Protecting Seniors
We need to take steps to shore up Medicare and not
use it as a slush-fund to pay for health care reform. We should
allow the safe importation of prescription drugs from Canada, and
also force the government to negotiate reduced drug prices for
Medicare Part D, just as we do with drugs provided to veterans
seeking health care. The purchasing power of seniors is massive and
could dramatically reduce costs to taxpayers and seniors. I would
like to repeal the secret deal the pharmaceutical companies struck
that will let them gouge seniors until the end of time. And, we
should close the doughnut hole as soon as we can; 2020 is not soon
enough for those scraping by and having to choose between housing,
heat or needed medication.
As for Social Security, we must preserve and protect this
program that is a promised right for our seniors, both now and
future generations. We can't keep writing IOUs to Social Security,
and hope the stars align and everything works out fine. I do not
believe privatization is the solution, and the Wall Street collapse
in the fall of 2008 provided a frightening glimpse of what could
have happened. I do not support increasing payroll taxes, or
increasing the retirement age, and believe modest changes can be
made to the system to address the solvency problem, but only if we
can put aside out partisan swords and work for the betterment of
our seniors.