87-824: The China Aid Society was organized by a group of progressive Koreans in the United States after Japan invaded China in 1937. It advocated anti-Japanese political action in the US, helped refugees from the Japanese invasion and supported Korean guerrilla action in China. The society, later renamed the Society for Aid to the Korean Volunteer Corps in China, was founded in 1937. It protested the Japanese military action and advocated anti-Japanese political activity in
174-593: A Benefits Calculators web page with several stand-alone online calculators that help individuals estimate their benefits and prepare for retirement. These include benefit calculators for spouses, calculators for persons affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision or the Government Pension Offset and calculators to determine a person's full retirement age or the effect of the earnings test on benefits. SSA also provides
261-611: A Women's Equality Commission, which recognizes the role of women as an asset in moving towards building socialism. Historically significant in American history as an early fighter for African Americans' rights and playing a leading role in protesting the lynchings of African Americans in the South, the Communist Party in its national program today calls racism the "classic divide-and-conquer tactic". From its New York City base,
348-579: A covert apparatus to assist the Soviets with their intelligence activities in the United States and utilized a network of front organizations to shape public opinion. The CPUSA opposed glasnost and perestroika in the Soviet Union. As a result, major funding from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ended in 1991. During the first half of the 20th century, the Communist Party
435-653: A daily newspaper written in Yiddish . For decades, its West Coast newspaper was the People's World and its East Coast newspaper was The Daily World . The two newspapers merged in 1986 into the People's Weekly World . The People's Weekly World has since become an online only publication called People's World . It has since ceased being an official Communist Party publication as the party does not fund its publication. The party's former theoretical journal Political Affairs
522-462: A life expectancy calculator to help with retirement planning. If a person first claims a retirement benefit at the full retirement age (FRA), the individual will receive a monthly benefit amount equal to 100 percent of the individual's primary insurance amount (PIA). If first claimed before the FRA, the monthly benefit amount is smaller than 100 percent of PIA and if claimed after the FRA the monthly amount
609-517: A minority faction which urged social democrats to exit the now reduced party. The party has since adopted Marxism–Leninism within its program. In 2014, the new draft of the party constitution declared: "We apply the scientific outlook developed by Marx, Engels, Lenin and others in the context of our American history, culture, and traditions." The Communist Party is based in New York City. From 1922 to 1988, it published Morgen Freiheit ,
696-453: A reduced monthly benefit amount and a worker who claims at an age after the full retirement age (up to age 70) receives an increased monthly amount. The 90, 32, and 15 percent factors in the PIA computation lead to higher replacement rates for persons with lower career earnings. For example, a retired individual whose average earnings are below the first bend point can receive a monthly benefit at
783-482: A replacement Social Security card or check the status of an application. A printed copy of the Social Security Statement is mailed to workers age 60 or older. In 2021, SSA began producing Retirement Ready fact sheets, available online and as part of the online Statement, that tailor retirement planning information to different age groups (young, middle age, and older workers). SSA also has
870-463: A timely basis. The amount of the monthly Social Security benefit to which a worker is entitled, currently depends upon the earnings record on which they have paid FICA or SECA taxes and upon the age at which the retiree chooses to begin receiving benefits. That said, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Flemming v. Nestor (1960) that no one has a contractual right to Social Security benefits. Medicare
957-554: A vision of socialism as an extension of American democracy. Seeking to "build socialism in the United States based on the revolutionary traditions and struggles" of American history, the party promotes a conception of "Bill of Rights Socialism" that will "guarantee all the freedoms we have won over centuries of struggle and also extend the Bill of Rights to include freedom from unemployment" as well as freedom "from poverty, from illiteracy, and from discrimination and oppression." Reiterating
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#17327805247231044-578: Is a separate program from Social Security, although disabled and aged (65 or older) Social Security beneficiaries qualify for Medicare. The financing for Medicare (United States) is also based on payroll taxes, trust fund reserves, and the taxation of some Social Security benefits. Workers in Social Security covered employment pay FICA ( Federal Insurance Contributions Act ) or SECA (Self Employed Contributions Act) taxes and earn quarters of coverage if earnings are above minimum amounts specified in
