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1108, 2012

Ryan Selection Sends Clear Message to Seniors

By |August 11th, 2012|Budget, entitlement reform, Max Richtman, Medicare, Presidential Politics, privatization, Social Security|

Max Richtman, President/CEO

National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare

 

“Governor Romney signaled his plans to decimate Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid today by selecting Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate.  Of all the candidates on Mr. Romney’s nominee list, none has been a more vocal opponent of American’s vital social insurance safety net than Congressman Ryan.  Ryan supports dismantling the earned Social Security and Medicare benefits of current and future beneficiaries. And, he is determined to decimate our nation’s compassionate response to the health care needs of the most vulnerable of our society by gutting Medicaid.

Ryan says that he does not duck the tough issues, but if he is elected, Americans better duck and cover. If he has his way, there will be little left of the social insurance which protect seniors, the disabled, survivors and children from the hazards and vicissitudes of life.

Ryan’s budget, his signature legislative scheme, would end traditional Medicare as we know it and leaves seniors at the mercy of private insurance companies. Ryan wants to raise the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67 and cut seniors’ prescription drug coverage, preventive care services and Medicaid nursing home benefits.  In addition, the Ryan budget would set up a process for Congress and the President to automatically consider cuts to Social Security every year through “fast track” legislative procedures.

Americans want to know that someone is fighting for them. The selection of Paul Ryan as Governor Romney’s Vice Presidential nominee clearly demonstrates that this ticket will guarantee a knockout punch to the future well-being of middle class Americans.”

Max Richtman, NCPSSM President and CEO


1108, 2012

Romney/Ryan: The End of Medicare for Millions

By |August 11th, 2012|Budget, entitlement reform, Max Richtman, Medicare, Presidential Politics, privatization, Social Security, Super Committee|

Doubling Down on an America where Corporations are Considered People and the Middle-Class Simply an Economic Drain

News reports this morning say Mitt Romney will chose Rep. Paul Ryan from Wisconsin to be his running mate.  At least voters will have a very, very clear choice come November.  At least, there’s no grey area here, because there’s no attempt to hide what Rep. Ryan’s priorities are for this nation.  And it’s not just talk.

We’ve written about Paul Ryan’s legislative attempts to roll back programs, like Medicare and Social Security,  that reflect the very core of middle-class American values of hard work, contribution and intergenerational responsibility more than we care to remember.  Seems this morning is a good time to review:

From Time Magazine:

The Ryan budget is likely to be the totem pole around which the coming election will be fought. It is an entirely radical piece of business. Every budget is a political document; this one, however, is a campaign document — it is a right-wing fantasy and could not possibly be enacted. It contains several aspects that Republicans will love: humongous tax cuts, focused on the wealthy; humongous budget cuts, focused on the poor. Because the spending cuts don’t outweigh the tax cuts by very much, the federal budget would not be balanced until 2040, unless there is significant tax reform, the closing of loopholes that Ryan refuses to specify.The proposed tax cuts, about $4 trillion over the next 10 years, are Republican business as usual. The real outrage lies in the budget cuts, which would reduce federal spending on everything except Social Security, health care entitlements and interest on the debt to 3.75% of gross domestic product by 2050. As the Congressional Budget Office pointed out in an evaluation requested by Ryan, federal spending in these areas has never been less than 8% of GDP since World War II. Defense spending alone has never been less than 3% during that period, and Ryan plans to increase it. As the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities put it, if Ryan’s budget were enacted, “the rest of government would largely have to disappear” by 2050 — which means everything from food- and water-safety inspections to highway funds to basic research, as well as all spending on the poor. No doubt many of these programs need to be reformed and some might even be eliminated, but the cuts envisioned by Ryan are simply ridiculous.

