To: President Donald Trump, The New York State House, The New York State Senate, Governor Andrew Cuomo, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Prevent Congress from Cutting Social Security Disability!
According to a recent report by the Associated Press, the US currently has 11 million Americans receiving Social Security Disability. The trustees who oversee Social Security and Medicare claim the fund will run dry at the end of 2016 if Congress fails to replenish Social Security’s disability trust fund. There is an easy fix available: Congress could shift tax revenue from Social Security's much larger retirement fund, as it has done in the past. President Obama supports the move but Republicans say they want changes in the program which includes reductions in disability benefits and restrictions on eligibility. They also want a plan to encourage disabled workers to re-enter the work force which, in many cases, would be impossible due to physical and mental handicaps. Recipients could see a 19% decrease in their monthly checks if the fund is not replenished as well as an increase in their Medicare premiums.
Most SSD recipients living with disabilities are not capable of working. They survive on the checks they receive and now their benefits are going to be cut? This cannot happen. I know the situation all too well from personal experience. My sister, who was born deaf and with congenital heart disease, is currently receiving a monthly SSD check which barely covers basic necessities. She is not capable of working and were she to need hospitalization, the co-pays alone would be unmanageable. She, along with millions of others born with disabilities, bare a burden most American's will never fully appreciate. However, if we insist on boasting that America is “the greatest country in the world”, it is imperative that we provide a consistent standard of care and dignity for the least fortunate among us.
That begins with an acceptable standard of living for everyone… good food, shelter, and quality medical care. It also means holding Congress accountable for the mismanagement, fraud, and misguided priorities that have been the real reason these social programs are being depleted.
We seem to find the money to bail out big banks, subsidize oil companies, big pharma and agricultural giants, and spend billions on defense contracts to create weapons we will never use. All while assuring billionaire “job creators” get their tax breaks which we are promised will create growth that will magically “trickle down”… but never does.
American citizens need to demand that we take care of people who, through no fault of their own, are unable to take care of themselves. If we allow the Paul Ryan’s, Scott Walkers and other congressional Randians to chip away at critical Social Security Disability funding, we forfeit the right to call ourselves “the greatest country in the world’.
Most SSD recipients living with disabilities are not capable of working. They survive on the checks they receive and now their benefits are going to be cut? This cannot happen. I know the situation all too well from personal experience. My sister, who was born deaf and with congenital heart disease, is currently receiving a monthly SSD check which barely covers basic necessities. She is not capable of working and were she to need hospitalization, the co-pays alone would be unmanageable. She, along with millions of others born with disabilities, bare a burden most American's will never fully appreciate. However, if we insist on boasting that America is “the greatest country in the world”, it is imperative that we provide a consistent standard of care and dignity for the least fortunate among us.
That begins with an acceptable standard of living for everyone… good food, shelter, and quality medical care. It also means holding Congress accountable for the mismanagement, fraud, and misguided priorities that have been the real reason these social programs are being depleted.
We seem to find the money to bail out big banks, subsidize oil companies, big pharma and agricultural giants, and spend billions on defense contracts to create weapons we will never use. All while assuring billionaire “job creators” get their tax breaks which we are promised will create growth that will magically “trickle down”… but never does.
American citizens need to demand that we take care of people who, through no fault of their own, are unable to take care of themselves. If we allow the Paul Ryan’s, Scott Walkers and other congressional Randians to chip away at critical Social Security Disability funding, we forfeit the right to call ourselves “the greatest country in the world’.
Why is this important?
My sister, who was born deaf and with congenital heart disease, is currently receiving a monthly SSD check which barely covers basic necessities. She is not capable of working and were she to need hospitalization, the co-pays alone would be unmanageable. She, along with millions of others born handicaps, bare a burden most American will never fully appreciate.