Dear Mr. President: Don't You Dare Cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid [View all]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/02/14-5



Having seen mistake before, senators preempt Obama on suggesting cuts to safety net are solution to budget issues

Dear Mr. President: Don't You Dare Cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid
- Jon Queally, staff writer
Published on Friday, February 14, 2014 by Common Dreams

A letter spearheaded by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), signed by fifteen Democratic colleagues and sent to the White House on Friday warns President Obama against calling for—as he has previously—cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid in his upcoming budget proposal.

Obama was rebuked strongly by progressives nationwide last year when he included a plan to cut Social Security benefits as a way to reduce future budget deficits.

As the letter from the 15 senators states, "Social Security has not contributed one penny" to the current deficit. In fact, it continues, the program "has a surplus of more than $2.7 trillion and can pay every single benefit owed to every eligible American for the next 19 years."

In addition to defending both Medicare and Medicaid funding, the letter goes on to say that "these are tough times for our country" but that additional cuts would make life for a struggling middle class and those living in poverty "even more difficult."