Bernie Sanders: What’s At Stake

[cal04]

July 25, 2011
http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=DC8867E0-AEF8-4D60-8ACA-0E22E0FF17DC

As an Aug. 2 deadline nears for raising the nation's debt limit, some in Congress continue to press for steep cuts in programs for working families. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid remain in jeopardy. Funds for education, child care, nutrition, affordable housing, environmental protection and energy independence also are at stake. Poll after poll shows that the American people want Congress to focus on job creation and that they want deficit reduction to be done in a way which is fair. They do not want the budget to be balanced on the backs of those people who are already hurting. They want millionaires and billionaires to start paying their fair share in taxes, and they want the removal of massive loopholes which enable many large corporations to avoid taxes. They also want a significant reduction in military spending.

When Republican leaders talk about $3 trillion or $4 trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years, with no new taxes on the wealthy and large corporations, please understand what they mean. While no specific proposals have been adopted, here are some of the ideas which have been discussed.

SOCIAL SECURITY: Revising the formula which determines cost-of-living adjustments. The average Social Security recipient who retires at age 65 would get $560 less a year at age 75. The same retiree would get $1,000 less a year at age 85 than under current law. Further, another provision which would require that Social Security always be solvent for 75 years would likely mean even larger cuts in benefits. All of this would take place despite the fact that Social Security has not contributed one penny to the deficit and has a $2.6 trillion surplus today. This new formula would also cut back on the pensions of veterans.

MEDICARE: Raising the eligibility age from 65 to 67 and/or cutting benefits by as much as $500 billion over 10 years. How are 66-year-old Americans with modest means going to afford health insurance with a private company - especially if they have medical problems? It's not going to happen. They are going to suffer. Some will unnecessarily die.

MEDICAID: At a time when 50 million Americans already have no health insurance, Republicans and some Democrats are proposing to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid. That means that many men, women and children will lose the health insurance they have. According to a Harvard University study, some 45,000 Americans die each year because they don't get to a doctor when they should. How many more will die if Medicaid is slashed? How many children will be thrown off of the Children's Health Insurance Program?

more at link

[closeupready]

1. A Democratic president should be fighting to EXPAND these programs, not

agreeing to cut them.

[chill_wind]

2. K & R. Thank you Bernie Sanders for staying the message.

eom

[midnight]

3. Bernie should show the country what the rich do with their tax cuts, and how Grandma

has to do without her food or meds. so that rich people can charter private jets, and other fancy stuff....

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Soc Sec "has a $2.6 trillion surplus today". Only on paper, not in "real" money.

It is more accurate to say that the Treasury has to pay the 2.6 Trillion, because that is what is owed, and comes out of T-bills.
But the "surplus" is notional, not actual money.
The actual money was spent over the years, and most folks know that.

[swilton]

5. These programs should be enhanced not cut