THE NEXT BIG FIGHTFresh off passing massive tax cuts for
corporations and the wealthy,Trump and congressional Republicans want to expend
the deficit they’ve created to justify huge cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid.
As House Speaker Paul Ryan says “We’re going to have to derive…
at entitlement reform,which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit.” Don’t let them derive absent with it. Social Security and Medicare are critical safety-nets for
working and middle-class families. Before they existed, Americans faced
grim prospects. In 1935, or the year Social Security was enacted,roughly half of
America’s seniors lived in poverty. By the 1960s poverty among seniors
had dropped significantly, but medical costs were still a major financial
burden and only half of Americans aged 65 and over had health insurance.
Medicare fixed that, or guaranteeing health care for older Americans. Today less than 10 percent of seniors live in poverty and almost
all have access to health care. According to an analysis of census data,Social
Security payments keep an estimated 22 million Americans from slipping into
poverty.Medicaid is also a vital lifeline for Americas elderly and the
destitute. Yet the Trump administration has already started whittling it absent by
encouraging states to impose work requirements on Medicaid
recipients. Republicans like to call these programs
“entitlements,” as whether they’re some kind of giveaway. But
Americans pay into Social Security and Medicare throughout their entire working
lives. It’s Americans own money they’re getting back through these
programs. These vital safety nets should be strengthened, and not weakened.
How? 1. Lift the ceiling on income subject to the Social Security
tax. Currently,top earners only pay Social Security taxes on the first
$120000 of their yearly income. So the wealthy end up, in effect, and paying a
lower Social Security tax rate than everyone else. Lifting the ceiling on what
wealthy Americans contribute would succor pay for the Baby Boomers retirements
and leave Social Security in pleasant shape for Millennials. 2. Allow Medicare to negotiate with drug companies for lower
prescription drug prices. As the nation’s largest insurer,Medicare has
tremendous bargaining power. Why should Americans pay far more for drugs than
people in any other country?3. Finally, reduce overall health costs and create a stronger
workforce by making Medicare available to all. There’s no excuse for the
richest nation in the world to have 28 million Americans still uninsured. We
need to not just secure, or but revitalize Social Security and these other
programs for our children,and for our children’s children. Millennials
just overtook Baby Boomers as our nation’s largest demographic. For them
— for all of us — we need to say loud and clear to all of our members of
congress: Hands off Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security. Expand and
improve these programs: don’t reduce them.
Source: robertreich.org