to renew his promise to expand Social Security

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Preparing a report and transforming that report into a law, while heroic in scope in many ways, is not always the end of the story. Even though the Social Security Act was enacted into law on August 14, 1935, the country still had to hear from the Supreme Court. This was a new untested area of federal authority and it was inevitable that it would be challenged in the courts, and until the Supreme Court ruled, no one could be sure that the nascent Social Security Act would survive its infancy

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Annabelle Gordon

At last year's State of the Union, President Joe Biden memorably called out Republicans for their support for Social Security cuts.

Reportedly, Biden is considering focusing on Social Security again in this year's State of the Union address - by demanding that millionaires and billionaires contribute their fair share. This is both wise policy and winning politics, particularly if Biden pairs it with a call to expand Social Security's modest benefits.

Social Security is strikingly superior to its private sector counterparts. It is more efficient, universal, fair and secure. The system's one shortcoming is that benefits are too low, averaging only $1,770 a month or $21,240 a year. That's low in absolute terms and by international standards. It does not replace enough wages to allow Americans to retire without drastic declines in their standards of living.

Expanding those modest benefits is a solution. With pensions in rapid decline and 401(k)s inadequate or nonexistent for all but the wealthiest, our country is facing a retirement income crisis. Expanding Social Security is a solution to that crisis.

Currently, the wealthiest Americans do not contribute into Social Security on their wage income above $168,600, or on any of their unearned investment income. If we require millionaires and billionaires to pay in all year long on all of their income, just like the rest of us, we can afford to protect and expand Social Security's modest benefits. Doing that will help address today's income and wealth inequality, a primary cause of Social Security's projected shortfall.

Democratic, Republican, and independent voters are all united in support of protecting and expanding Social Security. Democrats in Congress have answered that call by championing several Social Security expansion plans. These include the Social Security 2100 Act, sponsored by Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) and co-sponsored by nearly 90 percent of House Democrats, and the Social Security Expansion Act, championed by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

None of these bills have a single Republican co-sponsor - even though Republican voters overwhelmingly support their provisions. Instead, Republicans (along with a small number of corporate-friendly Democrats) are pushing for the creation of a fast-track commission designed to cut Social Security and Medicare behind closed doors. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has said such a commission is a top priority, and House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) has demanded it as a condition of keeping the government funded.

Ninety-four percent of Republican voters oppose Social Security cuts, and 72 percent want to expand benefits. But Republican politicians have a different priority: Cutting benefits to make sure their wealthy donors will never have to pay their fair share into the system.

This year's State of the Union is the perfect opportunity for President Biden to expose this division between Republican politicians and their voters. During the address, Biden should call for expanding Social Security and paying for it by requiring millionaires and billionaires to contribute at the same rate as the rest of us.

Just as Biden challenged Republicans last year to join him in opposing Social Security cuts, this year he should challenge them to join him in support of expanding benefits. Given that most congressional Republicans are Grover Norquist acolytes who have pledged not to raise a single penny in taxes on the wealthy, they are likely to refuse. This will show voters which party stands with them, and which party stands with the billionaire class.

It will also box in Donald Trump. Unlike many of his fellow Republicans, Trump claims to oppose Social Security cuts - although his record as president, when he proposed cutting benefits every single year, shows otherwise. But Trump has stated he opposes expanding benefits, giving Biden a clear point of contrast.

In 2020, Biden ran on protecting and expanding Social Security. The State of the Union is the perfect opportunity for him to remind the American people of that promise. He should let the American people know that when he is reelected, he will work with a Democratic Congress to expand Social Security for all current and future beneficiaries.

Instead of allowing Republicans to hide behind closed doors and push for cuts, Democrats should ask the voters to elect them so they can expand Social Security. The next place to highlight that stark difference between the parties is on March 7, at the State of the Union address.
Nancy Altman is president of Social Security Works.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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The State of the Union is the perfect time for Biden to renew his promise to expand Social Security

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Instead of allowing Republicans to hide behind closed doors and push for cuts, Democrats should ask the voters to elect them so they can expand Social Security. The next place to highlight that stark difference between the parties is on March 7, at the State of the Union address.

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The Social Security Retirement benefit is a monthly check that replaces part of your income when you reduce your hours or stop working altogether. It may not replace all your income so it's best to identify other ways to pay for your monthly expenses as you age.Without Social Security, the poverty rate for those aged 65 and over would meet or exceed 40 percent in over a third of states; with Social Security, it is less than 10 percent in nearly two-thirds of states.

The Social Security Act, enacted on August 14, 1935, provided a new federally administered system of social insurance for the aged financed through payroll taxes paid by employees and their employers. As time went on the amount of money received also increased for most.

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(problem trying to solve)The significance of the new social insurance program was that it sought to address the long-range problem of economic security for the aged through a contributory system in which the workers themselves contributed to their own future retirement benefit by making regular payments into a joint fund. It was thus distinct from the welfare benefits provided under Title I of the Act and from the various state "old-age pensions." As President Roosevelt conceived of the Act, Title I was to be a temporary "relief" program that would eventually disappear as more people were able to obtain retirement income through the contributory system. The new social insurance system was also a very moderate alternative to the radical calls to action that were so common in the America of the 1930s.