Stop Sen. Blunt's crazy, cowardly ploy to cut Medicare and Social Security

7.21.2011

Stop Sen. Blunt's crazy, cowardly ploy to cut Medicare and Social Security

Tell Sen. Blunt: It's crazy to cut Medicare and Social Security.

Hold Sen. Blunt accountable

Clicking here will automatically add your name to this petition to Sen. Blunt:

"The constitutional amendment you are supporting to 'balance the budget' will inevitably lead to brutal cuts to Social Security and Medicare, while preventing tax increases on the rich. This constitutional amendment is not a plan for fiscal responsibility — it represents a crazy imbalance between the needs of our nation and the greed of a few."

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Dear Friend,

No matter how dire the situation, Senate Republicans seem determined to prove they can act irresponsibly.

Senate Republicans are unanimously supporting a draconian constitutional amendment that they claim will balance the budget, but is really nothing but a cowardly ploy to force devastating cuts to vital social programs, including Social Security and Medicare, while writing into the constitution an impossible requirement — a two-thirds vote — to raise taxes.

Last week, in a column called "Getting to Crazy," Paul Krugman closed by noting that "there has been no pressure on the G.O.P. to show any kind of responsibility, or even rationality — and sure enough, it has gone off the deep end."

We agree. We need you to be part of that pressure. Even though we know it is unlikely that Republicans will break ranks and do the right thing, we must hold individual Republicans like Sen. Blunt accountable to reality and let him know his constituents see through his fantasy proposals.

Tell Sen. Blunt: It's crazy to cut our Social Security and Medicare benefits while protecting the Koch brothers and Paris Hilton from paying their fair share. Click here to automatically sign the petition.

Even worse, the amendment the Senate Republicans are backing wouldn't actually balance the budget, rather it would arbitrarily cap government spending at 18% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

To put this in perspective, the last time government spending was 18% of GDP was 1966. And no president in nearly half a century, Republican or Democrat, has even proposed a budget where spending is 18% of GDP or less.¹

It's simply insane.

And this is the crux of the real problem.

The Big Lie spread by Fox News and its Tea Party allies is that the United States — the richest country in the history of the world — is too broke to afford a social safety net.

The fact of the matter is that right now we are confronting the effects of a tax-cutting binge and an eagerness for wars of choice that conservatives and so-called moderates in both parties have been indulging in for decades.

You have to go back 60 years to find a time where the U.S. government took in less taxes revenue relative to our GDP than the government takes in today.²

And yet, the Republicans tell us that they think the responsible thing to do is to put Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block so we can afford tax cuts for the Koch brothers.

They need a reality check that only you can provide.

Tell Sen. Blunt: It's crazy to cut our Social Security and Medicare benefits. Click here to automatically sign the petition.
Thank you for speaking out to defend Medicare and Social Security.

Matt Lockshin, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

1. "Spending Cap Is Bad No Matter How You Slice It," Michael Linden and Michael Ettlinger, American Prospect, 07-18-2011.
2. "Historical Source of Revenue as Share of GDP," The Tax Policy Center, 03-25-2011

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