During a town hall on Tuesday, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) was asked what Democrats are discussing amid Republicans' cuts to Social Security.
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00:00So pleased to be in the same room with you.
00:03I am a retired professor at our sister college,
00:07Commerce College, just down the street.
00:09Oh, well, I look forward to seeing you.
00:13I think the 17th, whatever, I think the 17th,
00:15I'm doing your commencement.
00:19Alyssa, I guess I'm still there.
00:21After the night, I'm going to know.
00:25Oh, it's because I'm retired.
00:28Yeah.
00:28Just retired, and I hear very clearly
00:32your commitment to collaboration
00:35and crossing over the aisle.
00:37I hear that very strongly from you.
00:41But I do have another more pointed question
00:44about Social Security now that I'm retired.
00:50Yeah, it means a lot more to me after I retire.
00:54But I'm just imagining what it would be
00:57to be a fly on the wall in the Democratic caucus
01:00as you are ensuring that your older and retired constituents
01:07will continue to receive their hard-earned Social Security benefits.
01:12What are y'all talking about?
01:18Well, I thought we had a slide that I was going to show you.
01:26I'll tell you what we talk about.
01:28One of the things, and this is why I think it's so important for us to talk.
01:38I remember when we first started talking about Social Security,
01:41people used to use the argument trying to drive a wedge between young people and older people.
01:49And they would say to young people all the time,
01:52Social Security is running out of money.
01:57Now, it's been in place now.
01:59It will soon be 89 years that Social Security has been in place.
02:04It has never missed a paycheck in 89 years.
02:13Because we have the power to course correct.
02:17We have the power in the Congress to do the things that are necessary to make sure
02:22it doesn't run out of money.
02:26But I say to young people all the time,
02:28Social Security, you don't have to wait.
02:33But Social Security is there for you now.
02:38Think about it.
02:40You're 35, 40 years old.
02:44You've got parents and grandparents on Social Security.
02:51Think about Medicare.
02:52On Medicare, which is a part of Social Security,
02:59Medicare and Medicaid came about because of amendments
03:03to the Social Security administration laws.
03:09What would happen
03:11if there's no Medicare or Medicaid?
03:17Medicaid, how many people did you know, related to you,
03:27that need nursing home care and get nursing home care?
03:31That's Medicaid.
03:34How many people
03:35depended upon the Social Security check?
03:40And if you did not have Social Security,
03:43then what would it depend on?
03:47It would have to depend on you.
03:50That's why we cannot sit out and buy.
03:52And these are the kind of things that we discuss.
03:54And I remember
03:55early in the discussion,
03:57the way we got people to really pay attention
03:59when they were having all these crazy arguments.
04:02And I said to them,
04:03I said, do you realize that when Social Security came online,
04:06that it was not until 1950,
04:10Harry Truman in 1950
04:12signed legislation
04:16to cover farm workers
04:19and domestic workers.
04:21When Social Security came online,
04:24it did not cover farm workers
04:26and domestic workers.
04:28And in the South,
04:30in South Carolina,
04:3265%
04:34of African Americans
04:36worked in those two categories.
04:39So 65% of African Americans
04:42were not covered by Social Security
04:44when it first came online.
04:47I cannot,
04:49and I'm not making this up,
04:51the first time I brought that up in the meeting,
04:53you asked me,
04:55you would love to be a fly on the wall.
04:58I can't tell you how many people came to me
05:00after the whistleblower.
05:01I never knew that.
05:05If you share with people
05:07what it is you're fighting for
05:10and why you're fighting for,
05:13who will benefit from it?
05:15Like I say to all people running for office,
05:19when you are talking to a potential voter,
05:22do like my dad used to do,
05:24my father,
05:24the minister used to do,
05:25the father,
05:26the son,
05:27the Holy Ghost.
05:27I say,
05:31you,
05:32your family,
05:33your community,
05:34show me people,
05:36here is what my proposal
05:37will do for you.
05:40Here's what it will do for your family.
05:43And here's what it will do for your community.
05:45If you can pass those three thresholds,
05:49the chances are
05:50you can get people.
05:52Social Security
05:53is a big deal,
05:56not just for the individuals,
05:59but it's a big deal
06:00for the families,
06:02for the 35,
06:0340,
06:03and 50-year-olds
06:04who need their parents
06:06and grandparents
06:07to have Social Security.
06:10So they,
06:12so let,
06:18don't let them use
06:18these selfish arguments.
06:21And I'm telling you,
06:23there's something in Social Security
06:23called survivor benefits.
06:25I'm not going to ask
06:26for a show of hands,
06:27but I guarantee you,
06:29sitting in this audience
06:30right now,
06:31it's somebody
06:32or bodies
06:33that got their college education
06:36of survivor benefits.
06:39Instagram.
06:39Social Security.
06:40I wouldn't recall her name,
06:44but that's exactly,
06:45that's exactly right.