Via Healthcare Finance News (5.17.11):
Protesters rally against Ryan's Medicare cuts
by Diana Manos, Senior Editor
CHICAGO – Chicago-area and Wisconsin residents are protesting Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wisc.) plan to cut Medicare and Medicaid benefits.
Some 225 senior citizens, disabled residents and citizens from various organizations gathered outside the Economic Club of Chicago on May 16 while Ryan was presenting a plan that he has called "a roadmap to prosperity," according to Emily Stuart, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans.
The protesters, members of the Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans, Illinois Main Street Alliance, MoveOn, Access Living, ADAPT, SEIU HC and Citizen Action/Illinois, called Ryan's plan "a roadmap to ruin," Stuart said.
"It is irresponsible and unnecessary to talk about radically changing Social Security and Medicare," said Katie Jordan of the Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans. "These programs keep our most vulnerable people from falling into poverty. It is not another stock in your portfolio."
At the May 16th rally, protesters stated, "efforts to privatize Medicare and defund Medicaid will dramatically impact local economies, cost millions of jobs and leave countless senior citizens and disabled Americans with no safety net." How do you feel Congress can create jobs and stimulate real economic growth without leaving seniors and people with disabilities with the short end of the stick?
Please share your thoughts below.
Rep. Paul Ryan's radical ideas will leave persons with disabilities and senior citizens without any hope for survival. It is difficult to believe that it is more important to fund rich oil companies with tax exemptions than to support human beings.
It is difficult to believe that so many people were duped into voting for him.
I'm glad that there are so many people with disabilities and our seniors partnered to protest against his radical philosophy!
Posted by: Susan D. | May 20, 2011 at 04:23 PM