In Destroying Social Security, GOP Has No Plans For Elderly Americans
In Destroying Social Security, GOP Has No Plans for Elderly Americans, Barbara G. Ellis, Truthout, Oct. 2, 2018.
Why do hosts on Sunday talk shows never ask congressional Republicans if they know their cleverly designed bills to destroy Social Security mean that most Americans will have penniless, elderly parents or relatives underfoot day and night? Indeed, that was the case prior to August 14, 1935, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law.
Killing Social Security would force most recipients- currently more than 59 million- back to those terrible days of retirees trying to survive on minuscule savings, unreliable pensions and investments. The culture and laws of previous centuries expected those families to take care of the elderly financially, physically and emotionally.
Some 30 states still have “relative-responsibility” laws mandating total support. Indeed, many of those laws now permit eldercare facilities to sue families for unpaid bills.
So, willingly or not, most sons and sons-in-law housed and fed their elderly. Daughters and daughters-in-law bore the physical and emotional cost of becoming caregivers for relatives experiencing the effects of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease until the relative’s death.
Nearly 50 percent of Congress’s 534 members are now millionaires who probably shipped grandma or great-uncle Willy to retirement communities or nursing homes. For the rest of us, Republican lawmakers’ answers to a TV host’s critical “underfoot” question would be a game-changer at the ballot box.
Any hesitation, side-stepping or lying would mean they either don’t care about those impacted, or are afraid to defy their donors’ never-ending plots to destroy Social Security. Election in November’s midterms will depend on their answers, and honesty may not be the best policy for political careers. -Read More...
https://truthout.org/articles/in-destroying-social-security-gop-has-no-plans-for-elderly-americans/
= new reply since forum marked as read
assistance. Children have traditionally been the helpers of elders in many countries for thousands of years. I recall hearing a wise Jewish expression years ago, 'Who will bury you?'
And it sounds like you'll be OK.
Besides the ACA, the GOP has targeted Medicare for ages but I don't now the current status.
Medicaid for low income people (and the disabled) has had the recent imposition of new 'work requirements' in some states. And people are having difficulty meeting the new rule, especially in de-industrialized or more rural areas that lack jobs, and public transportation systems to get to work.
Cuts to the safety net and healthcare impacts so many people and is why diverse groups and organizations- the disabled, elderly, LGBTQ and poor- have been protesting against changes, and Kavanaugh's confirmation given his views and far right record.