1131-601: Is now also published exclusively online, but the party still maintains International Publishers as its publishing house. In June 2014, the party held its 30th National Convention in Chicago. The party's 31st National Convention in 2019 celebrated the party's 100th year since its founding. The party announced on April 7, 2021, that it intended to run candidates in elections again, after a hiatus of over thirty years. Steven Estrada, who ran for city council in Long Beach ,
1218-705: Is pernicious to working-class people of all backgrounds as any discriminatory practices between demographic sections of the working class constitute an inherently divisive practice responsible for "obstructing the development of working-class consciousness, driving wedges in class unity to divert attention from class exploitation , and creating extra profits for the capitalist class". The Communist Party supports an end to racial profiling . The party supports continued enforcement of civil rights laws as well as affirmative action . Social Security (United States) Bowles–Simpson Commission 2007–2008 financial crisis 2013 budget sequestration Related events In
1305-562: The Bush Doctrine , rejecting the right of the American government to attack "any country it wants, to conduct war without end until it succeeds everywhere, and even to use 'tactical' nuclear weapons and militarize space. Whoever does not support the U.S. policy is condemned as an opponent. Whenever international organizations, such as the United Nations, do not support U.S. government policies, they are reluctantly tolerated until
1392-711: The Communist Party of the United States of America ( CPUSA ), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revolution . The history of the CPUSA is closely related to the history of the American labor movement and the history of communist parties worldwide. Initially operating underground due to
1479-696: The Great Depression , some Americans were attracted by the visible activism of Communists on behalf of a wide range of social and economic causes, including the rights of African Americans, workers, and the unemployed . The Communist Party played a significant role in the resurgence of organized labor in the 1930s. Others, alarmed by the rise of the Falangists in Spain and the Nazis in Germany, admired
1566-898: The Korean National Revolutionary Party , organizations that were in favor of armed action. He later joined the American Communist Party, and in 1949 returned to North Korea. The socialist Byun Jun-ho was one of the founders of the China Aid Society, and represented the New York branch at the Korean National Association . Byun Jun-ho dedicated himself to the cause of armed resistance after the Korean Volunteers Corps Aid Society
1653-667: The Korean War , the Vietnam War , the First Gulf War and the post- September 11 conflicts in both Iraq and Afghanistan . The Communist Party does not believe that the threat of terrorism can be resolved through war. The Communist Party Constitution defines the U.S. working class as "multiracial and multinational. It unites men and women, young and old, gay and straight, native-born and immigrant, urban and rural." The party further expands its interpretation to include
1740-665: The Palmer Raids , which started during the First Red Scare , the party was influential in American politics in the first half of the 20th century. It also played a prominent role in the history of the labor movement from the 1920s through the 1940s, playing a key role in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations . The party was unique among labor activist groups of the time in being outspokenly anti-racist and opposed to racial segregation after sponsoring
1827-603: The Progressive Party under-performed in the 1948 presidential election . The party itself imploded following the public condemnation of Stalin by Nikita Khrushchev in 1956, with membership sinking to a few thousand who were increasingly alienated from the rest of the American Left for their support of the Soviet Union. The CPUSA received significant funding from the Soviet Union and crafted its public positions to match those of Moscow. The CPUSA also used
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#17327805247231914-580: The United States , Social Security is the commonly used term for the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance ( OASDI ) program and is administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA). The Social Security Act was passed in 1935, and the existing version of the Act, as amended, encompasses several social welfare and social insurance programs. The average monthly Social Security benefit for September 2023
2001-693: The Works Progress Administration . The transformative changes of the New Deal era combined with the U.S. alliance with the Soviet Union during World War II created an atmosphere in which the CPUSA wielded considerable influence with about 70,000 vetted party members. Under the leadership of Earl Browder , the party was critically supportive of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and branded communism as "20th Century Americanism". Envisioning itself as becoming engrained within
