WILLIAMSON
FOR
U.S. CONGRESS
DEMOCRAT
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6
“The Future Can Be Ours.”
480-607-9726
Dear Friend,
On April 15, 2011, Rep. David Schweikert voted yes for the Ryan Budget
Plan. (“David Schweikert on Health Care,” On the Issues: Every Political
Leader on Every Issue, as of Aug. 24, 2014, www.ontheissues.org.) This
bill, which did not pass in the Senate, would have increased tax cuts for
the wealthy while throwing Medicare coverage for those 65 and over in our
country into chaos.
Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat from Oregon, an opponent of the bill, made
this statement at the time: “The Republicans chose to end Medicare as we
know it. The Republican plan reopens the doughnut hole. That is the hole
into which seniors fall when, after they have some assistance with the
first drugs they need, they get no assistance until they reach a
catastrophic level. It is in that hole that seniors have had their
finances devastated. We fixed it. Republicans want to unfix it and throw
seniors back into the abyss. Then, instead of guaranteeing Medicare
coverage for a fixed set of benefits for every senior–as Medicare does
now–the Republican plan gives seniors a coupon and says: Good luck. Go
buy your insurance. If the insurance goes up, too bad.” (Same source as
above.)
Another opponent of the Ryan bill, Senator Kent Conrad, Democrat from
North Dakota made this statement: “In the House Republican budget plan,
the first thing they do is cut $4 trillion in revenue over the next 10
years. For the wealthiest among us, they give them an additional $1
trillion in tax reductions. To offset these massive new tax cuts, they
have decided to shred the social safety net. They have decided to shred
Medicare. They have decided to shred program after program so they can
give more tax cuts to those who are the wealthiest among us.” (from the
same source as above.)
Do you–whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or other
affiliation–want the social safety net of Medicare to be shredded and
done away with? If not, then it is very important for you to vote for me,
and not for David Schweikert, in the general election this year. Rep.
Schweikert voted for the Ryan Budget Plan in 2011, a plan that, as the two
U.S. senators stated above, would have gutted Medicare as we know it and
made it non-functional.
What is Rep. Schweikert’s position on Social Security? It’s hard, if even
possible, to find. At the website “On the Issues: Every Political Leader
on Every Issue,” at www.ontheissues.org, as of Aug. 24, 2014, all that can
be found for David Schweikert’s position on Social Security is this: “No
stance on record.”
On May 13, 2011, Rep. Schweikert, as part of a larger statement, said
this: “… House Republicans are continuing to push for entitlement
reforms that will fundamentally improve these programs and create
sustainability through common sense modernization.” (“Rep. Schweikert
Statement on Medicare and Social Security Report,” May 13, 2011,
schweikert.house.gov.)
We can, however, infer Rep. Schweikert’s stance on Social Security from
the following information contained in a press release from the Arizona
Alliance for Retired Americans on Oct. 3, 2013. This was issued during a
demonstration in Washington, D.C. while the Gang of 40–of which Rep.
Schweikert was a member–government shutdown was in progress. This is the
press release:
“Seniors Join Hands at U.S. Capitol, Issue Warning to
Reps Schweikert, Gosar, and Franks about using Shutdown
to Cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid
The following statement was issued today by Doug Hart, President of the
Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans.
“Today scores of seniors came to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC,
joined hands with Members of Congress, and formed a human chain in
opposition to the Chained CPI cost-of-living adjustment formula and all
benefit cuts to Social Security.
“By doing so, they sent a message: We are standing up for our hard-earned
benefits and will not allow a government shutdown to force cuts to our
Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid!
“I encourage Reps. Schweikert, Gosar, and Franks in Arizona who have
expressed support for the Chained CPI in the past, to re-think their
position, given the growing number of activists telling Congress, ‘Hands
off Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid!’
“Today was also a part of a timely revolt against Republicans’ hostage
taking strategy. Whether shutting down the government to protest Obamacare
or using a debt crisis to force the Chained CPI on seniors, Americans have
had enough.
“Both current and future Social Security beneficiaries need to know the
truth: the Chained CPI is not some harmless, technical change. It’s a
benefit cut.
“If the shutdown and debt crisis are merged in the coming weeks, and the
debt ceiling is not raised, seniors also may not receive Social Security
checks, Medicare reimbursements and a host of other necessities.
“The Arizona Alliance’s 40,000 members are watching closely and remaining
hopeful that Washington finds a way to do the right thing – that certainly
doesn’t mean wrongly trying to solve the country’s budget problems on the
backs of our seniors.” (Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans, Oct. 3,
2013, as posted by Tory Anderson, www.arizonaretiredamericans.org.)
The “Chained CPI” is a new measure of inflation that would cause retirees
to get smaller monthly social security payments. “If the chained CPI were
implemented, Social Security benefits would be about $3 per month lower in
2014, and about $30 a month lower by 2023, according to Congressional
Budget Office calculations. And by 2033, Social Security payments are
projected to be 3 percent lower than they would be using the current
measure of inflation.” (“How the Chained CPI Affects Social Security
Payments,” by Emily Brandon, April 29, 2013, money.usnews.com.)
Friend, The Future Can Be Ours by recognizing that David Schweikert is a
self-interested bean-counter who does not, if you are depending on
Medicare or Social Security, have your best interest at heart. He voted to
gut Medicare and make it useless to those who need it most; and he was
part of the Gang of 40 Republicans in the House who initiated the
government shutdown in the fall of 2013 that threatened to hold Social
Security hostage to the debt-ceiling negotiations. He is not a friend to
Medicare nor to Social Security; so if you count on those entitlement
programs to help you with your life, he is not, as far as legislative
activity–whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or
other–your friend, either.
The only reform of Social Security I would consider reasonable would be to
raise the age to, say, 67, for when benefits can first, with no penalty,
be received. Other than that, I see it as a a pay-as-you-go system that
needs only input in a timely manner from contributors to keep it
sustained.
When elected as your congressman on Nov. 4th, I will continue to support
Medicare and Social Security in their current forms. They are entitlement
programs that keep our citizens healthy and financially viable. It would
be wrong to gut them and cast them aside as if they served no useful
purpose. Perhaps for millionaires they aren’t important; but to the rest
of us, they are. Although I’ll bet there’s more than one millionaire who
values his or her Medicare eligibility and those Social Security checks
that come every month. After all, the recipients of the benefits of those
programs–regardless of their incomes–have paid in the money over the
years and have earned what they are getting, which is always a good
feeling.
If you would like to contribute to my campaign, please check out my
website at williamsonforuscongress.com. Click on “Make a Donation,”
and by means of safe and secure PayPal, donate to a Democratic candidate
who wants to preserve the entitlement programs of Medicare and Social
Security. Medical costs have gone down with the advent of the Affordable
Care Act, and Social Security can be sustained by pay-as-you-go
strategies. Entitlement money should not be gutted by tax cuts for the
wealthy, as David Schweikert showed he favors by his vote for the Ryan
Budget bill in 2011.
The Future Can Be Ours if we assert our social and fiscal consciences and
keep Medicare and Social Security intact. Let the wealthy, whom David
Schweikert is attempting to subsidize, figure out other ways to pay for
their trips to Bermuda. The entitlement money is for people who really
need it, those with heart conditions, cancers, and other conditions who
need those benefits to stay alive, or at least to try to. And those Social
Security checks have put food on the table for millions over the years,
making living each day, if not at least bearable, a joyful experience.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
John
W. John Williamson
Scottsdale, Arizona