Dear Editor,
A C-Span caller voiced her fear that Democrats would get rid of Medicare and Social Security. An article about Black men who support Trump mentioned concerns that Biden would cut Medicare and Social Security. I’ve heard the same in everyday conversations.
That level of ignorance by people who care about these programs is unforgivable. It is Republicans and conservatives who have always sought to kill these programs.
It takes little effort to find public information showing that beyond a hint of a shadow of doubt. In 1935 George B. Chandler, of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, testified: “This legislation starts this country on a pathway from which there will be no retreat in the course of the next two generations. When the time comes, as it surely will, to reverse these policies, incalculable harm will have been done to the character of the population.”
That opposition runs right through former Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, current Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans too numerous to name. The Libertarian Party platform specifically says, “We favor the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs.”
If you sincerely care about these programs, you owe it to yourself and everybody else to put at least some effort into learning the facts. And while you’re at it, spend some time learning why other countries have better, more affordable health care (it’s not because the free market works so well).
Lee Russ,
Bennington