Entitled to Know: Targeting Seniors for Real and Just for Fun

If America’s seniors really want to get at the heart of the ongoing political debate about our nation’s economic mess and the solutions offered to change course, yesterday provided a good snapshot of what’s at stake House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan has introduced the GOP/Ryan budget and as expected it envisions balancing the budget by turning Medicare into a privatized program giving seniors a voucher (designed not to keep pace with their health costs over time) to buy private insurance.  The new twist offered this year is a promise to also keep traditional Medicare as an option.  Unfortunately, what that really means is private insurers will siphon-off younger-healthier seniors while older and sicker patients remain in traditional Medicare which will increase the programs costs, potentially limit doctor participation, and create a death spiral to the Medicare’s demise.  Ultimately, the ideological goal of getting the government out of the business of providing healthcare for seniors will be achieved.  The American Prospect offers this description:

“Most Republicans really do believe that Medicare is a vile, socialistic cancer on the American system, and things would be much better if it were privatized. The fact that Medicare works so much better than private insurance (it has far lower administrative costs, and its overall costs have been rising at a slower rate than those of private insurance), and that it’s so popular, is just all the more reason why it’s so hateful to them. Medicare validates the idea that government can do something better than the private sector, standing as a living rebuke to arguments they make in so many areas.”

And maybe this also explains while Congressman Ryan continues to conflate America’s retirees with the poor and welfare with Medicare.   By lumping these programs together he attempts to paint a picture of Americans simply milking the system, which conveniently ignores the fact that workers contribute to Medicare.  He did it again in yesterday’s budget news conference (25 minutes into this video):  “but we don’t want to turn this safety net into a hammock that lulls able-bodied people into lives of dependency and complacency, that drains them of their will and the intent to make the most of their lives.”

NCPSSM President/CEO, Max Richtman,  Statement on Ryan Budget

“Contrary to the lofty political rhetoric we’ve heard today, the GOP/Ryan plan is not a brave budget offered by ‘adults’.  This is a budget that doubles-down on an ideological quest to turn Medicare into a privatized voucher program–stacking the deck against traditional Medicare and creating a death spiral leading to its demise. Under the GOP/Ryan plan, if seniors want the same level of coverage and access to health providers they’ve had in the past, they’ll have to pay more.  If they can’t pay more, they’ll have to settle for less.  At the same time, under the GOP/Ryan budget, billionaires continue to enjoy tax cuts our nation simply can’t afford.  The American people, of all ages, do not believe benefit cuts for the middle class and tax cuts for the wealthy are the right course for our nation, no matter how they’re repackaged for an election year.   Congressman Ryan has said his budget plan addresses a ‘moral issue’ because ‘there is right and there is wrong’.  But the American people don’t believe it’s ‘right’ to cut middle class benefits to pay for more tax cuts for the wealthy.  It’s not ‘right’ to continually target seniors’ programs to foot the bill for an economic and fiscal crisis they did not create. Middle class Americans have already sacrificed more than their fair share with stagnant wages, plunging home values and vanishing savings.  That’s why it’s simply wrong to target the average American to protect the wealthiest among us who continue to reap the benefits of decades of flawed fiscal policy.  We don’t have to destroy Medicare to save it — the American people understand this and will make their views on ‘right and wrong’ abundantly clear come November.” …Max Richtman

The Social Security Medicare Double Reverse

Based on data published on his (Chairman Ryan’s) committee’s website he slashed Medicaid by more than $771 billion over 10 years, which would cut millions of poor children, seniors, and people with disabilities from eligibility. He is particularly savage on the category he lists as “other mandatory,” which includes programs such as Supplemental Assistance for Needy Families, Temporary Aid for Needy Families, and Supplemental Security Income—funding them at only 75 percent of the level the Congressional Budget Office estimates as necessary to maintain current service levels. An analysis by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities demonstrated that more than two-thirds of his budget cuts come from programs that help low-income families. Now he’s all of a sudden concerned about the poor? So, if Rep. Ryan is not attacking the elderly for the purpose of helping the poor, why is he doing it? I think the answer is relatively simple: He needs to slash huge amounts from federal retirement programs to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. His $5.8 trillion in overall spending cuts last year still left huge deficits because of his voracious appetite for tax cuts. Rep. Ryan proposed more than $4 trillion in tax cuts over the course of the decade, lowering the rate at which the wealthiest Americans pay taxes from the 35 percent level in the expiring Bush tax cuts to 25 percent. His plan would reduce total tax liabilities of many millionaires by more than 25 percent—to the tune of hundreds of hundreds of thousands of dollars or in some instances even millions of dollars per each millionaire. So Rep. Ryan’s March 5 column about taking from the rich (defined as old people living on more than $20,000 a year) and giving to the poor is in fact about taking from the elderly and giving to the rich—akin to a double reverse in football. Let’s hope the defensive backfield in Congress stays alert.

