Dr. Paul A. Haupt – Letter to Editor

How important are Social Security and Medicare to you?  For many older Americans, these programs are essential. Many rely entirely on payments from Social Security to pay rent and buy groceries. They also get health care through Medicare.
What would happen to you if you lost your Social Security and Medicare?  Many of us will have an answer to that question in the near future if Republicans get control of Congress.
Is this just a scare tactic?
The answer is, “No.”
Could this actually happen?
The answer is, “Yes.”
Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) who runs the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) for the Republican party has stated that he wants a vote on whether to continue Social Security and Medicare to happen every five years.  It is written into his plan.   Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) goes even further.  He wants to remove it from mandatory spending and have it reviewed every year.  Republicans have tried to end both of these programs ever since they were created.  Now they believe that they can actually eliminate both Social Security and Medicare if only they get control of Congress.
Your vote in this election could determine the fate of these essential programs for both yourself and for thousands of fellow citizens who have been paying into these plans for their entire working life. Many would be devastated if they were to be cut back or eliminated.  Again, this is the STATED PLAN of the Senator in charge of the NRSC.
Social Security and Medicare are NOT entitlements, by the way.  You have been contributing to them with every paycheck that you have ever received. You have prepaid for your Social Security all your life. It’s a prepaid whole life insurance policy, not an entitlement.
This is not a drill.  If you vote for Republicans this election, you are risking losing your benefits from both Social Security and Medicare. You can’t say that you were not warned.
Dr. Paul A. Haupt
Menominee