On the recordJanuary 21, 2010
Dear President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Reid: We, the undersigned, urge you to preserve and protect two of the most important and successful government programs in the history of the United States--Social Security and Medicare. We ask that you resist the pressure by Wall Street and conservative members of Congress to form an undemocratic and unaccountable fast-track ``deficit commission'' that would cut these programs that are so crucial to the well-being of the people of our country. Social Security is not responsible for any part of the deficit. The 2009 Annual Report from the Board of Trustees stated that Social Security ran a surplus of $180 billion last year with a reserve of $2.4 trillion. That is a reserve of $2.4 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office, in its August 2009 forecast, said that full benefits can continue to be paid until 2043. There is ample time to make the necessary adjustments through the usual legislative process. The best way to get the cost of Medicare under control is by reforming the health care system as you are currently trying to do, not by cutting benefits to the millions of people whose health is at stake.
