Blum correspondence too light on details

I got an email from U.S. Rep. Rod Blum that contains the information about a bill he is sponsoring. This bill, H.Res. 1026, expresses the ' … sense of the of the House that Medicare and Social Security must be protected for current enrollees and future generations.”

This sounds good, but it is missing key information: How are they going to be protected?

These details are necessary because the most recent House Republicans' budget proposal includes $537 billion in cuts to Medicare and $1.5 trillion more cuts to Medicaid and other health programs. These cuts are to be instituted over 10 years. All of these cuts seem to be attempts to deal with the massive and expanding budget deficit that is the result of the current and future tax cuts, all of them sponsored and supported by Republicans. There also has been lots of talk about using the Social Security fund to deal with these deficits.

Which poses a question: How does Representative Blum propose to protect Medicare and Social Security? A specific answer without empty clichés would be helpful.

Jozef Figa

Cedar Rapids

' Editor's Note:

Due to an abundance of election-related community letters and limited newspaper space, some are being published only online in an effort to include as many voices as possible.