Story By JOHN MANN

Social Security was the main topic of discussion at a special town hall event last Friday at the Marshall County RSVP building in Guntersville last Saturday, featuring guest speaker former Governor Martin O’Malley.

O’Malley, who was the governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015, served as the United States Social Security Commissioner under President Joe Biden during his last year in office. O’Malley came to Guntersville thanks to a joint effort by the Marshall, Cullman and DeKalb Democrat Parties, Alabama Young Democrats and Blueprint Alabama to speak to the community on the importance of Social Security and the threats it faces under the current presidential administration.

“I want to blow up some of the big lies that are being told about Social Security,” he said. “You kind of already know they’re lies otherwise you wouldn’t be sitting here today you’d be sitting at home. I want to give you some plain language so that when you return to your own tables of democracy you can engage with your neighbors or family members.”

Signed into law in 1935 Social Security, formally known as the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance program, provides financial assistance to around 73 million Americans, the majority over the age of sixty-two, across over twelve hundred field offices. 

The program is funded by American citizens, who pay into it through their paychecks in jobs where a W-2 is issued. O’Malley spoke on how the program has come under fire in the past year, citing things such as data breaches by the recently formed Department of Government Efficiency as well as mass layoffs by the current administration. O’Malley also tried to dispel some of the myths surrounding Social Security, such as the fact that it is being issued to undocumented immigrants or to deceased individuals.

“This is a very real threat,” he said. “I truly believe they are trying to wreck its reputation, wreck its ability to serve its customers, to turn enough people against it so that after wrecking its reputation and customer service then and only then can they get away with robbing it of that big built-up surplus reserve which right now is 2.6 trillion dollars.”

The town hall event represents one of the first in-person events for the newly formed Blueprint Alabama, which was founded this year under Josh Coleman and Caroline Self as a means of building bridges between democratic organizations in Alabama, as well as recruit and train candidates to run under the Democratic party in state elections. 

After his presentation O’Malley invited anyone in attendance to come and ask questions, stating that social security is a program that is popular with the majority of Americans and something that the public must be as informed about as possible.

“I really worry about social security,” Ragan Hope Wilson, a social work student at the University of Alabama from Tuscumbia, said. “I receive Social Security survivors’ benefits and it’s given me the stability to be a college student now, I also don’t want to have to worry about my parents and grandparents down the line. It really affects everybody but what gives me hope about it is that it’s popular and it works, I think when it comes down to it and especially after the midterms social security will be protected.”

More information about Governor O’Malley and Social Security can be found on his website at winbackourcountry.com while more information about Blueprint Alabama can be found on their Facebook page under “Blueprint Alabama.” 

The Marshall County Democratic Club hold meetings in the first Tuesday of every month at the Guntersville Public Library. 

Meetings start at 6 p.m. and are open to the public.