Protect the Middle Class in the Fiscal Showdown

We urge you to stand up for us, the Middle Class, and make sure any fiscal deal reached ends the Bush tax cuts for the top 2% AND protects Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits from any cuts. This is what we voted for in November, and we expect you, our elected official, to vote the same way.
Most of us, your constituents, began to work in our teens. By the time we are eligible for Social Security, we will have worked 40 to 50 years. During that time, we will have contributed to Social Security, Medicare and other social programs (Medicaid etc.) through our Federal and State taxes. Those same programs are now endangered by the sequestration cuts as proposed. Social Security and Medicare are NOT entitlements – they have been paid into for virtually all of our working lives. While we may not each personally require all the programs that are targeted, it is likely that we will access many of them, as will our friends, families, communities, and the most vulnerable among us. As we have contributed to the support of these important and critical programs, we EXPECT that they will be available for those needs as part of the social contract we have “bought” into!
Again, as your constituents, we ask you to be the champion we elected. Follow the wishes of the majority of your communities by acting to stop any cuts to these critical social benefits - specifically to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Reject any “grand bargain” that does not end the Bush Tax Cuts for the top 2%!