Currently, there is a lot of news about the Congressional Republican “tax cuts for the rich” plan, but hiding in the weeds are the cuts to social programs to support those plans.

The Republican budget, passed by the House of Representatives, cuts approximately $2.9 trillion from social programs, which includes an almost $500 billion reduction in Medicare spending.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has publicly endorsed changing Medicare to a voucher system, which would end that program’s benefit-based support to senior health care. Older Americans cannot be put at the mercy of such a system.

The average senior’s income per year is under $35,000, and a significant percentage of that is spent on health care. Increases in Medicare premiums or reduced coverage would cause increased health care spending for that segment of our population that can least afford it.

Medicare was put in place to provide consistent coverage for those who have retired and are on a fixed income. This benefit is not a gift, but one that has been earned during a lifetime of hard work.

Tax cuts to the most-wealthy and corporations must not be enabled by cuts to key social programs such as Medicare and Social Security. Such cuts would pose a severe threat to those who have retired or will do so in the future.

Please call, write or e-mail our senators and representative and tell them to oppose the Republican tax bill and to oppose any cuts to Medicare or Social Security.

Don Holmes

Buchanan