Protect Our Checks Solvang Rally on August 16

When Jon Bauman was one of the lead singers for the popular group Sha Na Na in the  1970s and ‘80s, he was “Bowzer,” a deep-voiced, musclebound, slicked-back-hair crooner  who could belt out the band’s trademark ‘50s doo-wop sounds with the best of them.  

These days he’s still using his booming voice to work up a crowd, but this time mostly  with the help of a bullhorn at rallies protesting many of the Trump administration’s severe  budget cuts, federal worker layoLs and harsh immigration policies. Bauman was one of the main speakers at the recent “Hands OL” and “No Kings” rallies that drew thousands of  protestors to the streets in Santa Barbara and Solvang and he’s one of the leaders behind  the upcoming “Protect Our Checks” protests that are taking place in cities and towns  across the country on August 16.  

A local Protect Our Checks rally will be held in Solvang, in front of the Veteran’s  Memorial Hall, 1745 Mission Drive, from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, August 16. Attendees  are encouraged to bring signs to support and defend Social Security benefits. 

Bauman, who has a home in the Santa Ynez Valley, is the president of a national  political action committee called Social Security Works, which advocates for protecting  and expanding Social Security, and is also a member of the steering committee of  Indivisible SYV, a local branch of the national organization that has established itself as one  of the key groups resisting the current administration’s policies. 

The theme of the Aug. 16 rallies is one that’s particularly close to Bauman’s heart.  Since his Sha Na Na days, he’s become a nationally known expert on Social Security  legislation and an advocate for a variety of senior issues. It has been widely publicized that  if no changes are made in Social Security funding, benefits may have to be cut by as soon  as 2034. Recent statements from Trump’s Secretary of the Treasury have made Bauman even more worried about the future of Social Security. 

“Treasury Secretary (Scott) Bessent really did say the quiet part out loud the other day  when he said ‘Oh, this is a backdoor way of privatizing Social Security,’” referring to the  $1,000 ‘Trump Accounts’ for newborns that are envisioned in what Bauman calls the “Big  Ugly Budget Bill” that Congress passed in July. 

To Bauman, the Protect Our Checks rallies provide a way for people to support not only  the future of Social Security, but other threatened programs that are critical to seniors,  including Medicare, Medicaid and the ALordable Care Act. 

“The biggest line of attack are the DOGE cuts,” Bauman said, referring to Elon Musk’s  Department of Government ELiciency, which has slashed the number of Social Security employees by 7,000, or more than ten percent. “They’re trying to destroy the Social Security  Administration so that it doesn’t function. And then they’ll say ‘Oh, see this whole program  doesn’t work … we’ll have to give it over to Wall Street and they’ll make it work.’” Although  the SSA has recently removed wait-time tracking metrics from its website, Bauman said  that anecdotal evidence suggests that SSA telephone help-line and in-person appointment  wait times have already increased as a result of the workforce cuts. 

The budget bill’s Medicaid and ALordable Care Act changes, pushed through by  President Trump and Congressional Republicans, are especially concerning for seniors,  Bauman said. The non-partisan Congressional Budget OLice estimates that nearly 15  million Americans could lose Medicaid or ALordable Care Act health insurance coverage  because of the bill’s stricter requirements. A secondary eLect of the cuts is that hospitals  and nursing homes will lose funding that is needed to keep them operational, especially in  rural communities.  

Saturday, August 16, was chosen as the date for the rallies was because it is two days  after the 90th anniversary of the Social Security legislation being signed into law by  President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Bauman points out that the program has been  overwhelmingly successful in reducing poverty among seniors. “It’s never missed a  payment in 90 years,” he said. And now Bauman’s working to make sure the program is still  protecting seniors for the next 90 years.