I have made calls to the offices of my representatives asking them to reconsider using Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and in my case, veterans benefits, as a means to reduce the national budget deficit. We have sacrificed enough, and it’s time to stand firm against the assault on our daily lives and future retirement needs. As citizens we have acquiesced to the slow yet steady erosion of government for, by, and of the people and we have complacently surrendered that government to the abusive power of wealth to such an extreme as to allow our laws to give corporations the right of personhood and its money the right of speech.
Republican representatives and conservative Democrats have placed the burden on the middle-class, elderly, and poor rather than add a 4 percent tax on the top 5 percent owners of wealth who have the means to absorb the cost. We did not create this economic mess. The truth is that our country has been economically pillaged by the power of money and greed of wealth. We can continue to proceed blindly and silently into this future, or we can shake the spell by speaking up and participating in our democracy before it is gone.
Richard Raitano
La Center
