Buerkle: Oh, My Gosh!

Oh, my gosh!

Seniors worry I might vote to cut their benefits, thinks Buerkle.

Her office is swamped by calls. And her response is to use deception and fear, because there is no way in hell that no new revenue can mean maintaining social programs, let alone safety net programs. 

Unless...these senseless, murderous, endless wars wind down, and fast.  But she's never, ever, even glanced in that direction. 

Thanks to the Syracuse Post-Standard:

Central New York representatives pledge their support for Social Security, Medicare

Friday, July 29, 2011, 4:04 AM

By Glenn Coin / The Post-Standard 

Syracuse, NY -- Democrat or Republican alike, Central New York representatives say they won’t vote for any debt ceiling plan that cuts Social Security or Medicare. Bill Owens adds two more sacred cows: Medicaid and Fort Drum. And Ann Marie Buerkle said she won’t go for any new taxes.

As the House considered a Republican plan for a temporary lifting of the debt ceiling just days before a possible U.S. default, Syracuse-area representatives tried Thursday to explain what they could live with in a deal.

“The right tack is to stop spending money — don’t raise taxes on the American people,” Buerkle said. “The right thing to do for this country is to cap our spending. We must do this because (otherwise) we won’t have a country left. This is the right thing to do for our kids and grandkids.” [emphasis added]

Buerkle, R-Onondaga Hill, said she does not favor cuts in Social Security and Medicare, and the bill proposed by House Speaker John Boehner preserves those programs. "This bill does not cut any entitlement spending,” she said. Buerkle said her office has been swamped by calls from senior citizens worried they will lose benefits.  ...

Tools in Buerkle's limited toolbox:

Deception Don't raise taxes "..on the American people...". That is a strange twist! The fact is, raising taxes will spare us a much, much harsher outcome. And the further truth is Buerkle is dedicated to saving wealthy Americans and corporate entities from stepping up to the plate and paying their fair shares. No one is talking about raising taxes for the rank and file.

Fear "...we won't have a country left." Fact is the Tea Party know-nothings are guaranteeing that very outcome with their stupid, thoughtless, knee-jerk, reactionary (oh, never mind...). 

Social Security Works Presents:

REP. ANN MARIE BUERKLE

Wants Us to Work ’Til We Die

•  Wants to cut our Social Security benefits and raise the retirement age 
•  Wants to take away Medicare as we know it
•  Wants to slash Medicaid―that’s health care for seniors, women, children and people with disabilities 
•  Wants to give wealthy Americans a huge tax cut

  

REP. BUERKLE’S DANGEROUS RECORD

Voted to create a “fast track” in Congress to cut Social Security benefits and raise the retirement age to 69 or more.  Voted to cut the Social Security Administration by $1.7 billion.  (Voted YES on H.Con.Res 34, the House Budget Resolution, April 15, 2011) http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll277.xml    (Voted YES on H.R. 1, Feb. 19, 2011; http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll147.xml)

Voted to take away Medicare as we know it and leave us at the mercy of insurance companies.  Voted to double seniors’ costs and to raise the age of eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 67. (Voted YES on H.Con.Res. 34, the House Budget Resolution, April 15, 2011) http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll277.xml

Voted to slash $1.4 trillion from Medicaid – the health care program for seniors, women, children and people with disabilities.  (Voted YES on H.Con.Res. 34, the House Budget Resolution, April 15, 2011) http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll277.xml

Voted to give a $1.1 trillion tax cut to the richest Americans and to cut their tax rate and the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25%.   (Voted YES on H.Con.Res. 34, the House Budget Resolution, April 15, 2011) http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll277.xml

TELL REP. BUERKLE: Hands Off Social Security, Medicare,  and Medicaid!

