Bernie Sanders: Defending the American Social Safety Net

[ProSense]

Defending the American Social Safety Net

by Senator Bernie Sanders

<...>

Click here to join me in making it absolutely clear to President Obama and the Democratic and Republican Leadership in Congress that there must not be cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. At a time when the richest people in our country are becoming richer while the middle class is disappearing and poverty is increasing, we must not balance the budget on the backs of the elderly, the sick and the children.

I wish I could tell you, in the midst of all of this, that President Obama was waging the kind of fight against these draconian Republican proposals that the American people would like to see. He is not. In my view, he is compromising far too much with right-wing Republicans and is not rallying the American people around an effective and fair deficit reduction proposal that would demand that the wealthy and large corporations contribute at least fifty percent toward deficit reduction, and that there be significant cuts in military spending as well.

Instead, he is proposing three dollars in cuts to every dollar in increased revenue and only modest cuts in defense spending. Most incredibly, despite campaign assurances to the contrary, he has embraced the long-held Republican dream of making major cuts in Social Security and raising the eligibility age for Medicare.

Where do we go from here? Please let the President know that he must not cut Social Security or raise the eligibility age for Medicare. Please let him know that the American people will back him if he demands that corporate America and the wealthy start paying their fair share of taxes so that we can move to deficit reduction without decimating programs that working families desperately need.

These are tough times, but despair is not an option. The fight must continue, not just for ourselves but for the well-being of future generations and for the very future of the planet that we inhabit. Together, we WILL defeat the right-wing threat and their big money backers and we will move this country forward toward economic and social justice, peace and environmental sanity.

Thank you for all that you do.

[cal04]

1. Today's News from Senator Bernie Sanders:

http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=0B0B79AA-5A2C-464B-A0BC-CEAAE371F6C7

Gang of Six A bipartisan group of senators unveiled a deficit-reduction plan that drew President Obama's praise but warnings from Sen. Bernie Sanders of "devastating cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and many other programs that are of vital importance to working families in this country," The Boston Globe reported.
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/articles/2011/07/20/late_plan_offers_hope_in_debt_battle/?page=2

Sanders Calls Plan ‘A Disaster' "This proposal is a disaster. It lowers the tax rate very substantially for the wealthy, and it will make devastating ... cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education, nutrition. You name the program that our struggling, working class in this country desperately needs, it is going to be cut," Sen. Sanders told Ed Schultz on MSNBC. VIDEO
http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=205&DateTime=7%2F19%2F2011+10%3A10%3A02+PM&Term=Bernie+Sanders&PlayClip=TRUE

Deficit Plan Attacked The plan drew fire from the right. Sen. Jim DeMint has "serious concerns" and Sen. Jeff Sessions says the plan hikes taxes by at least $1 trillion." And the left. Sen. Sanders spoke of "devastating cuts to Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid," ABC News and WINS-AM in New York reported. AUDIO
http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=135&DateTime=7%2F20%2F2011+5%3A31%3A42+AM&Term=%22Bernie+Sanders%22&PlayClip=TRUE

Not So Fast Sen. Sanders, the one senator who has stood most steadily in defense of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid -- and for fiscally sound budgeting -- is not joining the mob, The Nation's John Nichols blogged. LINK
http://www.thenation.com/print/blog/162166/gang-six-plan-not-so-fast-says-bernie-sanders

more at link

[dreamnightwind]

2. K & R for Bernie

Probably the first ProSense OP I have ever rec'd. Strange days I guess.

[Armstead]

3. Who hijacked ProSense's screen name?