To: Sen. and Sen. Bill Cassidy (LA-1)
Senator Landrieu: Don't Cave! No more tax cuts for the top 2%, and no deals that cut benefits!
Senator Landrieu,
We urge you to stand up for us 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.
It is not clear that the amending of our entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare should be part of these negotiations at all. However, if they are to be addressed, such discussions should not be focused on reducing benefits. There may be room for adjustments to the contributions to the Social Security trust fund, such as raising the cap on earned income that is allowed to be taxed for this purpose from the current annual level of $110,000. If Medicare is to be addressed, we should be looking at efficiencies in payment to providers, and perhaps allowing the prices paid for pharmaceuticals to be negotiated as is allowed for the Veterans Administration. But by no means should the actual benefits be cut for individual clients of Medicare.
This is what we voted for in November, and we expect you, our elected official, to vote the same way.
We urge you to stand up for us 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.
It is not clear that the amending of our entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare should be part of these negotiations at all. However, if they are to be addressed, such discussions should not be focused on reducing benefits. There may be room for adjustments to the contributions to the Social Security trust fund, such as raising the cap on earned income that is allowed to be taxed for this purpose from the current annual level of $110,000. If Medicare is to be addressed, we should be looking at efficiencies in payment to providers, and perhaps allowing the prices paid for pharmaceuticals to be negotiated as is allowed for the Veterans Administration. But by no means should the actual benefits be cut for individual clients of Medicare.
This is what we voted for in November, and we expect you, our elected official, to vote the same way.
Why is this important?
In these times of building our struggling economy, it has never been proven that reducing the tax burden on the very wealthy has always directly resulted in their investment in our domestic economy, and the expansion of employment opportunities for the great majority of our people. Nor have the wealthy always been known to put their tax savings directly into play in our economy. But there has been a proven correlation in middle and working class people with a little extra money actually spending it domestically, regionally, and locally.