2088-480: The multinational corporations . The state thereby becomes thrust into a proxy role that is essentially inclined to help facilitate "control by one section of the capitalist class over all others and over the whole of society". Accordingly, the Communist Party holds that right-wing policymakers such as the neoconservatives, steering the state away from working-class interests on behalf of a disproportionately powerful capitalist class, have "demonized foreign opponents of
2175-484: The 2001 Constitution laid out certain positions as non-negotiable: [S]truggle for the unity of the working class, against all forms of national oppression, national chauvinism, discrimination and segregation, against all racist ideologies and practices, ... against all manifestations of male supremacy and discrimination against women, ... against homophobia and all manifestations of discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people. Among
2262-426: The 90% multiplier in the first PIA bendpoint to 40–85% depending on the number of Years of Coverage. Foreign pensions are subject to WEP. A special minimum benefit, based on an alternative PIA calculation, is available for some workers with long careers but low earnings. However, it is rarely higher than the regularly computed PIA and thus few workers qualify for the special minimum benefit. 32,000 individuals received
2349-462: The American way of life. Internal and external crises swirled together, to the point when members who did not end up in prison for party activities either tended to disappear quietly from its ranks, or they tended to adopt more moderate political positions which were at odds with the party line . By 1957, membership had dwindled to less than 10,000, of whom some 1,500 were informants for the FBI . The party
2436-573: The Communist Party claimed to have 50,000 to 60,000 members. Its members also included anarchists and other radical leftists . At the time, the older and more moderate Socialist Party of America , suffering from criminal prosecutions for its antiwar stance during World War I, had declined to 40,000 members. The sections of the Communist Party's International Workers Order (IWO) organized for communism around linguistic and ethnic lines, providing mutual aid and tailoring cultural activities to an IWO membership that peaked at 200,000 at its height. During
2523-588: The Communist Party considered Russian security sufficient justification to support the actions. The Comintern and its leader Georgi Dimitrov demanded that Browder change the party's support for Roosevelt. On October 23, the party began attacking Roosevelt. The party changed this policy again after Hitler broke the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact by attacking the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. In August 1940, after NKVD agent Ramón Mercader killed Trotsky with an ice axe , Browder perpetuated Moscow's line that
2610-877: The Communist Party received a communique from Moscow denouncing the Polish government. Between September 14–16, party leaders bickered about the direction to take. On September 17, the Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland and occupied the Polish territory assigned to it by the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, followed by coordination with German forces in Poland. The Communist Party then turned the focus of its public activities from anti-fascism to advocating peace, opposing military preparations. The party criticized British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French leader Édouard Daladier , but it did not at first attack President Roosevelt, reasoning that this could devastate American Communism, blaming instead Roosevelt's advisors. The party spread
2697-604: The Communist Party's Ben Davis Club and other Communist Party organizations have been involved in local activism in Harlem and other African American and minority communities. The Communist Party was instrumental in the founding of the progressive Black Radical Congress in 1998, as well as the African Blood Brotherhood . Historically significant in Latino working class history as a successful organizer of
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2784-652: The Immediate Program, as are opposition to the Iraq War and other military interventions; opposition to free trade treaties such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); nuclear disarmament and a reduced military budget; various civil rights provisions; campaign finance reform including public financing of campaigns; and election law reform, including instant runoff voting . The Communist Party emphasizes
2871-660: The Mexican American working class in the Southwestern United States in the 1930s, the Communist Party regards working-class Latino people as another oppressed group targeted by overt racism as well as systemic discrimination in areas such as education and sees the participation of Latino voters in a general mass movement in both party-based and nonpartisan work as an essential goal for major left-wing progress. The Communist Party holds that racial and ethnic discrimination not only harms minorities, but
