Living in Sunnyvale and Silicon Valley means we’re lucky enough to live in a part of the country that is experiencing rapid economic growth and good-paying jobs in the new economy. We should embrace the innovation and change that defines this region, but we must recognize that not everyone experiences this growth in the same way.
For some, it means a good-paying job, a safe neighborhood and a great public education. But for many, it means moving farther away from work to find affordable housing and cutting out the more enjoyable things because health care and other costs are eating up the household budget.
I believe that people who grew up here and raised a family here deserve to retire here with economic security and dignity.
As I’ve knocked on thousands of doors across the district, I’ve seen the growing wealth disparity that we all hear so much about. I’ve spoken with countless seniors whose fixed-income budgets are increasingly strained by rising costs of health care and housing.
When living on a fixed budget, every dollar becomes more important. That’s why it’s incumbent upon us to protect the dignity and economic security of the people who have built the foundation of the economic growth that so many of us are benefiting from.
It’s critical that we ensure Social Security’s solvency far into the future, without reducing benefits for current or future beneficiaries or increasing the retirement age. How we strengthen the program will be a true test of how seriously we take our duty to protect our seniors.
That’s why I’ve said that Social Security benefits must keep up with the rising cost of living, especially in the high cost areas like the Bay area. It’s completely unfair to tell our seniors in Sunnyvale and across the 17th district that we don’t value their economic security as much as we value unnecessary wars and tax breaks and subsidies for oil companies and Wall Street banks.
In order to make sure the program is solvent, we should remove the payroll tax cap for those making more than $250 000 a year–asking the wealthiest among us to pay a bit more is a commonsense way to make the program work.
In order to address our housing shortage, I’ve also said that we need to ask the tech companies here in the Valley to invest more in affordable housing for both our younger workers and our seniors. People who work in Sunnyvale ought to be able to live in Sunnyvale, and those who retire in Sunnyvale ought to be able to stay in Sunnyvale. That’s the type of community we can all be proud to be part of.
Right here in Silicon Valley–the world’s hub of innovation and disruption–it’s time to lead on building an economy that works for everyone. Because ultimately, how we address growing inequality and care for our seniors is the truest reflection of our values.
Ro Khanna, a former Commerce Department official, is a lecturer in the economics department at Stanford University, and a candidate for Congress in California’s 17th district.
