Washington, DC – Today, as the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction begins its work to reduce the budget deficits, a group of U.S. Senators are urging the committee members to protect Social Security, Medicare benefits, and the Medicaid program. U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led the letter, which was also signed by Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Al Franken (D-MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
“In contrast to profitable corporations and the wealthy, the tens of millions of Americans who rely on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid often have no resources to spare,” the Senators wrote. “Even small cuts to these essential programs would bring widespread suffering to some of our most vulnerable citizens. We believe that is unfair and unnecessary.”
The Senators also called for a balanced approach to deficit reduction — one that will ensure that millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share.
The full text of the letter is below.
—————————————————-
September 14, 2011
[Member of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction]
Washington, DC 20510
Dear [Member of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction]:
Congratulations on your appointment to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. Through this unprecedented bicameral and bipartisan process, you will have the opportunity to both stabilize our nation’s deficits and shape its fiscal policy for years to come. As you begin to take on this great responsibility, we write today to urge you to defend the programs on which tens of millions of elderly and disadvantaged Americans rely. Specifically, we urge you to protect Social Security, Medicare benefits, and the Medicaid program.
Our present deficits result largely from the unaffordable and regressive tax cuts signed into law during the previous administration. We therefore believe that deficit reduction should begin with closing unjustifiable tax loopholes and gimmicks, which overwhelmingly benefit large corporations and wealthy families. Special-interest tax deductions and credits operate as subsidies for favored industries and should be viewed no differently from direct cash payments. By streamlining our tax laws, we can generate hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue at the same time as we level the corporate playing field and ensure that millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share for the upkeep of our nation.
In contrast to profitable corporations and the wealthy, the tens of millions of Americans who rely on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid often have no resources to spare. In fact, the average annual benefit for the 38 million Americans who receive Social Security retirement benefits is just $13,600. This modest and essential income kept 36% of seniors out of poverty in 2008 according to the AARP. Just as critically, 37 million American seniors and 68 million children and adults rely on Medicare and Medicaid, respectively, for their health care. Even small cuts to these essential programs would bring widespread suffering to some of our most vulnerable citizens. We believe that is unfair and unnecessary.
Once again, we congratulate you on your appointment and wish you success in what will surely be an arduous process. We hope you will use this opportunity to stabilize the budget, so that Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will be secure for many generations to come.
Sincerely,
Senators Whitehouse, Gillibrand, Blumenthal, Franken, Brown, Sanders, Lautenberg, Akaka, Harkin, Merkley, and Reed
###