Explanation of Votes in Congress

The House Republican Budget Resolution (H.Con.Res. 34) sets forth the congressional budget for the federal government for Fiscal Year 2012, including the appropriate budgetary levels for FY2013-FY2021.  It was approved 235 to 193 on April 15, 2011 (Roll Call Vote 277).  It would drastically restructure the Medicare and Medicaid programs while implementing a “fast track” procedure for cutting Social Security benefits. Specifically it would:

 Voted to create a “fast track” procedure to force action on Social Security. This likely would result in significant benefit cuts, including an increase in the retirement age to 69 or more. It would require the President and Congress to take up Social Security reform under “expedited procedures” whenever there is a projected shortfall (there is currently a shortfall projected in 2037). The Republican budget endorses deep cuts to Social Security benefits, as described by Rep. Paul Ryan in “The Path to Prosperity.”

 Voted to take away Medicare as we know it – the traditional Medicare program. Beginning in 2022, new Medicare enrollees would have to buy coverage through a private insurance company.  Medicare would provide seniors with a subsidy to purchase coverage, but it would not keep pace with rising medical costs. By 2022 a 65-year-old’s average share of costs would be nearly $7,000 higher than under the current system, $12,500 rather than $5,630.  This increase would consume nearly 50 percent of their Social Security benefits. The increase in the Medicare eligibility age to 67, from 65, represents even further benefit cuts.

 Voted to slash $1.4 trillion from Medicaid. This would be achieved by converting the program into a block-grant to states and repealing the Affordable Care Act health care reform. A block-grant will cap the amount payable to states, which will respond by reducing eligibility and services and increasing cost sharing. Repealing the Affordable Care Act will eliminate 16 million new people estimated to get Medicaid coverage. 

 Voted give a $1.1 trillion tax cut to the richest Americans and to cut their tax rate and the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent. The Republican budget extended all of President Bush’s tax cuts, which would cut taxes by $700 billion over 10 years for the richest 2 percent of Americans. It also would cut taxes by $371.4 billion for the richest Americans by repealing the surtax on investment income and additional Hospital Insurance tax contained in the Affordable Care Act. The Republican budget also would cut the top marginal tax rate for individuals from 35 percent to 25 percent and reduce the corporate tax rate by the same amount. (No estimates are available about how much more that would save individuals and corporations in taxes.)   

Voted to cut the Social Security Administration by $1.7 billion, H.R. 1: This was a House Republican proposal to fund the government through the end of Fiscal Year 2011. It was approved 239 to 189 on February 19, 2011 (Roll Call Vote 147). Among its $61 billion in cuts from President Obama’s budget was a $1.7 billion cut to the Social Security Administration (SSA) below the level needed to provide promised service levels and to fund current projects. It was estimated that H.R. 1 would have the following effects: SSA would have had to furlough its workers for up to one month by the end of 2011; up to 400,000 people would have had their retirement, survivors, and Medicare applications significantly delayed, becoming part of a large and growing backlog; and up to 290,000 people would have had their disability benefit applications delayed.

Notes:

Paul Ryan, “Advancing Social Security Reforms,” in Path to Prosperity, April 2011, p. 48. Available at http://budget.house.gov/UploadedFiles/PathToProsperityFY2012.pdf. 

Kaiser Family Foundation, “Proposed Changes to Medicare in ‘Path to Prosperity,’” April 2011. Available at http://www.kff.org/medicare/upload/8179.pdf

Kaiser Family Foundation, “Medicaid and the Uninsured: Implications of a Federal Block Grant for Medicaid,” April 2011. Available at http://www.kff.org/medicaid/upload/8173.pdf 

Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, “Statement of Robert Greenstein, President, on Chairman Ryan’s Budget Plan,” April 20, 2011, available at http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3452; Tax Policy Center, “Reduce Corporate Income Tax Rate and Repeal Various Income Tax and Payroll Tax Provisions: Impact on Tax Revenue vs. Current Policy Baseline, 2012-2021,” April 7, 2011, available at http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/numbers/Content/PDF/T11-0088.pdf.

Ibid, Path to Prosperity, p. 6. Available at  http://budget.house.gov/UploadedFiles/PathToProsperityFY2012.pdf  

H.R. 1 available at http://www.rules.house.gov/Media/file/PDF_112_1/legislativetext/2011crapprops/AppropCRFinal_xml.pdf

House Ways and Means Committee Democratic Staff, “Ways and Means Democrats Blast Republican Plan to Shut Down Social Security Administration,” February 15, 2011. Available at http://democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=11465