HCAO acvocates gather after HB 3260 hearing

Photo by Robert Fischer, HCAO Bandon

If Congress approves President Obama's budget proposal, it will mark the beginning of the end for the social insurance model that the labor movement and its allies have spent generations establishing and defending. This is the first time that a sitting Democratic President has proposed cuts in Social Security and Medicare. But it won’t be the last. As every shop steward knows, once you agree to put a cherished provision on the table, you open it up to an endless series of cuts and concessions.

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Obama's Budget Proposal: Cut Social Security, Medicare Benefits

Published on Friday, April 5, 2013 by Common Dreams
BY Andrea Germanos, staff writes:

President Obama's budget proposal to be unveiled next week will include cuts to Social Security and Medicare, according to media reports Friday morning.

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The Deadly Secret About the Fiscal Cliff Charade

Let's stop repeating failures of austerity and move toward solutions that can restore our Federal budget – and us – to health.

Alternet, January 4, 2013  |
Campaign for America's Future / By Richard (RJ) Eskow

Imagine a nation with a terrible problem – one its leaders refuse to discuss. The problem will needlessly drain trillions of dollars from its economy in the next ten years.

Now imagine that this problem also robs that nation’s citizens of life itself, draining years from their lifespans while depriving them of large sums of money. Imagine that it sickens and disables countless others, drives many people into bankrupcty, and kills more than two newborn infants out of every thousand born.

Imagine that fixing this problem would make result in a dramatic decline in publicly-held debt. It wouldn’t just “help” the debt problem, mind you – it would cause that debt to plunge.

And now imagine a national “deficit debate” which completely ignores this problem.

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A very bad New Deal!

The deal the media reports President Obama and Republican John Boehner appear close to striking includes a change to Social Security that amounts to benefit cuts "of more than 5 percent and more as the years go by." And what is “chained CPI”? For millions of seniors living on a fixed income, that 5 percent goes to crucial medicine, food, and daily necessities. And the deal would leave in place some of the Bush Tax Cuts for the top 2% that President Obama previously promised to oppose.

The good news is that we really do have a chance at stopping this bad deal. After Democrats picked up five Senate seats in the election last month, Senate Leader Harry Reid said, "We are not going to mess with Social Security." If we let him and other senators know we've got their backs, we'll have a chance—but we need to act right now.

The above is an excerpt from a MoveOn alert. See also today's Healthcare-NOW newsletter for more information.

Call our Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden right now and ask them:

"Senate Democrats have been vocal opponents of cuts to Social Security benefits. Can I count on you to do everything in your power to stop this deal if it includes the reported cuts to Social Security benefits?"

Contact  our Oregon Senators and Representatives today!

Controlling Rising Health Care Costs: Medicare Is the Solution, Not the Problem

By Joe Baker, President, Medicare Rights Center

Posted: 11/13/2012 for Huff Post Politics

Although Election Day is behind us, Medicare remains on American's minds. Medicare ranked third to the economy and federal deficit as an issue of extreme importance in deciding how Americans voted. For months now, pundits, candidates and policymakers have wrestled one another about Medicare's future. Taking place at town hall meetings and on editorial pages, these battles were mostly waged in fiscal terms. Medicare's sustainability, the fiscal slope, and the cost of insuring the Baby Boomers are hot topics for debate. Attention will now turn from the candidates' promises to their actual proposals.

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