Lobby, Organizing Materials for Protecting Medicare

Many single-payer activists and supporters have been thinking about, or already started, planning an event to protect Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security the week of December 10th (International Human Rights Day). To help, we created a number of resources you can use for a lobby visit or event. Download this letter (.doc) to sign and…

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Dec. 10 – Rally to Stop the “Grand Bargain”

As you know, President Obama is seeking a “grand bargain” to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff” coming at the end of the year. We already know that President Obama is willing to raise Medicare’s eligibility age from 65 to 67 and cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security by $650 billion. We need to stop any…

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Opening Positions On The Cliff Deal: Deja Vu All Over Again

By Robert Reich – So the bidding has begun. According to the Wall Street Journal (which got the information from GOP leaders), the President’s opening bid to Republicans is: — $1.6 trillion in additional tax revenues over the next decade, from limiting tax deductions on the wealthy and raising tax rates on incomes over $250,000…

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CEOs Underfund Employee Retirement, Demand Cuts For Elderly

By Christina Wilkie for Huffington Post – A group of high-profile corporate CEOs are lobbying Capitol Hill this week to put Social Security and Medicare cuts at the forefront of deficit reduction negotiations. Their own retirement funds, however, are secure: The coalition includes 54 CEOs who have amassed combined pension assets of more than $649…

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Americans Reject ‘Grand Bargain’ Cuts to Social Security and Medicare

By Kenneth Quinnell for AFL-CIO Blog – Reflecting what voters said in AFL-CIO’s election-night poll, a poll conducted on behalf of Democracy Corps and the Campaign for America’s Future (CAF) shows that voters strongly reject proposals to cut Social Security and Medicare. When asked which was more important, 70% of respondents said that protecting education, Medicare and Social…

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The Grand Bargain is a Grand Lie

Why the scheme being negotiated in Washington is one-sided and totally unfair By Cenk Uygur for Common Dreams – First of all, let’s establish that no one in Washington actually cares about balancing the budget. If they did, they would love this so-called Fiscal Cliff. It raises taxes and cuts spending, so it would massively…

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What will liberals do with their big election victory?

With fights over social security, Medicare, ongoing war, and other key progressive priorities looming, what will they do with their new power? By Glenn Greenwald for the Guardian – The greatest and most enduring significance of Tuesday night’s election results will likely not be the re-election of Barack Obama, but rather what the outcome reflects…

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Canadian Example Offers a Possible Path to Curbing US Medicare Costs

By Mike Mitka for News@JAMA – While Medicare costs continue to rise and Democrats and Republicans promote various plans to curb such spending, 2 researchers suggest politicians look north to Canada for solutions. In a Research Letter published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the authors compare Medicare spending from 1980 through 2009 in…

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Single-Payer Activists Protest Obama and Romney

From Free Speech TV and Democracy Now – Both President Obama and Mitt Romney appeared together in New York Thursday night (Oct. 18, 2012) for the annual Al Smith memorial charity dinner. Outside the event, a group of protesters including physicians and medical students rallied to call for a single-payer health insurance program.

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Private Insurers Profit by Ripping Off Medicare

Researchers say private programs like Medicare Advantage just add waste; Call for reformed, expanded Medicare for All From Common Dreams – New research by health care experts concludes that privately run insurance plans designed to supplement the Medicare system serve no truly useful purpose and instead of helping seniors receive better care, Medicare Advantage plans…

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