2958-431: The PIA. Once the PIA is computed, it is indexed for price inflation over time. Thus, Social Security monthly benefit amounts retain their purchasing power throughout a person's retirement years. A worker who first starts receiving a retirement benefit at the full retirement age receives a monthly benefit amount equal to 100 percent of the PIA. A worker who claims the retirement benefit before the full retirement age receives
3045-562: The PIAs of a spouse or a deceased spouse. Aged spouse and divorced spouse beneficiaries can receive up to 50 percent of the PIA. Survivor benefit rates are higher and aged widow(er)s and aged surviving divorced spouses can receive 100 percent of the PIA. Federal, state and local employees who have elected (when they could) NOT to pay FICA taxes are eligible for a reduced FICA benefits and full Medicare coverage if they have more than forty quarters of qualifying Social Security covered work. To minimize
3132-613: The Penn Wharton Budget Model (University of Pennsylvania) projected depletion in 2032–2034, depending on the shape of the economic recovery in the U.S. following the COVID-19 pandemic. With regard to actuarial balance, the Social Security Trustees estimate a 75-year actuarial deficit of 3.61 percent of payroll. This is approximately the total payroll tax increase that would be necessary to keep
3219-979: The Social Security Act are: The SSA administers two of these programs (OASDI and SSI). The Social Security program in the United States pays benefits to three broad categories of individuals: retired individuals and some family members, disabled persons and some family members, and survivors. Within these broad categories, the program defines more specific types of beneficiaries. For example, spouses and divorced spouses are distinct categories, with somewhat different eligibility requirements. Survivor benefits include several categories including aged widow(er)s, aged surviving divorced spouses, disabled widow(er)s, disabled surviving divorced spouses, paternal and maternal orphans, and widow(er)s caring for minor or disabled children. As of 2023, there were about 66.8 million individuals receiving Social Security benefits. Individuals receiving Retirement Insurance Benefits constitute
3306-425: The Social Security Statement. The Statement can be accessed online by opening an online account with SSA called my Social Security . With that account, workers can also construct "what if" scenarios, helping them to understand the effect on monthly benefits if they work additional years or delay the start of retirement benefits. The my Social Security account also offers other services, allowing individuals to request
3393-422: The Social Security payments to those who have not contributed to FICA for 35+ years and are eligible for federal, state and local benefits, which are usually more generous, the U.S. Congress passed the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). The WEP provision does not eliminate all Social Security or Medicare eligibility if the worker has 40 quarters of qualifying income, but calculates the benefit payments by reducing
3480-496: The Social Security payroll tax. Wage and salary earnings above this amount are not taxed. In 2024, the maximum amount of taxable earnings is $ 168,600. Social Security is nearly universal, with 94 percent of individuals in paid employment in the United States working in covered employment. However, about 6.6 million state and local government workers in the United States, or 28 percent of all state and local workers, are not covered by Social Security but rather pension plans operated at
3567-408: The Social Security program began, during President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term, as a measure to implement " social insurance " during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Act was an attempt to limit unforeseen and unprepared-for dangers in modern life, including old age, disability, poverty, unemployment, and the burdens of widow(er)s with and without children. Opponents, however, decried
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3654-557: The Soviet Union's early and staunch opposition to fascism . Party membership swelled from 7,500 at the start of the decade to 55,000 by its end. Party members also rallied to the defense of the Spanish Republic during this period after a nationalist military uprising moved to overthrow it, resulting in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The Communist Party of the Soviet Union , along with leftists throughout
3741-886: The U.S. government is able to subordinate or ignore them". Juxtaposing the support from the Republicans and the right-wing of the Democratic Party for the Bush administration -led invasion of Iraq with the many millions of Americans who opposed the invasion of Iraq from its beginning, the Communist Party notes the spirit of opposition towards the war coming from the American public: Thousands of grassroots peace committees [were] organized by ordinary Americans ... neighborhoods, small towns and universities expressing opposition in countless creative ways. Thousands of actions, vigils, teach-ins and newspaper advertisements were organized. The largest demonstrations were held since