Of course there’s more.  A lot more. But for now, this provides a glimpse into what a Romney/Ryan presidency would mean for middle-class Americans, seniors, the disabled and their families.


908, 2012

Seniors Pay the Price for GOP’s Budget Priorities

By |August 9th, 2012|Aging Issues, Budget, Disability, Presidential Politics, Retirement, Social Security|

There’s news today that the Social Security Administration has offered early retirement to 9,000 employees…that’s a whopping 14% of its workforce. 

The attacks on Social Security aren’t limited to benefit cuts alone.  It’s clear some in Congress seek to undermine the program in as many ways as possible and seniors and the disabled will ultimately pay the price.

Conservatives in Congress have long espoused a political philosophy that says if you can’t kill a successful government program, like Social Security or Medicare, let’s just starve them to death instead.  That’s exactly what’s been done over recent years to the Social Security Administration. Rather than budgeting and preparing for a growing number of retiring Americans – after all, the Baby Boomer generation is hardly a surprise – Congress has chosen this time in our history to make devastating budget cuts to one of the nation’s most efficient, effective and well-respected agencies whose services touch virtually every American family.

Already, Social Security field offices have had to close 30 minutes early thanks to budget cuts, the agency has had to freeze hiring, expects to lose about 2,500 federal employees, plus 1,000 state employees who are paid with federal funds; did not open eight new hearing offices; and has suspended mailing Social Security statements.

Some estimates show that thanks to these budget attacks the SSA workforce could drop by an additional 4,400 federal and state employees, for a total of 7,900 workers in two years. Almost 400,000 fewer disability claims would be processed, taking the backlog to 1.2 million and the processing time to longer than four months.

Does this sound like good governance or politics as usual to you?

 


3007, 2012

Will Democrats Promise No Cuts to Social Security?

By |July 30th, 2012|Budget, entitlement reform, Medicare, Presidential Politics, Retirement, Social Security|

If you had a few minutes to talk to leaders of the Democratic Party, as they prepare for the 2012 election, what would you tell them?  The National Committee was presented with that unique opportunity this weekend and our message was simple — Washington should not support middle-class benefit cuts as part of a “Grand Bargain” to cut deficits. 

NCPSSM’s Board Chair, Dr. Maya Rockeymoore, and Florida NCPSSM member Carol Berman testified to members of the Democratic National Committee platform drafting committee in Minneapolis this weekend.  Here’s an excerpt of their comments:

Maya Rockeymoore, Ph.D., Chair of the Board of Directors

National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare

Democrats can be proud of their long list of landmark accomplishments which enable seniors to live independent and dignified lives.  It is Democrats who pulled seniors out of poverty through the creation of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the Older Americans Act. During the 2012 campaign and beyond, the Democratic Party can honor the legacies of Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson by standing up for seniors.  Standing up for Social Security. And, standing up for Medicare and Medicaid. Unfortunately, too many Washington politicians are uncompromising in their belief that middle class benefits should be cut to pay for tax loopholes for the richest two percent and large profitable corporations who move American jobs overseas.  However, rather than fight this intransigence, some of the traditional allies of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid have said that “everything should be on the table.”

Everything, including benefit cuts that would harm seniors, people with disabilities and children and have a disproportionately negative affect on women and communities of color. Responding to the party of NO by being the party of MAYBE is not a winning formula and it won’t be persuasive for a majority of seniors. The polling is clear on that. Voters of all ages and political persuasions don’t support cutting benefits to middle-class Americans who depend on Social Security and Medicare (now or in the future) to repair our ailing economy.

There is no other issue that draws this level of nonpartisan support: 94 percent of Democrats, 82 percent of Independents and 64 percent of Republicans prefer raising taxes on the richest two percent of income earners rather than cutting benefits. Democrats have a historic opportunity in this year’s election to win over middle class seniors by drawing a clear line in the sand in defense of the core American values of hard work, fairness and compassion embodied in our nation’s most successful programs. 

