Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

letter to the editor:

Two key programs and conservatives

Two government programs kept me out of the poorhouse and off the streets during the Great Recession after the balloon burst in the housing market: Medicare and Social Security.

People my age (90) managed to get by comfortably if we watched our budgets. Now the conservatives in the House of Representatives are trying to kill both programs.

They promise us we will continue to get our Social Security. Read our lips: It’s our grandchildren, not us, we worry about. We want them to have safety nets too.

Social Security would be in no trouble at all if Congress would pass a law preventing government from robbing our Social Security retirement funds to balance national budgets.

They do that and leave us with IOUs.

As for Medicare, it’s true that it needed fixing. Everyone was ripping it off — drug companies, health insurers, hospitals, and manufacturers of hospital equipment and supplies. Even we patients were taking advantage of it, getting all the freebies we could.

As a result, Medicare costs were rising more than twice the rate of inflation.

Somebody needed to do something. President Barack Obama and Nevada Sen. Harry Reid did — and miracle of miracles, they got legislation passed to do it.

It isn’t perfect, but the Affordable Health Care is surprisingly good and steadily getting better.

If you want to help give the country back to the people, don’t vote for a single Republican in November.

The billionaires own them. Let them have them.

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