3828-606: The U.S., covertly funded the right-wing-initiated civil war in Nicaragua , and gave weapons to the Saddam Hussein dictatorship in Iraq. They picked small countries to invade, including Panama and Grenada , testing new military equipment and strategy, and breaking down resistance at home and abroad to U.S. military invasion as a policy option". From its ideological framework, the Communist Party understands imperialism as
3915-534: The US labor movement officially opposed the war. In contrast, it took years to build labor opposition to the Vietnam War. ... For example in Chicago, labor leaders formed Labor United for Peace, Justice and Prosperity. They concluded that mass education of their members was essential to counter false propaganda, and that the fight for the peace, economic security and democratic rights was interrelated. The party has consistently opposed American involvement in
4002-668: The US. The China Aid Society helped Chinese refugees from the Japanese invasion and supported Korean guerrilla action in China against the Japanese. The society changed its name to the Korean Volunteers Corps Aid Society in February 1941. It was not run by the Communist Party USA , but supported the position of the Russian and Chinese Communists. The Methodist clergyman Lee Kyungsun headed the China Aid Society, Korean Volunteers Corps Aid Society in China and American Branch of
4089-599: The Vietnam War. 500,000 marched in New York after the war started. Students at over 500 universities conducted a Day of Action for " Books not Bombs ." Over 150 anti-war resolutions were passed by city councils. Resolutions were passed by thousands of local unions and community organizations. Local and national actions were organized on the Internet, including the "Virtual March on Washington DC" .... Elected officials were flooded with millions of calls, emails and letters. In an unprecedented development, large sections of
4176-408: The capitalist class or any part of it on any issue with the aim of improving or defending their lives" part of the class struggle. The Communist Party maintains that developments within the foreign policy of the United States —as reflected in the rise of neoconservatives and other groups associated with right-wing politics —have developed in tandem with the interests of large-scale capital such as
4263-501: The combined programs together (OASI and DI) and focus on key measures such as trust fund depletion date, actuarial balance over a 75-year period, and comparisons of program costs to U.S. GDP. Regarding trust fund depletion, the Social Security Trustees in 2024, based on technical work by the Social Security Administration's actuaries, project the combined OASDI trust fund will be depleted in 2035. In 2021,
4350-515: The continuing Cold War mentality, steadily weakened the party's internal structure and confidence. Party membership in the Communist International and its close adherence to the political positions of the Soviet Union gave most Americans the impression that the party was not only a threatening, subversive domestic entity, but that it was also a foreign agent that espoused an ideology which was fundamentally alien and threatening to
4437-471: The defense for the Scottsboro Boys in 1931. The party reached the apex of its influence in U.S. politics during the Great Depression , playing a prominent role in the political landscape as a militant grassroots network capable of effectively organizing and mobilizing workers and the unemployed in support of cornerstone New Deal programs, principally Social Security , unemployment insurance , and
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#17327805247234524-415: The employed and unemployed, organized and unorganized, and of all occupations. The Communist Party seeks equal rights for women, equal pay for equal work and the protection of reproductive rights, together with putting an end to sexism. They support the right of abortion and social services to provide access to it, arguing that unplanned pregnancy is prejudiced against poor women. The party's ranks include
4611-650: The established political structure in the post-war era, the party was dissolved in 1944 to become the 'Communist Political Association.' However, as Cold War hostility ensued, the party was restored but struggled to maintain its influence amidst the prevalence of McCarthyism (also known as the Second Red Scare). Its opposition to the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine failed to gain traction, and its endorsed candidate Henry A. Wallace of
4698-399: The excessive luxuries of the super-rich. Rather than making all wages entirely equal, the Communist Party holds that building socialism would entail "eliminating private wealth from stock speculation, from private ownership of large corporations, from the export of capital and jobs, and from the exploitation of large numbers of workers." Among the primary concerns of the Communist Party are
