For the last forty years, workers have seen their wages suppressed and kept stagnant, while their productivity soared. CEOs pressed for lower income tax rates and were successful in securing the lowest income tax rates in a century For themselves. There is rumbling that the rich need more… like raising our Medicare age from 65 to 67. Like lowering your Social Security benefits through a chained CPI. Yet two guys are secretly negotiating away your life’s earned benefits.
No deal.
Tax rates for the top income level need to go up. No cuts to our earned benefits, to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. No raising eligibility age for Medicare. No more givebacks to the folks who have been taking from us for forty years. But that’s not the end of this.
On Medicare, we want a public option for non-Medicare folks, a public option that works with Medicare to keep costs down. Allow Medicare to bargain for lower drug prices. Allow Medicare to compete to lower the costs of medical equipment and devices.
These are not my ideas. This initiative is from the AFL-CIO, a federation of unions that has been looking out for workers since before I was born.
Two guys secretly negotiating all of this in a room? Unacceptable. Tell your elected officials where you stand.
Here is a number to use to call your Senators and Representatives, to let them know what kind of a deal you expect.
888-659-9401
First you will be asked if you want to reach your Senator or your Representative. After you choose an option you will be asked for your zip code, then your call will be directed to the right telephone number.



7 Comments

The telephone number in the above post is a toll free telephone number to use to call your Senators and Congress persons.
For folks who do not have long distance telephone service, this is a genuine opportunity to reach the Capitol and to communicate your demands.
If you encounter an answering machine, identify yourself and your town and state. If you want to write an email, here are the addresses for Senators:
Email Addresses.
Thanks for the contact info!!
These decisions have consequences. Matt Stoller estimates that raising the Medicare age to 67 would result in an increase in uninsureds and result in a quantifiable increase in premature mortalities. In other words, people will die.
Thanks. Recommended.
a great diary, I love the way you put that these are OUR assets that we’ve invested all our lives, they have NO business giving out stuff to the wealthiest people on the planet
Yeah. I don’t want to go back to feudal America, where if your family would not take you in, you had to go live in a poorhouse, had whatever property you owned confiscated and had to wear a letter “P” on your jacket.
A history of Social Security shows how far we have come.
Uh-Oh. White House is still open to Medicare cuts.