My senator Bill Nelson's email response to a note I sent earlier this week...

Have to say I was a bit shocked that he dug deep into his democratic values for a change.


Dear Mrs. Dappleganger:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the long-term budget plan put forth by the House of Representatives in H.Con.Res.34, which the Senate rejected by a vote of 40 to 57. I voted against the bill because I was not satisfied with the scope and nature of the plan.

One of the main features of the House’s budget plan is the conversion of Medicare into a voucher-like program that funds private insurance plans without any safeguards for the maintenance of coverage. This would progressively increase the out-of-pocket costs for seniors as prices rise and coverage shrinks. To further reduce Federal spending, the plan relies heavily on cuts to health care services that help seniors afford nursing home and home health care. Altogether, these cuts would severely shortchange seniors on the investment they made over their entire working lives. Seniors paid into Medicare as a promise made to them by the Federal government. We shouldn’t allow the government to now break its promise and deny seniors the benefits they earned.

While I support reasonable cuts to discretionary spending, we must take care to ensure that the responsibility of deficit reduction does not fall solely on the backs of seniors or the middle class. What we need instead is a comprehensive approach to the Federal budget that not only eliminates duplicative programs, but also reduces extraneous spending and phases-out unnecessary and outdated tax breaks that only benefit a few large corporations. Furthermore, we must continue efforts to curb the fraud that plagues programs like Medicare and Medicaid and costs taxpayers billions.

Going forward, I am hopeful Congress will come together in the spirit of bipartisanship to support common-sense solutions to our fiscal challenges. I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future.

Sincerely,
Senator Bill Nelson

*************

He said this bill would convert Medicare into a voucher program? That's news to me, but if it's true then FUCK every single one of them who voted for this piece of shit bill!

dlc asskisser from waaaaaaay back and one of the worst tv performers of all time
he always looks like a freshly reanimated zombie when i see him on TV

Like he is referring to the Ryan budget bill. He said Thank you for contacting me regarding the long-term budget plan put forth by the House of Representatives in H.Con.Res.34, which the Senate rejected by a vote of 40 to 57....The current bill has not been voted on in the Senate.

But this deal is a deal breaker for me. Any Democrat that supports & votes for the bill before Congress now, I will actively work against them all.

The only progressive issue he cares about is Social Security - for good reason.

the debt ceiling/debt cutting one.