Hands Off Social Security and Medicare. Make Wall Street Pay.
Medicare: Protect it, Improve it, and Expand it to All!
On Saturday, June 26 in 20 cities, America Speaks, funded by billionaire Pete Peterson’s Foundation, will be holding one day “discussions” to preach about the dangers of “the deficit”. These events are nothing more than efforts to soften up the public to accept Medicare and Social Security cuts when the deficit commission reports before December 1.
These articles have more detailed information:
http://www.thenation.com/article/whacking-old-folks
http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ask_this.view&askthisid=456
http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/05/26/wall-street-propaganda-blame-social-security/
We urge you to attend and speak up boldly at these America Speaks events which are open to the public at no charge. Check here to see if there is one in your city and to sign up. http://tinyurl.com/367gwjy
There will be protests outside many of the June 26 meetings to demand “Hands off Social Security and Medicare—Make Wall Street Pay.” Below is the press release for the protest rally that will be held in Louisville. If there is one near you, join it!
NEWS: Immediate Release
Hands Off Medicare and Social Security
Louisville activist groups interested in preserving Medicare and Social Security programs are protesting the aims of the AmericaSpeaks “town meeting” to be held Saturday, at the Gheens Academy in South Louisville.
Kay Tillow, head of the Kentuckians for Single Payer Healthcare (KSPH), said yesterday that AmericaSpeaks events being held across the nation June 26 are being funded by right-wing foundations wanting to curtail federal retirement programs.
“It appears that AmericaSpeaks wants to shape the national discussion so it can provide feedback to the President’s newly appointed Fiscal Commission, an 18-member group charged with giving Congress a report next December on how to reduce the national deficit,” Tillow said. “But the commission is stacked heavily in favor of slashing benefits in both Medicare and Social Security. On top of that, the commission’s staff is being provided by Wall Street billionaire Pete Peterson’s Foundation, which is also funding the America Speaks event. For decades Peterson has been trying to privatize or get rid of Social Security.”
KSPH spokesperson Harriette Seiler said that a public rally is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday outside the Gheens Academy, 4425 Preston Highway. Anyone from the public who wants to preserve Social Security and protect Medicare is invited, Seiler said.
KSPH is working with two national organizations–Social Security Works (socialsecurity-works.org) and Healthcare-NOW (healthcare-now.org), besides various labor leaders.
These groups contend that conservative organizations are spending more than one billion dollars to convince the public that slashing these programs is the only way to protect our children and grandchildren from poverty.
KSPH’s Seiler points out that Social Security has not contributed one dime to the nation’s deficit. In fact, it has accumulated a massive surplus of $2.5 trillion from many decades of workers paying into the system from every paycheck, she said.
As for Medicare’s financial troubles, Seiler said that they are quite fixable without any reduction of benefits. “For 40 years Medicare’s critics have warned of impending doom for the program but it always gets repaired. Here’s our suggested fix: Eliminate the massive waste and expense caused by the private for profit insurance companies. Put the savings into Medicare–protect it, improve it, and expand it to all.”
Protest rally: 10:30- 11:30 AM, Saturday, June 26, 2010 Place: Gheens Academy, 4425 Preston Highway, Louisville, KY 40213
CONTACT: [email protected]