Towards that goal, the committee can reassure seniors that Democrats are fighting to protect their earned Social Security and Medicare benefits by using this testimony to draft the 2012 Democratic National Committee platform.  In addition, we urge you to include language in the platform to defend and expand Medicaid for vulnerable seniors, people with disabilities and children who need health care and/or long-term services and supports.

By applying taxes more fairly to all workers, benefits do not have to be cut. Among the proposals we’ve recommended for inclusion in the Democratic platform:

–           Eliminate the cap on Social Security payroll tax contributions. 

–           Gradual Increase in the Contribution Rate. 

–           Reform the Treatment of Salary Reduction Plans. 

–           Improving Survivor Benefits.

–           Provide Social Security Credits for Caregivers. 

–           Enhance the Special Minimum Benefits. 

–           Equalize Rules for Disabled Widows. 

–           Benefit Equality for Working Widows. 

–           Strengthening the COLA. 

–           Restoring Student Benefits. 

Carol Berman is a National Committee member and Social Security and Medicare beneficiary.  She described to the platform committee the critical role Social Security and Medicare played after her husband became incapacitated due to Alzheimer’s and their long-term care costs drained their savings:

Carol Berman, NCPSSM Member and Social Security & Medicare Beneficiary

West Palm Beach, FL

 “When it became clear that our funds would not last much longer and that my financial future was in serious jeopardy, I hired an elder care attorney who advised me to contact a state welfare worker.  This person told me that when my funds ran out I would be eligible for Section 8 housing, food stamps, and other welfare programs.  I could not believe that after working my whole life, this was my only option.  It was not what I dreamed of in my retirement years.

Ultimately, the only way I could avoid impoverishment and taking welfare was to preserve my only remaining source of money — my 40lK.  To do that, I had to divorce my husband.  Thankfully, since my daily visits to the nursing home never wavered, my husband never knew the change in our marital status. He greeted me the same way every day during this terrible period with “here comes the pretty lady.I lived on the edge of financial disaster for a long time just because my husband needed long-term care. 

Social Security and Medicare were the lifelines I needed to come through that very difficult time. They are lifelines future generations will also need and they should be protected and strengthened – not cut or privatized.”

You can see our full testimony to the Democratic Platform Committee here.

 

 


Ryan Selection Sends Clear Message to Seniors

By |August 11th, 2012|Budget, entitlement reform, Max Richtman, Medicare, Presidential Politics, privatization, Social Security|

Max Richtman, President/CEO

National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare

 

“Governor Romney signaled his plans to decimate Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid today by selecting Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate.  Of all the candidates on Mr. Romney’s nominee list, none has been a more vocal opponent of American’s vital social insurance safety net than Congressman Ryan.  Ryan supports dismantling the earned Social Security and Medicare benefits of current and future beneficiaries. And, he is determined to decimate our nation’s compassionate response to the health care needs of the most vulnerable of our society by gutting Medicaid.

Ryan says that he does not duck the tough issues, but if he is elected, Americans better duck and cover. If he has his way, there will be little left of the social insurance which protect seniors, the disabled, survivors and children from the hazards and vicissitudes of life.

Ryan’s budget, his signature legislative scheme, would end traditional Medicare as we know it and leaves seniors at the mercy of private insurance companies. Ryan wants to raise the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67 and cut seniors’ prescription drug coverage, preventive care services and Medicaid nursing home benefits.  In addition, the Ryan budget would set up a process for Congress and the President to automatically consider cuts to Social Security every year through “fast track” legislative procedures.

Americans want to know that someone is fighting for them. The selection of Paul Ryan as Governor Romney’s Vice Presidential nominee clearly demonstrates that this ticket will guarantee a knockout punch to the future well-being of middle class Americans.”

Max Richtman, NCPSSM President and CEO


Romney/Ryan: The End of Medicare for Millions

By |August 11th, 2012|Budget, entitlement reform, Max Richtman, Medicare, Presidential Politics, privatization, Social Security, Super Committee|

Doubling Down on an America where Corporations are Considered People and the Middle-Class Simply an Economic Drain

News reports this morning say Mitt Romney will chose Rep. Paul Ryan from Wisconsin to be his running mate.  At least voters will have a very, very clear choice come November.  At least, there’s no grey area here, because there’s no attempt to hide what Rep. Ryan’s priorities are for this nation.  And it’s not just talk.