4785-401: The fight for wages, hours, benefits, working conditions, job security, and jobs. But it also includes an endless variety of other forms for fighting specific battles: resisting speed-up, picketing, contract negotiations, strikes, demonstrations, lobbying for pro-labor legislation, elections, and even general strikes". The Communist Party's national programs considers workers who struggle "against
4872-424: The first $ 1,174 of average indexed monthly earnings, plus (b) 32 percent of average indexed monthly earnings between $ 1,174 and $ 7,078, plus (c) 15 percent of average indexed monthly earnings over $ 7,078 For workers who turn 62 in the future, the 90, 32, and 15 percent factors in the computation formula will remain the same but the dollar amounts in the formula (called bend points) will increase by wage growth in
4959-520: The full retirement age that equals 90 percent of the person's average monthly earnings before retirement. The table shows replacement rates for workers who turned 62 in 2013. The PIA computation formula for disabled workers parallels that for retired workers except the AIME is based on fewer years to reflect disablement before age 62. The monthly benefit amount of a disabled worker is 100 percent of PIA. Benefits for spouses, children, and widow(er)s depend on
5046-783: The full spouse benefit for which they qualify. In addition, Social Security beneficiaries with low income and limited resources may qualify for additional income through the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. SSI is separate from the Social Security program, but it is administered by SSA. In 2022, 2.5 million Social Security beneficiaries received additional income through SSI. Social Security payments to beneficiaries, which totaled $ 1.23 trillion in 2022, are generally financed by payroll taxes on workers in Social Security covered employment, trust fund reserves, and income taxation of some Social Security benefits. The payroll tax rate totals 12.4 percent of earnings up to
5133-487: The idea of property rights in socialist society as it is outlined in Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels 's Communist Manifesto (1848), the Communist Party emphasizes: Many myths have been propagated about socialism. Contrary to right-wing claims, socialism would not take away the personal private property of workers, only the private ownership of major industries, financial institutions, and other large corporations, and
5220-416: The killer, who had been dating one of Trotsky's secretaries, was a disillusioned follower. The Communist Party's early labor and organizing successes did not last long. As the decades progressed, the combined effects of McCarthyism (also known as the Second Red Scare) and Nikita Khrushchev 's 1956 " Secret Speech " in which he denounced the previous decades of Joseph Stalin 's rule and the adversities of
5307-521: The large baby-boom generation however, is lowering balances. Without legislative changes, trust fund reserves are projected to be depleted in 2033 for the OASI fund. Should depletion occur, incoming payroll tax and other revenue would be sufficient to pay 77 percent of OASI benefits starting in 2035. With few exceptions, all legal residents working in the United States have an individual Social Security Number . Social Security timeline A limited form of
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#17327805247235394-494: The largest group of beneficiaries, with 52.4 million retired workers or family members receiving monthly payments. Social Security Disability Insurance benefits were paid to 7.4 million disabled workers and 1.2 million dependents (children and spouses). About 5.8 million individuals, including 2 million children, received some type of survivor benefit from Social Security. Some individuals qualify for more than one type of benefit, but program rules on dual entitlement generally prevent
5481-427: The law. Workers with 40 quarters of coverage (QC) are "fully insured" and eligible for retirement benefits. Retirement benefit amounts depend upon the average of the person's highest 35 years of "adjusted [for inflation]" or "indexed [for inflation]" earnings. A person's payroll-taxable earnings from earlier years are adjusted for economy-wide wage growth, using the national average wage index (AWI), and then averaged. If
5568-580: The leadership of the Soviet Union itself. In 1989, the Soviet Communist Party cut off major funding to the Communist Party USA due to its opposition to glasnost and perestroika . With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the party held its convention and attempted to resolve the issue of whether the party should reject Marxism–Leninism . The majority reasserted the party's now purely Marxist outlook, prompting
5655-469: The national economy, as measured by the AWI. Because the AIME and the PIA calculation incorporate the AWI, Social Security benefits are said to be wage indexed. Because wages typically grow faster than prices, the PIAs for workers turning 62 in the future will tend to be higher in real terms but similar relative to average earnings in the economy at the time age 62 is attained. Monthly benefit amounts are based on
