American Retired Seniors

“And no longer will this Nation refuse the hand of justice to those who have given a lifetime of service and wisdom and labor to the progress of this progressive country.” “Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, to thy needy, in thy land.” – President Lyndon B Johnson, 1965 upon the signing of Medicare bill.

For decades, American families have counted on LBJ’s basic promise that a secure retirement is the reward for a lifetime of labor.  There were no caveats, just people paying into a program that would benefit them when they retired; a program that would not bankrupt seniors, their children or their families. 

On April 15, 2011, Republicans and their Koch Brothers Corporate Tea Party power brokers, launched an all out attack on Seniors, women, the poor and children in America, seeking to deprive them of this basic life preserving benefit, as they voted almost unanimously to phase out Medicare and leave seniors entirely at the mercy of the large Wall Street health insurance companies.  Republicans also voted on keeping many of the Medicare cuts they once criticized.  As aptly written by Forbes, the GOP is launching a multi-pronged attack on Senior Citizens!This draconian Republican plan authored by Tea Party Republican Paul Ryan, does not “reform” Medicare nor does it provide seniors with the same coverage Members of Congress receive, the Republican plan ends Medicare, period.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the GOP plan would increase health care costs for seniors by 2030, making seniors pay an average of 68 percent of their income on medical expenses, up from 25 percent under current law.  In fact their plan would see as many as 50 million people lose their health insurance and provide $2.9 trillion in new tax breaks for the wealthy. [CBO, 12/2006, 11/2010, Commonwealth Fund]  Even the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities confirms that Out-of-Pocket Medical Costs Would Skyrocket for low-income seniors and People with Disabilities under the Republican Plan.

Talk about hypocrisy, when Paul Ryan was 16 years old after the death of his father, Ryan accepted social security benefits, which obviously helped his family; it is this very same social contract for Americans today that Ryan and Republicans are eliminating.

The GOP plan would immediately repeal the ‘Donut Hole’ fix, costing seniors an additional $44 Billion in Rx drug costs ($2.2 Billion in 2012 alone) through 2020. That is approximately $11,794 for every senior between 2012 and 2020, according to a report issued by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The principal target of the Republican plan is on both Federal and State programs of abolishing Medicare, Medicaid, dismantling the healthcare reform plan and eliminating social security.  They have initiated an expendable Middle class, and demonstrated intolerance for the poor, in an all out effort to solidify the hold of and institute the control by Corporations.

The Republican war on America families continues!

Republican Eric Cantor is pushing a “rogue” budget proposal that will take a hatchet to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; he recently stated “Social Security “cannot exist” in the America “we” (Republicans) want!”

As the L.A, Times reports, the Republican plans involve almost entirely throwing the neediest and sickest Americans out from under the government umbrella to fend for themselves. Medicare as we know it would be eradicated, the cost of Medicaid shifted largely to already hard-pressed state governments, and a reform program designed to give tens of millions more Americans the protection of health insurance canceled outright.

Senior Citizens are you paying attention?  You are under attack!  This is not fear-mongering, this is not scare tactics; this is the new reality for America’s seniors via the Republican and Tea Party. Please read: the GOP Launching Multi-Pronged Attack on Senior Citizens.

Anyone can easily see fascism has come to America, wrapped in a flag, by cross-carrying Republicans, their deception and ‘bait and switch’ tactic appears to easily manipulate so many un-assuming citizens.

As Jon Summers, spokesman for Harry Reid recently stated “Spin can’t change the fact that Republicans’ plan reopens the doughnut hole, costing seniors more than $2 billion next year alone,” “No matter what they say, the fact is the GOP wants to finance their tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires by hiking prescription drug prices for seniors.”

Republicans are selling this horrific idea as a brave vision for the future, this vision is only to make the richest Americans and corporations richer. If this Republican plan were enacted, there would be no brighter days ahead for the American family, only decades of dark destitution.

“FDR gave Americans the ‘New Deal’, Truman gave Americans the ‘Fair Deal’ and now the entire Republican Tea Party wants to give American families a ‘raw deal’.The Republican Party and their Tea Party supporters want to give American families a ‘raw deal’. As Think Progress recently wrote “For 46 years Republicans have been trying to eliminate Medicare” for America’s seniors, disabled and children:

• Ronald Reagan: Before he was president, Reagan actually led a campaign against the creation of Medicare. He ominously warned: “[I]f you don’t [stop Medicare] and I don’t do it, one of these days you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free.” [1961]
• Barry Goldwater: Goldwater, a conservative icon, said that establishing Medicare would lead us down the slippery slope of subsidizing alcohol for all: “Having given our pensioners their medical care in kind, why not food baskets, why not public housing accommodations, why not vacation resorts, why not a ration of cigarettes for those who smoke and of beer for those who drink.” [1964]
• George H.W. Bush: Bush, who would go on to be president after Reagan, said that Medicare shouldn’t be established because it was nothing more than “socialized medicine.” [1964]
• Bob Dole: In 1996, during his campaign for the Presidency, Dole openly bragged that he was one of 12 House members who voted against creating Medicare in 1965. “I was there, fighting the fight, voting against Medicare . . . because we knew it wouldn’t work in 1965.” [1965]
• Sen. Carl Curtis (NE): During the debate over the creation of Medicare, Curtis said that the “insurance industry has a remarkable record” and that Medicare “is not public welfare. It is not charity. It is not kindness. It is socialism. Socialism is not the answer to anything.” [1965]
• Dick Armey: The House GOP leader told reporters in 1995 that “we need to wean our old people away from Medicare.” [1995]
• Newt Gingrich: Gingrich, who is now likely running for president, told a Blue Cross Blue Shield conference how he plans to eventually get rid of Medicare: “Now, we don’t get rid of it in round one because we don’t think that that’s politically smart, and we don’t think that’s the right way to go through a transition. But we believe it’s going to wither on the vine because we think people are voluntarily going to leave it — voluntarily.” [1996]
• Rep. Jeb Hensarling (TX): During an appearance on MSNBC last week, Hensarling referred to Medicare along with Social Security as “cruel Ponzi schemes.” [4/15/2011]

