Labor NPC Campaigns thread

[thumb21]

Delegate and former house Speaker Thumb21 spends the last few days of the campaign in Oklahoma talking to retirees about Labor's plan to expand and protect social security and advocating for local Labor candidates. He speaks to local media:

I've spoken to many great people across Oklahoma in the last few days about the problems they and their families are facing in these hard times. Many of the elderly people I met are aren't getting the money they need to survive because they earned less in their working life. Many women get underpaid under the current system because they've been paid less and if they've stopped working to care for their children or an ill or disabled relative, the system penalises them. The struggling pensioners I spoke to really have a simple and eminently reasonable request, that they should be able to enjoy their retirement having worked hard their whole lives to earn it, without poverty.

The Protect and Expand Social Security Act extends the solvency of social security, adds a new special minimum benefit at 125% of the poverty level to provide a stronger safety net to retirees on low incomes and implements a new credit to value the work of caregivers. The data is there, social security has been one of the most effective anti-poverty programs in the history of our country, but there is still work to be done.

This bill is an example of how a vote for Labor can make a real difference to people's lives. Oklahoma has many great Labor candidates who if elected will work hard to make the system work for ordinary people and I hope Labor wins here and across the country.