Don't let conservative Democrats slash Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid.
Murshed Zaheed, CREDO Action
Tell Steny Hoyer: Don't sell out Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
The corporatist wing of the Democratic Party once again has its sights set on cutting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits under the guise of deficit reduction. And our friends on Capitol Hill tell us House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer is leading the charge.
Last November CREDO activists helped stop Senate Democrats from agreeing to a terrible Super Committee deal, which would have resulted in deep cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits in exchange for promised but unspecified tax increases that may have never materialized.
But now House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, a prominent member of Democratic Leadership in Congress, is once again pushing a similar legislative proposal that would sell out our social safety net. He is working on a potential backroom deal to put the cuts we defeated last year back on the table.
According to recent reports, Rep. Hoyer is "looking to shake legislative politics"1 by forcing a vote on what the Washington Post called "a so-called grand bargain to raise taxes and restrain entitlement spending."2
Hoyer declined to provide any specifics to this proposal but he gave his remarks at an event hosted by an organization called Third Way, which is a Washington-based, so-called "moderate" Democratic think tank that shills for corporate interests and has previously advanced debunked arguments promoting cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.3
Hoyer's move — which appears to be in coordination with Third Way — poses a danger to our social safety net. We cannot remain quiet while such a prominent member of Democratic Leadership appears to be working on a proposal which likely includes brutal cuts to Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security benefits.
Medicare and Social Security are wildly popular programs, and the clear majority of Americans want to protect these benefits. If we push back hard and make sure that conservative Democrats like Hoyer don't cut a back room deal on benefit cuts with Republicans, we can hold the line and protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
House Democrats will be particularly sensitive to this kind of pressure in an election year — if we can expose this potential sell out, we can quash the momentum Hoyer and conservative Democrats need to move forward with a "grand bargain" at the expense of benefit programs pivotal to millions of Americans.
To be clear, we are not against sensible reforms to these programs. But we shouldn't be cutting benefits for our seniors and other vulnerable Americans in order to spend more on our bloated military or keep taxes low for the ultra-wealthy.
If Democratic Leaders such as Hoyer are serious about addressing our nation's debt and deficit, they should work to address the biggest drivers of our debt — the Bush tax cuts, foreign wars and our economic downturn.4
Sign our petition today and let House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer know that we are watching and we will not stand for any back room deal that puts cuts to Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security benefits on the table. Click below to automatically sign the petition:
http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=5537665&id=35909-1647563-bQOX8Px&t=10
Thank you for speaking out.
Murshed Zaheed, Deputy Political Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets
1. Brian Beutler, "Hoyer Working Behind The Scenes On Major Deficit Reduction Bill," TalkingPointsMemo.com, February 27, 2012
2. Lori Montgomery, "Steny Hoyer: Get the debt deal done before the Nov. election," the Washington Post, February 27, 2012.
3. Robert Creamer, "Why Any Deal to Cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid Would be a Moral, Economic and Political Disaster," HuffingtonPost.com, March 28, 2011.
4. Steve Benen, "What drives the debt," The Maddow Blog, February 13, 2012.
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