It's high time to shame the Democrats in Washington, D.C., who are open to cutting Social Security with the Chained CPI cut. They need to see the faces of those who would be hurt by the highly regressive Chained CPI Cut. They need to see the faces of people like my great-grandmother, and people like this elderly man with Alzheimer's. A woman sent me this picture of her husband, who is suffering from Alzheimers, and both of them are dependent on Social Security:
My husband Larry. He just had his 68th birthday. He was diagnosed with Alzhiemers when he was 61. He had to retire early. We lived on my income until I retired also at 61 in 2010 to take care of him. He was getting SS at that time. We lived on that and savings. As a caregiver I am home with him most of the time. I have a respite worker that comes for 4 hours once a week. I also rely on the help of friends. Our children do not live near us. I am doing well and really resent it when people call me “intitled” We have never asked for anything we didn’t feel that we earned. I think I will need in home nursing care for him soon and cuts to medicare scare me. He wants to stay in the home he built himself.
As Jed Lewison
reported earlier, the White House said that Social Security should be off the table in the deficit talks. Even the Vice President, Joe Biden,
promised that there would be no changes made to Social Security this past summer.
It's high time to remind the Democrats in Congress who are facing re-election in 2014 that voting to cut Social Security would imperil their own chances at re-election, and that the Republicans will go after them with utter glee in telling voters that Democratic representative voted to cut Social Security. And guess what? It'll be true.
What can you do to remind your Democratic Member of Congress about the dangers of cutting benefits for seniors? First of, let's shame these Democrats with a reminder of who the Social Security cuts would impact with a Twitter campaign. You can send a tweet of your loved one's photo to the Democratic Member of Congress with the hashtag #nocutstoSS.
List of Members of Congress on Twitter can be found here.
1. Send a tweet to your Member of Congress using the list above, attach a photo of your loved one, and use the hashtag #nocutstoSS.You can use the sample tweet messages below:
@NancyPelosi Your Chained CPI cuts would hurt seniors like [my husband/wife/grandmother.] Don't vote on the Chained CPI cut! #nocutstoSS
@SenatorReid If you vote on Chained CPI to hurt seniors, we won't vote for you in 2014. #nocutstoSS
2. I personally will spend $100 dollars on Twitter to promote any tweets that are sent out to Members of Congress showing photos of seniors that the Chained CPI cut would impact, and using the hashtag #nocutstoSS.
If you're in with reminding Congressional Democrats that they are supposed to protect seniors, the disabled, veterans, and to ensure that Social Security is not cut to help pay for a marginal tax increase on the wealthy, then I'm with you as well.
Join the Faces Of Seniors Campaign