5742-468: The past, legislation has been enacted to prevent trust fund depletion. Should the trust funds be depleted, Social Security would still have revenue coming into the system from payroll taxes. The Social Security trustees estimate that revenue would be sufficient to pay 77 percent of the program's benefits. There has been debate about a trust fund depletion scenario regarding whether monthly benefits would be lowered or whether full amounts would be paid but not on
5829-423: The payment of two full benefits. For example, a person eligible for a retirement benefit and a higher spouse benefit will receive the full retirement benefit and a partial spouse benefit. The dual entitlement rules disproportionately affect women (7 million women in 2022 ) because historically they have earned less than current or former husbands and this leads to retirement benefits for women that are often lower than
5916-450: The pinnacle of capitalist development : the state, working on behalf of the few who wield disproportionate power, assumes the role of proffering "phony rationalizations" for economically driven imperial ambition as a means to promote the sectional economic interests of big business. In opposition to what it considers the ultimate agenda of the conservative wing of American politics, the Communist Party rejects foreign policy proposals such as
6003-413: The points in the party's "Immediate Program" are a $ 15/hour minimum wage for all workers, national universal health care, and opposition to privatization of Social Security . Economic measures such as increased taxes on "the rich and corporations, strong regulation of the financial industry, regulation and public ownership of utilities," and increased federal aid to cities and states are also included in
6090-545: The poor, dependent children, spouses, survivors and the disabled. Poor farms were common in the US before Social Security took effect, then most disappeared by about 1950. By 1950, debates moved away from which occupational groups should be included to get enough taxpayers to fund Social Security to how to provide more benefits. Changes in Social Security have reflected a balance between promoting "equality" and efforts to provide "adequate" and affordable protection for low wage workers. The larger and better known programs under
6177-435: The poverty level; many suffer homelessness and hunger. Public and private programs to alleviate poverty and hunger do not reach everyone, and are inadequate even for those they do reach. With capitalist globalization, jobs move from place to place as capitalists export factories and even entire industries to other countries in a relentless search for the lowest wages. The Communist Party believes that "class struggle starts with
6264-818: The problems of unemployment , underemployment and job insecurity , which the party considers the natural result of the profit-driven incentives of the capitalist economy: Millions of workers are unemployed, underemployed, or insecure in their jobs, even during economic upswings and periods of 'recovery' from recessions. Most workers experience long years of stagnant and declining real wages, while health and education costs soar. Many workers are forced to work second and third jobs to make ends meet. Most workers now average four different occupations during their lifetime, many involuntarily moved from job to job and career to career. Often, retirement-age workers are forced to continue working just to provide health care for themselves and their families. Millions of people continuously live below
6351-412: The proposal as socialism. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins wrote that during a Senate Finance Committee hearing, Senator Thomas Gore (D-OK) asked "Isn't this Socialism?" She replied that it was not, but he continued, "Isn't this a teeny-weeny bit of Socialism?" The provisions of Social Security have been changing since the 1930s, shifting in response to economic worries as well as coverage for
6438-518: The rest of the left-wing in the United States, which saw this supportive role as outdated and even dangerous. At the same time, the party's aging membership demographics distanced it from the New Left in the United States . With the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev and his effort to radically alter the Soviet economic and political system from the mid-1980s, the Communist Party finally became estranged from
6525-541: The slogans " The Yanks Are Not Coming " and "Hands Off," set up a "perpetual peace vigil" across the street from the White House , and announced that Roosevelt was the head of the "war party of the American bourgeoisie." The party was active in the isolationist America First Committee . In October and November, after the Soviets invaded Finland and forced mutual assistance pacts from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania ,
6612-404: The special minimum benefit in 2019. The benefits someone is eligible for are potentially so complicated that potential retirees should consult the Social Security Administration directly for advice. Many questions are addressed and at least partially answered on many online publications and online calculators. The Social Security Administration (SSA) provides benefit estimates to workers through