As Senator Bernie Sanders correctly pointed out “Opponents of Social Security have falsely blamed the retirement program for driving up deficits.”  “Let us also be very clear, Social Security has never contributed one dime to the federal budget deficit or the national debt.  In fact, Social Security currently has a $2.6 trillion surplus that is projected to grow to $4.2 trillion in 2023.  It is absurd, therefore, to be discussing Social Security within the context of deficit reduction.”   

Sanders went on to say “For 75 years, through good times and bad, Social Security has paid out every nickel owed to every eligible American.  That’s an extraordinary record, all done at a very modest administrative cost.”

Rep. Anthony Weiner recently noted “Social Security is an intergenerational contract that has never been broken. The GOP has pledged to attack its very foundation”.

On April 13, 2011, Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Mike Lee and Rand Paul proposed to take all the $6.2 trillion from Social Security’s trust funds with no intention of ever paying as much as a penny back!

And who can forget Wyoming Republican Alan Simpson’ low opinion of the people that have paid into Social Security all their lives and now need something back by calling them the “greediest generation”. Of course Seniors know they are NOT greedy, greed is the root of the Republican Party who clearly support Wall Street Corporations, giving them more and more tax breaks while forcing Seniors and families to make up the difference as they cut programs Americans have paid into for decades.

As if this is not bad enough it gets worse, because tucked away in the final quarter of the Republican manifesto is a proposal for dismantling the legacy of the New Deal and Great Society programs that have been on the right-wing’s hit list since they were first enacted.  Ryan’s plan, that is, the Republicans’ plan, would eviscerate food stamp program, too.

The following polls are clear indicators the Republican Party and the Koch Brothers’ sponsored Tea Party are clearly out of touch with Americans on these issues:

• 80 percent oppose cuts to Medicare or Medicaid, including 73 percent of Republicans and 75 percent of Independents. [McClatchy-Marist poll]
• 68 percent of Americans say the proposed GOP cuts unfairly favor some groups more than others. And seven in ten also believe the Republican budget will affect their families. [CNN]
• 65 percent oppose turning Medicare into a voucher program and if they’re told that the cost of private insurance for seniors will increase, 84 percent of Americans oppose the plan. [Washington Post/ABC News poll]

Not only are Republicans trying to eliminate Medicare and Social Security, they are seeking to eliminate Medicaid which can mean life or death for the elderly, children and the poorest American citizens, as Medicaid provides vital long-term care and acute care services to elderly and disabled beneficiaries efficiently.  Also Medicaid costs more than 20 percent less to cover low-income people in Medicaid than it does to cover them in private health insurance. Medicaid protects Americans from uncontrollable out-of-pocket costs charged by private insurers and Medicaid covers services not usually covered in private health insurance. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, in 2011, over 69.5 million Americans will benefit from Medicaid.

For those who are not aware, Medicare does not cover long-term care such as lengthy nursing home stays.  Today one million patients require long term care through Medicaid every day,” On April 5, 2011, The Hill reported ‘In 2010, Medicaid underfunded nursing facilities by $5.6 billion, or $17 per patient, per day.’

Does America really want to kick seniors out of nursing homes, deny health care to low-income children and create a generation of poverty-ridden seniors just to give more tax breaks for the rich and give Wall Street complete controls of health care and retirement plans?

Recently Idaho Gov. Butch Otter signed an Executive Order that will end Medicaid in his State endangering the health of over more than 223,198 Idahoans! This is yet another example of ‘pro-life’ Republicans, or as I call it more GOP ‘death panels’ for seniors and children.

Have seniors noticed that recently Republicans are event attacking AARP!

Besides seeking to destroy the livelihoods and health care for seniors, the disabled and children, what else has the ‘new’ Republican Party been doing?  How about cutting $75 million from homeless vets, while giving $27.4 million of taxpayer money to sponsor NASCAR!

Remember in the 2010 election how Republicans were all about creating jobs, well in four months, Republicans have introduced 916 Bills against women’s right to choose, and they have NOT introduced a single jobs creation bill!

Now compare what President Obama has done in just over 2 years and decided which Party has the best interest of the people of America, our military, our future, our seniors and our children at heart.

Remember these millionaire Republicans and billionaire Tea Party sponsors such as the Koch Brothers, have no need for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, nursing homes, and the like, yet they are making decisions to strip American families of these basis and fundamental programs simply to garner support for Wall Street and see health insurance companies profits soar.  The future of these programs depends entirely on the American citizens who must stand up to these bullies and vote them out of office in favor of people who support the poor, children, seniors and the disabled. 

Watch Republicans tell Seniors to shut their mouth on Medicare cuts

Please read:

• Ryan’s Medicare Plan Would Be a Windfall for Insurance Companies by Windell Potter
• Social Security Benefits, Benefits and Policy Options

Consider signing these petitions:

• Strengthen Social Security
• Hands Off Our Medicare

Contact your member of Congress

Filed under: Medicare and Health Insurance