The indefatigable Bernie Sanders is at it again, actually doing his best to represent those among us who need representation, even though they are without the ability to send bags of Free Speech (cough, cough) to sweeten the deal for him.
At any rate, this diary won't be long, because it needn't be. Bernie has done all the work. On February 10, he released
Report on Republican Attemps To Manufacture A Crisis In Social Security : A Report By Budget Committee Ranking Member Bernard Sanders
Wow, no effort to put that title through the Bi-Partisan Spin Cycle, was there?
Due to formatting issues with the PDF of the report I wasn't able to quote snippets here, but that's not a bad thing. Please simply go to the link and read the report yourself. It's a concise 12 pages and is easily understandable and has some good charts and graphs as well.
Bernie makes it very clear what the evil, unconscionable, despicable, immoral and depraved agenda is here by the Republicans who rarely surprise and always disappoint at their willingness to aggressively hurt the weakest among us. Please post the report in Social Media and tweet it as well. We need massive pushback on this proposed 19% cut in disability benefits.
Thank you, Senator Sanders for laying out the issue so clearly.
UPDATE - Courtesy of Dartagnan in his comment is this excerpt from the report:
[R]eallocations have been used since 1968 when President Lyndon B. Johnson acted, again in the 1980s under President Ronald Reagan and most recently by President Bill Clinton. In other words, leaders from both parties approved reallocations and they did it when Congress was controlled by either Republicans or Democrats. In every case, reallocations happened without creating a wave.
This year is different.
On the very first day of the new Congress, House Republicans passed a rule, later adopted by the full House, which would prevent the common practice of rebalancing funds. What this does is lay the groundwork for a 19% cut in disability benefits.
That’s a horribly devastating cut for individuals – most of whom are in their 50’s and in poor health – to absorb beginning next year. In fact, since most disability recipients receive barely $1,200 a month, a cut of nearly 20 percent could mean the difference between affording food, medicine, clothing or paying bills. It is an unspeakable option and one that we are determined to prevent.
Earlier this month, President Obama suggested a budget that would do exactly what has been done 11 times in the past and that is to rebalance funds between the two programs. The response by the House to block that is merely an attempt to manufacture a crisis where none exists.
What is really happening here is a cynical attempt to divide the senior population from the disability community.