| Dear Katy, Donald Trump's Republican lapdogs in Congress recently rammed a massively unpopular, cruel and deeply corrupt Tax Scam into law. Now, Paul Ryan and the rest of the right-wing Republican leadership in Congress is gearing up to slash Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, nutrition assistance and more.1 Republican ideologues like Ryan know their Robin-Hood-in-reverse agenda to enrich their billionaire donors from Wall Street by gutting our earned benefit programs is deeply unpopular. They learned the hard way this past year how unpopular cutting Medicaid is. That is why they are predictably using made-up excuses about the deficit to smear these important programs. We need to make it clear that any attempt to privatize, cut, weaken or damage Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security or any of our earned benefits is completely unacceptable. Tell Congress: Stop the Republican attack on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Click here to sign the petition. Even before the Trump Tax Scam passed, Ryan was talking about his plans to gut Medicaid and Medicare in 2018. "We're going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform," he promised last month, suddenly rediscovering a passion for the deficit after pushing trillions in tax giveaways to the ultra-wealthy.2 Medicare is a fundamental tool of economic security for more than 58 million seniors, and the program is overwhelmingly popular.3,4 And throughout last summer, activists with the disability rights organization ADAPT and others showed Republicans just how important Medicaid is in their daily lives. The majority of Medicaid beneficiaries are children and working-age adults, Medicaid spends more money on long term care for seniors and people with disabilities than anything else.5 Social Security, meanwhile, is totally funded for the next two decades – longer if everyone pays at the same rate – and the only retirement income that most Americans can count on.6 Donald Trump repeatedly pledged during the 2016 campaign not to attack Medicare, Medicaid or our Social Security system but he has since seriously undermined these programs. Ryan's ultimate goal is to end Medicare as we know it and replace it with a privatized program.7 Now, Trump and his lapdogs in Congress are not just coming after Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, they are attacking programs like Meals on Wheels, SNAP, and other nutritional assistance that families rely on. Republicans are whipping up a fake deficit hysteria after giving massive giveaways to the rich as a Trojan horse to attack our earned benefits. We must go all out to resist any cuts. Tell Congress: Stop the Republican attack on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Click here to sign the petition. If Ryan gets his way, folks who have been working their whole lives counting on Medicare in their retirement won't ever be able to enroll – instead they will get a check that might help cover their premium for private insurance, if they are lucky.8 And if the Republicans are successful in their attacks on Medicare and Medicaid, they will come next for Social Security. What's more, our Social Security system is separate from regular taxes and not affected by the deficit.9 Republicans cannot attack our earned benefits without a major fight. More than 70 percent of Americans rely on these programs at some point in our lives, and we are not going to let Ryan, McConnell and Trump dismantle them.10 Tell Congress: Stop the Republican attack on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/No_Cuts?t=8&akid=26660%2E12967895%2E2lmdZ1 Thank you for your activism, Kaili Lambe, Director of Organizing
CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name:  | - Jeff Stein, "Ryan says Republicans to target welfare, Medicare, Medicaid spending in 2018," The Washington Post, Dec. 6, 2017.
- Ibid.
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, "Medicare Enrollment Dashboard," accessed Dec. 14, 2017.
- Dan Mangan, "Medicare, Medicaid popularity high: Kaiser," CNBC, July 17, 2017.
- Social Security Works, "Why Medicaid Is Important to Seniors," accessed Dec. 20, 2017.
- Carolyn Colvin, "Social Security Funded Until 2034, and About Three-Quarters Funded for the Long Term; Many Options to Address the Long-Term Shortfall," Social Security Matters, June 22, 2016.
- Josh Marshall, "Ryan Plans to Phase Out Medicare in 2017," TPM, Nov. 13, 2016.
- Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "Policy Basics: Understanding the Social Security Trust Funds," Sept. 21, 2017.
- Sarah Ayres Steinberg, "The Safety Net is Good Economic Policy," Center for American Progress, March 31, 2014.
- Rachel West and Melissa Boteach, "House Republican Cuts to Nutrition Assistance Would Harm Families in Every State," Center for American Progress, Aug. 8, 2017.
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