The Feb. 9 news article “Benefits programs get rare consensus” stated that “leaders of both parties have become unwilling to discuss potential changes to Social Security and Medicare.” As chairman of the Social Security subcommittee last Congress and current ranking Democratic member, I know that categorization of “unwilling” is fundamentally false.
Republicans have released plans to cut, privatize and end Social Security. Though in denial, they have proposed using the national debt to leverage those cuts but to date have not presented legislation. In stark contrast, however, Democrats in both the House and Senate have.
In the previous Congress, more than 200 House Democrats supported Social Security 2100 with the goal to lift up the 5 million seniors who receive below-poverty-level checks from Social Security. This plan is a solid start and enhances benefits while eliminating more than 60 percent of Social Security’s projected shortfall, something that hasn’t been done in more than 50 years.
Privately, my Republican colleagues will confide that they know benefits need to be enhanced. However, they criticize it in public hearings while never offering an alternative.
A great service of the fourth estate would be to call on Congress to produce legislation for public consumption and open for discussion in the full light of day, not behind closed doors without any public or political accountability.
John B. Larson, Washington
The writer, a Democrat, represents Connecticut’s 1st Congressional District in the House.