Yesterday, former President Bush validated what Democrats have been warning against for months: Congressional Republicans want to return to the “exact same agenda” to privatize Social Security and hand it over to Wall Street. The Republican agenda is being promoted by Wall Street interests who would reap billions in profits from the Bush-Ryan privatization plan.

When seniors saw trillions of dollars of their own investments wiped out in the Bush financial meltdown on Wall Street, they also would have seen deep cuts in Social Security benefits (as high as half of their benefits). Social Security is a guaranteed benefit earned over a lifetime of hard work that must not be subject to the volatility and whims of Wall Street.

Just this week, three new reports all concluded that seniors would see dramatic benefit cuts under the Republican plan to privatize Social Security.

The GOP plan to turn Social Security over to Wall Street would disproportionately impact American women. 58% of Social Security recipients are women and for a majority of women over 65, Social Security provides more than half of their income.

Social Security also provides a vital safety net for America’s children. More than 4 million young people under the age of 18 received income from Social Security survivors, retirement, and disability benefits. According to a new report by the Joint Economic Committee, 1.1 million children were lifted out of poverty in 2009 by Social Security.