By Mark Cavatorta
● “Never in the history of the world has any measure been brought here so insidiously designed as to prevent business recovery, to enslave workers and to prevent any possibility of the employers providing work for the people,”.
● “It is not needed. It is socialism. It moves the country in a direction which is not good for anyone, whether they be young or old. It charts a course from which there will be no turning back... It is not only socialism – it is brazen socialism.”
We hear messages like the ones above in our current media and social media, in response to health care for all, raising the minimum wage, free education for all, etc. The first quote is Rep. John Taber (R-NY) in 1935, when FDR and Democrats created the Social Security Administration. The second quote is Senator Carl Curtis (R-Neb.) in response to Lyndon Johnson’s and Democrats’ 1965 Medicare Program. I am a 69-year-old retiree. If it were not for Medicare, I could not have retired. Without health insurance, my wife and I would risk losing all that we spent 50 years working for, to pay medical bills. The thought of working until I die, to have health insurance, is a grim thought. This would be the case for millions of Americans. Social Security provides retirees at least enough monthly income to help pay monthly bills. This is again, the case for millions of Americans who just want to lead a decent life. Whenever I take out my Medicare card or see a deposit in my account from Social Security, I thank Democrats for making my life, and millions of other Americans’ lives easier. We now are in the middle of a pandemic that has taken the lives of thousands of Americans. Millions have lost their jobs where they received medical insurance. Now they face a future (no one knows how long) without health coverage or income. Daily, they live with the very real fear of an illness or injury resulting in medical bills that would bury them financially for years and years. There are millions of working Americans without health insurance, living with that same daily fear, for years. One reason that Senate Republicans give for not providing an adequate Covid-19 relief package is that it will add to the national debt. I have a suggestion: Roll back the massive Republican tax cuts given to the super-rich in 2017, which added trillions of dollars to our national debt. I think it is fair to ask millionaires and billionaires to pitch in to help their fellow Americans who are struggling to feed and house their families. How many millions does a person need? Our working class is the foundation of our democracy and economy. Without a strong foundation, buildings come crashing down, and no one in that building escapes injury. For the COMMON GOOD, let’s take care of all of our fellow Americans.
Mark Cavatorta Hebo,OR
Headlight Herald Letter to the Editor August 26,2020
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jGaIhL1LMw8m-TH44zjcpM-crc587gwB/view