We’ve written about Paul Ryan’s legislative attempts to roll back programs, like Medicare and Social Security,  that reflect the very core of middle-class American values of hard work, contribution and intergenerational responsibility more than we care to remember.  Seems this morning is a good time to review:

From Time Magazine:

The Ryan budget is likely to be the totem pole around which the coming election will be fought. It is an entirely radical piece of business. Every budget is a political document; this one, however, is a campaign document — it is a right-wing fantasy and could not possibly be enacted. It contains several aspects that Republicans will love: humongous tax cuts, focused on the wealthy; humongous budget cuts, focused on the poor. Because the spending cuts don’t outweigh the tax cuts by very much, the federal budget would not be balanced until 2040, unless there is significant tax reform, the closing of loopholes that Ryan refuses to specify.The proposed tax cuts, about $4 trillion over the next 10 years, are Republican business as usual. The real outrage lies in the budget cuts, which would reduce federal spending on everything except Social Security, health care entitlements and interest on the debt to 3.75% of gross domestic product by 2050. As the Congressional Budget Office pointed out in an evaluation requested by Ryan, federal spending in these areas has never been less than 8% of GDP since World War II. Defense spending alone has never been less than 3% during that period, and Ryan plans to increase it. As the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities put it, if Ryan’s budget were enacted, “the rest of government would largely have to disappear” by 2050 — which means everything from food- and water-safety inspections to highway funds to basic research, as well as all spending on the poor. No doubt many of these programs need to be reformed and some might even be eliminated, but the cuts envisioned by Ryan are simply ridiculous.

Entitled to Know: Targeting Seniors for Real and Just for Fun

If America’s seniors really want to get at the heart of the ongoing political debate about our nation’s economic mess and the solutions offered to change course, yesterday provided a good snapshot of what’s at stake House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan has introduced the GOP/Ryan budget and as expected it envisions balancing the budget by turning Medicare into a privatized program giving seniors a voucher (designed not to keep pace with their health costs over time) to buy private insurance.  The new twist offered this year is a promise to also keep traditional Medicare as an option.  Unfortunately, what that really means is private insurers will siphon-off younger-healthier seniors while older and sicker patients remain in traditional Medicare which will increase the programs costs, potentially limit doctor participation, and create a death spiral to the Medicare’s demise.  Ultimately, the ideological goal of getting the government out of the business of providing healthcare for seniors will be achieved.  The American Prospect offers this description:

“Most Republicans really do believe that Medicare is a vile, socialistic cancer on the American system, and things would be much better if it were privatized. The fact that Medicare works so much better than private insurance (it has far lower administrative costs, and its overall costs have been rising at a slower rate than those of private insurance), and that it’s so popular, is just all the more reason why it’s so hateful to them. Medicare validates the idea that government can do something better than the private sector, standing as a living rebuke to arguments they make in so many areas.”

And maybe this also explains while Congressman Ryan continues to conflate America’s retirees with the poor and welfare with Medicare.   By lumping these programs together he attempts to paint a picture of Americans simply milking the system, which conveniently ignores the fact that workers contribute to Medicare.  He did it again in yesterday’s budget news conference (25 minutes into this video):  “but we don’t want to turn this safety net into a hammock that lulls able-bodied people into lives of dependency and complacency, that drains them of their will and the intent to make the most of their lives.”

NCPSSM President/CEO, Max Richtman,  Statement on Ryan Budget

“Contrary to the lofty political rhetoric we’ve heard today, the GOP/Ryan plan is not a brave budget offered by ‘adults’.  This is a budget that doubles-down on an ideological quest to turn Medicare into a privatized voucher program–stacking the deck against traditional Medicare and creating a death spiral leading to its demise. Under the GOP/Ryan plan, if seniors want the same level of coverage and access to health providers they’ve had in the past, they’ll have to pay more.  If they can’t pay more, they’ll have to settle for less.  At the same time, under the GOP/Ryan budget, billionaires continue to enjoy tax cuts our nation simply can’t afford.  The American people, of all ages, do not believe benefit cuts for the middle class and tax cuts for the wealthy are the right course for our nation, no matter how they’re repackaged for an election year.   Congressman Ryan has said his budget plan addresses a ‘moral issue’ because ‘there is right and there is wrong’.  But the American people don’t believe it’s ‘right’ to cut middle class benefits to pay for more tax cuts for the wealthy.  It’s not ‘right’ to continually target seniors’ programs to foot the bill for an economic and fiscal crisis they did not create. Middle class Americans have already sacrificed more than their fair share with stagnant wages, plunging home values and vanishing savings.  That’s why it’s simply wrong to target the average American to protect the wealthiest among us who continue to reap the benefits of decades of flawed fiscal policy.  We don’t have to destroy Medicare to save it — the American people understand this and will make their views on ‘right and wrong’ abundantly clear come November.” …Max Richtman

