FDR’s Grandson Calls Sharron Angle “Dangerous” for Social Security

James Roosevelt, former Rep. Barbara Kennelly join senior advocates to call Angle’s plan to kill the program “too extreme"

James Roosevelt, grandson of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, called Sharron Angle’s position on Social Security “too extreme and dangerous for Nevada seniors” during a conference call today.

Roosevelt, whose grandfather signed the program into law in 1935, said the 400,000 seniors in Nevada who receive Social Security must mobilize to defeat Sharron Angle, who has repeatedly said she would get rid of the incredibly successful program.

“Angle has said repeatedly that she would kill or ‘phase out’ Social Security. That’s a dangerous position for Nevadans and all Americans, and one that’s considered extreme even by many Republicans,” Roosevelt said. “Social Security is not a handout – or ‘welfare’ as Angle has called it – but something our nation’s seniors spend a lifetime earning.  We have an obligation to safeguard Social Security for today’s seniors and for future generations… And it can be there for future generations if we don’t let Sharron Angle get into the Senate and try to destroy it.”

Roosevelt was joined on the call by former Congresswoman Barbara Kennelly, president of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare and a longtime advocate for the program.

Kennelly talked about Sen. Reid’s long record of fighting to protect seniors from Republican efforts to privatize or do away with Social Security, noting that Reid understands how important protecting the program is not only for today’s seniors, but for future generations.

“His opponent, Sharron Angle, does not. She seems to think that Social Security is just another… promise that can be broken,” Kennelly said. “I’d like to tell Ms. Angle… that $407 million comes into Nevada every month from Social Security, and seniors spend that money. It is crucial that we commit ourselves to protecting Social Security from those who would leave our children and grandchild facing a bleak retirement.

“For anyone to say that this program should not be continued doesn’t know what they’re talking about.”

Also on the call were Scott Watts, president of the Nevada Alliance for Retired Americans, which represents more than 16,000 members in the state and Lucy Peres, a senator with the Silver Haired Congress. Watts and Peres emphasized how important Social Security is to helping seniors make ends meet, and how important it is that voters prevent Sharron Angel from dismantling Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s legacy.