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graffiti wake up call by Queen of the Universe, on Flickr
Budget debates in Washington are serving as a wake-up call for retirees, a key voting bloc in next year’s elections. While success among older voters in 2010 propelled Republicans to victory both in Congress and in state capitals, recently we are seeing signs of buyer’s remorse.
House Republicans are having a rocky time back home, with much of the wrath coming from seniors. Their anger is fueled by a House-passed privatization of Medicare that would drive up seniors’ health care costs as they fend for themselves in the wilds of the private insurance market. This plan, authored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), opens the door to cuts in Social Security benefits and a higher retirement age; the latter would be devastating for workers in physically-demanding blue collar and service sector jobs. Also, Medicaid – which helps seniors afford nursing home and long-term care – would be run by state governors such as Scott Walker, John Kasich, or Chris Christie. Seniors in those states better pray for good health.
As seniors learn more details of this plan, plus hear the heated rhetoric around the debt ceiling, they are beginning to feel that the very future of retirement is on the line. What about their children and grandchildren – will they ever be able to retire?
For this awakening of older voters to grow, seniors will need more reliable information than is currently provided by a news media that is easily distracted by sideshows of birth certificates and royal weddings. Americans must know that Social Security does not cause our deficit (it is supported by worker and employer taxes and has a $2.6 trillion surplus). Additionally, we cannot allow people to fall for Ryan’s shrewd but cynical ploy exempting those currently over age 55 from Medicare privatization. It’s not only bad policy, but also the tired politics of divide and conquer.
In the 2012 elections, the Alliance for Retired Americans will use organizers in key states, paid and earned media, and retiree-tailored fliers and fact sheets to help develop and mobilize politically savvy seniors who know the issues and where the candidates stand.
The past few months – marked by irresponsible spending votes that break the promise of Social Security and Medicare – have been both a sobering reminder and a wake-up call that a safe and secure retirement should not be taken for granted.
Barbara J. Easterling is president of the Alliance for Retired Americans. She was previously the secretary-treasurer of the Communications Workers of America. For more information, visit www.retiredamericans.org or call 1-800-333-7212.
4 Comments
Thanks, Barbara. I’m glad you get how important Medicaid is to many seniors, too. This piece asks why so many Democrats in Congress are focused on Medicare, not Medicaid, and explains to readers in plain English which program is which. We need to watch out for it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42801519/ns/politics/t/how-ryans-foes-defined-his-budget-plan/
Good post, BE, but please forgive me for disagreeing with one percent of it. This concerns one of my pet peeves. You say
“…older voters in 2010 propelled Republicans to victory both in Congress and in state capitals…”
Voting results from 2010 show that the Republicans won because Democrats/liberals/lefties, probably of all ages, stayed home. The election was not an endorsement of the Republican Party; it was a repudiation of the Democrats’ performance on health care reform. The only propulsion that the Republicans got was from their core voters, some of whom are certainly older, but I don’t think that older voters “propelled” the Rs.
Yours is a succinct and cogent presentation. Unfortunately, to the extent that any block of voters has awakened to this crisis, it is older voters. I will look into the Alliance for Retired Americans. There is a glint of hope.
Yes; a lot of voters stayed home because there wasn’t anyone to vote for. The Republicans want to have private insurance companies handle healthcare so they can make money. A single payor, Medicare would cut them outof the money. They have paid Republicans $65,000,000.00 from the “K” street crowd to keep these thieving Insurance companies in business.Paul Ryan is a terrorist and isn’t concerned with older people…because he is still young but in years to come, he will change to favor older as he will be one…What am I saying, he won’t be around as he will be voted out next time or recalled before then.