The Social Security Medicare Double Reverse

Based on data published on his (Chairman Ryan’s) committee’s website he slashed Medicaid by more than $771 billion over 10 years, which would cut millions of poor children, seniors, and people with disabilities from eligibility. He is particularly savage on the category he lists as “other mandatory,” which includes programs such as Supplemental Assistance for Needy Families, Temporary Aid for Needy Families, and Supplemental Security Income—funding them at only 75 percent of the level the Congressional Budget Office estimates as necessary to maintain current service levels. An analysis by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities demonstrated that more than two-thirds of his budget cuts come from programs that help low-income families. Now he’s all of a sudden concerned about the poor? So, if Rep. Ryan is not attacking the elderly for the purpose of helping the poor, why is he doing it? I think the answer is relatively simple: He needs to slash huge amounts from federal retirement programs to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. His $5.8 trillion in overall spending cuts last year still left huge deficits because of his voracious appetite for tax cuts. Rep. Ryan proposed more than $4 trillion in tax cuts over the course of the decade, lowering the rate at which the wealthiest Americans pay taxes from the 35 percent level in the expiring Bush tax cuts to 25 percent. His plan would reduce total tax liabilities of many millionaires by more than 25 percent—to the tune of hundreds of hundreds of thousands of dollars or in some instances even millions of dollars per each millionaire. So Rep. Ryan’s March 5 column about taking from the rich (defined as old people living on more than $20,000 a year) and giving to the poor is in fact about taking from the elderly and giving to the rich—akin to a double reverse in football. Let’s hope the defensive backfield in Congress stays alert.

Of course there’s more.  A lot more. But for now, this provides a glimpse into what a Romney/Ryan presidency would mean for middle-class Americans, seniors, the disabled and their families.


Seniors Pay the Price for GOP’s Budget Priorities

By |August 9th, 2012|Aging Issues, Budget, Disability, Presidential Politics, Retirement, Social Security|

There’s news today that the Social Security Administration has offered early retirement to 9,000 employees…that’s a whopping 14% of its workforce. 

The attacks on Social Security aren’t limited to benefit cuts alone.  It’s clear some in Congress seek to undermine the program in as many ways as possible and seniors and the disabled will ultimately pay the price.

Conservatives in Congress have long espoused a political philosophy that says if you can’t kill a successful government program, like Social Security or Medicare, let’s just starve them to death instead.  That’s exactly what’s been done over recent years to the Social Security Administration. Rather than budgeting and preparing for a growing number of retiring Americans – after all, the Baby Boomer generation is hardly a surprise – Congress has chosen this time in our history to make devastating budget cuts to one of the nation’s most efficient, effective and well-respected agencies whose services touch virtually every American family.

Already, Social Security field offices have had to close 30 minutes early thanks to budget cuts, the agency has had to freeze hiring, expects to lose about 2,500 federal employees, plus 1,000 state employees who are paid with federal funds; did not open eight new hearing offices; and has suspended mailing Social Security statements.

Some estimates show that thanks to these budget attacks the SSA workforce could drop by an additional 4,400 federal and state employees, for a total of 7,900 workers in two years. Almost 400,000 fewer disability claims would be processed, taking the backlog to 1.2 million and the processing time to longer than four months.

Does this sound like good governance or politics as usual to you?

 


Will Democrats Promise No Cuts to Social Security?

