Today, Social Security celebrates its seventy-eighth birthday, having come into being with the signing of the Social Security Act by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on August 14th, 1935.

Originally conceived as a public service that would allow elderly Americans to retire with dignity, Social Security has been expanded over the years to also cover people with disabilities, children who have lost parents, and surviving spouses.

For nearly eight decades, Social Security has paid out benefits to tens of millions of Americans. In 2008, the year that the house of cards built by Wall Street banks came tumbling down, Social Security paid $615 million in benefits to over fifty million Americans. Even in times of economic hardship, Americans have always been able to depend on Social Security.

Thatai??i??s why itai??i??s crucial that we give Social Security a raise.

Senators Tom Harkin, Mark Begich, Brian Schatz believe that Congress should expand, not cut, Social Security. Theyai??i??re introducing legislation to expand benefits and scrap the cap to ensure that wealthy families pay the same rates as the rest of us.

Over 400,000 people have signed on in support of their plan. Have you? Click here to sign the petition and add your voice to the hundreds of thousands calling on Congress to expand Social Security.