U. S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative:
On behalf of the millions of members and supporters of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, I am writing to urge you to support the agreement passed by the Senate last night (H.R. 8) because it does not cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits.
Instead of cutting our social insurance safety net, H.R. 8 focuses on continuing our economic recovery and asking those who have done extremely well in the last decade to finally pay their fair share.
We realize that this legislation postpones consideration of additional deficit reduction until the 113th Congress. However, we would hope that it demonstrates that there are ways to address the deficit that do not target America’s seniors, disabled and their families.
For example, instead of benefit cuts, comprehensive reforms in the Affordable Care Act that are expected to contain costs in the entire health care sector, including Medicare and Medicaid, ought to be given a chance to work and to be strengthened.
In addition, Social Security does not face an immediate crisis and is not driving either the short-term deficit or long-term debt. We believe Social Security should be strengthened for the long-term by increasing the current cap on earnings.
In the meantime, we are pleased that H.R. 8 allows full Social Security payroll taxes to be restored. Social Security is an earned benefit and self-financed program because workers contribute a lifetime of payroll taxes. However, cutting payroll taxes and substituting lost revenue with general fund transfers undermine the integrity of Social Security and makes it dependent on the actions of Congress.
For the reasons cited above, we urge you to support H.R. 8 because it avoids the “fiscal cliff” without cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.
Sincerely,
Max Richtman
President and CEO