By |July 30th, 2012|Budget, entitlement reform, Medicare, Presidential Politics, Retirement, Social Security|

If you had a few minutes to talk to leaders of the Democratic Party, as they prepare for the 2012 election, what would you tell them?  The National Committee was presented with that unique opportunity this weekend and our message was simple — Washington should not support middle-class benefit cuts as part of a “Grand Bargain” to cut deficits. 

NCPSSM’s Board Chair, Dr. Maya Rockeymoore, and Florida NCPSSM member Carol Berman testified to members of the Democratic National Committee platform drafting committee in Minneapolis this weekend.  Here’s an excerpt of their comments:

Maya Rockeymoore, Ph.D., Chair of the Board of Directors

National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare

Democrats can be proud of their long list of landmark accomplishments which enable seniors to live independent and dignified lives.  It is Democrats who pulled seniors out of poverty through the creation of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the Older Americans Act. During the 2012 campaign and beyond, the Democratic Party can honor the legacies of Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson by standing up for seniors.  Standing up for Social Security. And, standing up for Medicare and Medicaid. Unfortunately, too many Washington politicians are uncompromising in their belief that middle class benefits should be cut to pay for tax loopholes for the richest two percent and large profitable corporations who move American jobs overseas.  However, rather than fight this intransigence, some of the traditional allies of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid have said that “everything should be on the table.”

Everything, including benefit cuts that would harm seniors, people with disabilities and children and have a disproportionately negative affect on women and communities of color. Responding to the party of NO by being the party of MAYBE is not a winning formula and it won’t be persuasive for a majority of seniors. The polling is clear on that. Voters of all ages and political persuasions don’t support cutting benefits to middle-class Americans who depend on Social Security and Medicare (now or in the future) to repair our ailing economy.

There is no other issue that draws this level of nonpartisan support: 94 percent of Democrats, 82 percent of Independents and 64 percent of Republicans prefer raising taxes on the richest two percent of income earners rather than cutting benefits. Democrats have a historic opportunity in this year’s election to win over middle class seniors by drawing a clear line in the sand in defense of the core American values of hard work, fairness and compassion embodied in our nation’s most successful programs. 

Towards that goal, the committee can reassure seniors that Democrats are fighting to protect their earned Social Security and Medicare benefits by using this testimony to draft the 2012 Democratic National Committee platform.  In addition, we urge you to include language in the platform to defend and expand Medicaid for vulnerable seniors, people with disabilities and children who need health care and/or long-term services and supports.

By applying taxes more fairly to all workers, benefits do not have to be cut. Among the proposals we’ve recommended for inclusion in the Democratic platform:

–           Eliminate the cap on Social Security payroll tax contributions. 

–           Gradual Increase in the Contribution Rate. 

–           Reform the Treatment of Salary Reduction Plans. 

–           Improving Survivor Benefits.

–           Provide Social Security Credits for Caregivers. 

–           Enhance the Special Minimum Benefits. 

–           Equalize Rules for Disabled Widows. 

–           Benefit Equality for Working Widows. 

–           Strengthening the COLA. 

–           Restoring Student Benefits. 

Carol Berman is a National Committee member and Social Security and Medicare beneficiary.  She described to the platform committee the critical role Social Security and Medicare played after her husband became incapacitated due to Alzheimer’s and their long-term care costs drained their savings:

Carol Berman, NCPSSM Member and Social Security & Medicare Beneficiary

West Palm Beach, FL

 “When it became clear that our funds would not last much longer and that my financial future was in serious jeopardy, I hired an elder care attorney who advised me to contact a state welfare worker.  This person told me that when my funds ran out I would be eligible for Section 8 housing, food stamps, and other welfare programs.  I could not believe that after working my whole life, this was my only option.  It was not what I dreamed of in my retirement years.

Ultimately, the only way I could avoid impoverishment and taking welfare was to preserve my only remaining source of money — my 40lK.  To do that, I had to divorce my husband.  Thankfully, since my daily visits to the nursing home never wavered, my husband never knew the change in our marital status. He greeted me the same way every day during this terrible period with “here comes the pretty lady.I lived on the edge of financial disaster for a long time just because my husband needed long-term care. 

Social Security and Medicare were the lifelines I needed to come through that very difficult time. They are lifelines future generations will also need and they should be protected and strengthened – not cut or privatized.”

You can see our full testimony to the Democratic Platform Committee here.

 

 



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