I am a senior citizen on the cusp of 70. My husband is 75 and, just this past year, he fought and won a battle against Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. The co-pays, even with our Medicare Advantage plan, were above and beyond our ability to pay and we had to appeal to the hospital to forgive the balance. That is one of the reasons I am writing this open letter.
The Republicans, now in charge of the congress, seem to have set their sights on our Social Security and Medicare...benefits we worked hard for and EARNED. For years, we have gone without proper COLAs and have had to pare down our lifestyles to the basics only. I don't know how much longer we can afford the Internet. We don't have a big nest egg because our 401K was pretty much wiped out during the Bush recession. We were basically blue-collar workers who didn't make a mint but we enjoyed a few tiny luxuries and a vacation here and there until the recession hit. Social Security, Medicare and the tiny amount my husband makes working 10 hours a week as a crossing guard for the county is all we have. I retired early on SS Disability and the Republicans are gunning for that in a big and very nasty way.
Oh, we have some equity in our home (we are still making a mortgage payment every month) and a few acres of land we were dreaming of retiring to in the mountains of West Virginia. That dream is dead and that land is not selling because that area is so economically depressed. We are stuck here, in crowded, hot Florida where the prices can be just a bit higher than other states. And Rick Scott (excuse me while I shudder) is our governor. No, I didn't vote for him. If the congress gets its way with their nefarious plans for what is one of the best things the government of this nation ever did, we will be out on the street. We have debts we are struggling to pay. We don't take vacations, these days.
Now I am reading your agenda at White House.com and reading articles on several online publications which state that protecting Social Security and Medicare is not a part of your plan or even one of your priorities. Mr. President, not all of us older Americans are curmudgeonly conservatives who vote GOP. I know that the Republican party has manipulated the less properly informed among us to vote against their own best interests, that their ignorance and racism have played into that, but that isn't us, Mr. President, and we are going to suffer. I don't think I will do well in a shelter or out on the sidewalk putting things in a stolen grocery cart. Please don't punish all of us for what some have done.
You have your veto pen. You can, at least, stall the raiding of OUR coffers. We earned our monthly pittance and, without it, we are toast. YOU CAN HELP. Please, Please, Mr. President. Don't forget us. Don't let it be open season on the elderly poor. Eighty years ago, longer than I have been alive, FDR signed Social Security into law. And for eighty years, the GOP has been trying to take it down.
Right now, seniors comprise approximately 12.9% of the US population. That's a lot of people, and a lot of these people are not doing well financially, due to either poor planning or unforeseen reversals in the economy or health crisis problems. Should we be kicked to the curb because of our age or bad decisions? I am not ready to die without medical care, in pain and in poverty. I still have a lot to contribute. If nothing more, I have an articulate voice for progressives and a left-leaning vote.
I can get by without a yearly vacation, a lot of new gadgets, or a new car every couple of years. Our old 2007 PT Cruiser is paid for and it runs. We are glad to have it. BUT I can't get by without food, shelter or healthcare and that is what the right wing is trying to take from us. It is OUR money. WE earned it. Reagan opened our purse and raiding SS funds has become a scandalously regular occurrence. Don't let it happen again. Rather than allowing more cuts, SS and Medicare should be expanded and improved. Coupon care is not going to work, either and that idea needs to go into the dumpster where it belongs.
It's very easy for elected officials to not think about the seniors when they are happily enjoying their large pay checks and their tax-payer supported health care. They don't have to worry about deciding between food and prescriptions and some of the co-pays on prescriptions, even with Medicare Part D, can be out of reach for many of us. Between the way this congress has treated women, minorities, poor children, the aging poor, and the environment they deserve some kind of trophy for being the most cruel, nay...malicious congress in US history. I am just asking that you don't add to the disillusionment I am already feeling. You CAN help if you just will.
Thank You,
Robin Westbrook
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