6699-498: The state or local level. Social Security payroll taxes are collected by the federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and are formally entrusted to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund and the federal Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund, the two Social Security Trust Funds . Social Security revenues exceeded expenditures between 1983 and 2009 which increased trust fund balances. The retirement of
6786-467: The system solvent for 75 years. The figure is designed to illustrate the size of the deficit. Legislation could close the deficit in ways other than raising the payroll tax rate. Because taxable earnings are a fraction of GDP, sometimes the system's finances are put into context by using GDP. Social Security's cost are currently 5.2 percent of U.S. GDP. Program costs will rise to 6.3 percent of GDP by 2076, and then decline to 6.0 percent of GDP by 2097. In
6873-702: The taxable maximum (the rate is 6.2 percent from workers and 6.2 percent from employers and 12.4 percent from the self-employed). The OASI Trust Fund and the DI Trust Fund are legally separate. For employees and employers combined, the OASI payroll taxes are 10.6 percent and the DI payroll taxes are 1.8 percent. In 2022, trust fund reserves for the OASI and DI programs were $ 2.7 trillion and $ 118 billion, respectively. Income taxation of some Social Security benefits brought in $ 47.1 billion for OASI and $ 1.6 billion for DI in 2022. Assessments of system financing often focus on
6960-527: The worker has fewer than 35 years of covered earnings, these non-contributory years are assigned zero earnings. The sum of the highest 35 years of adjusted or indexed earnings divided by 420 (35 years times 12 months per year) produces a person's Average Indexed Monthly Earnings or AIME. The AIME is then used to calculate the Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). For workers who turn 62 in 2024, the PIA computation formula is: (a) 90 percent of
7047-722: The world, raised funds for medical relief while many of its members made their way to Spain with the aid of the party to join the Lincoln Brigade , one of the International Brigades . The Communist Party was adamantly opposed to fascism during the Popular Front period. Although membership in the party rose to about 66,000 by 1939, nearly 20,000 members left the party by 1943. While general secretary Browder at first attacked Germany for its September 1, 1939 invasion of western Poland , on September 11
7134-522: Was $ 1,706. The total cost of the Social Security program for 2022 was $ 1.244 trillion or about 5.2 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). Social Security is funded primarily through payroll taxes called the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) or Self Employed Contributions Act (SECA). Wage and salary earnings from covered employment, up to an amount determined by law (see tax rate table), are subject to
7221-532: Was also banned by the Communist Control Act of 1954 , although it was never really enforced and Congress later repealed most provisions of the act, also with some declared unconstitutional via the court system. The party attempted to recover with its opposition to the Vietnam War during the civil rights movement in the 1960s, but its continued uncritical support for an increasingly stultified and militaristic Soviet Union further alienated it from
7308-636: Was established in 1940 in China, and from 1943 onward chaired the North America branch of the Korean National Revolutionary Party. Irvin E. Cline was secretary of the China Aid Society in Los Angeles . He was among those who petitioned Mexican president Lázaro Cárdenas to admit the exiled Japanese Marxist theatre director Seki Sano . The mathematician Norbert Wiener became a member of the China Aid Society. He
7395-444: Was influential in various struggles. Historian Ellen Schrecker concludes that decades of recent scholarship offer "a more nuanced portrayal of the party as both a Stalinist sect tied to a vicious regime and the most dynamic organization within the American Left during the 1930s and '40s." It was also the first political party in the United States to be "fully" racially integrated. By August 1919, only months after its founding,
7482-582: Was interested in placing scholars such as Yuk-Wing Lee who had lost their positions. The businessman and left-wing journal editor Philip Jaffe was also associated with the society. Harold Winston Rhodes was president of the China Aid Society in New Zealand during the war. Communist Party USA Progressive Era Repression and persecution Anti-war and civil rights movements Contemporary Former parties Former parties Former parties The Communist Party USA , officially
7569-438: Was one of the first candidates to run as an open member of the CPUSA again (although Long Beach local elections are officially non-partisan). Estrada received 8.5% of the vote. According to the constitution of the party adopted at the 30th National Convention in 2014, the Communist Party operates on the principle of democratic centralism , its highest authority being the quadrennial National Convention. Article VI, Section 3 of
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