[img_assist|nid=3159|title=Maryland Alliance of Retired Americans President Bruce Dunton outside the Social Security Administration HQ today|desc=Camapign Photo|link=none|align=middle|width=416|height=189]This afternoon, state Democrats gathered at the national headquarters of the Social Security Administration in Woodlawn for a birthday: the landmark New Deal program was signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt 73 years ago today.

Yet much of the event was focused on someone born a year later: Republican presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

“John McCain collects about $2,000 every month from a system he wants to destroy by giving our money to his wealthy friends and contributors," Maryland Alliance of Retired Americans President Bruce Dunton told the media and 33 people assembled for the rally.

“Today we celebrate the great and solemn promise of Social Security that George Bush and John McCain want to put at risk. They can afford to take that risk. Millions of ordinary Americans who need the guarantee of Social Security to survive simply can’t afford it.”

In 2007, McCain received an annual amount of $23,157 in Social Security benefits, an average of $1,929.75 per month. Labor unions have pounded McCain for this fact in light of his support for President Bush's failed 2005 effort to partially privatize the program with personal accounts.

McCain continues to support the partial privatization of the Social Security as part of a broader proposal to reform the aging system, while his Democratic opponent, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), opposes privatization.

Yesterday, the Republican National Committee launched an attack on Obama for shifting his position on raising the payroll taxes and his overall Social Security proposal, but the GOP has essentially shied away from the issue since the 2005 privatization campaign was unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee has released a video with President Roosevelt's grandson and their Rules and Bylaws Committee co-chair James Roosevelt, Jr., talking about the history and accomplishments of the Social Security Act and the perceived threat McCain poses to it.