Jim Martin: “More cuts to Social Security and Medicare to boost your campaign is NOT acceptable, Mr. President.”
(Alexandria, Virginia) – President Obama plans to once again raid the Social Security and Medicare trust funds, this time to help fund a proposal to extend a lower interest rate for student loans, a move largely seen as an election year gimmick to prop up his falling numbers with younger voters. The initiative would lower the interest rate of government-backed student loans from 6.8% to 3.4%, and cost approximately $6 billion. Said 60 Plus Chairman Jim Martin:
“Once again the President proposes to have seniors foot the bill for his failed proposals and campaign promises, it’s like clockwork. So desperate is he to win back the support of the young voters who are abandoning him, he’s willing to trample on their grandparents for votes. I’m here to say that we won’t stand for it.
“If the President needs $6 billion for this initiative, there are lots of places he could get the funding that don’t involve using senior citizens as a welcome mat. Half the money could come from the $3 billion in loans to failed green energy companies like Solyndra, or the $500 million he is handing the I.R.S. to hire 4,000 additional Obamacare agents. Or maybe he could focus on collecting the more than $1 billion in taxes owed by federal employees.
“Better still, the President could agree to Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) proposal to tap some of the $8.3 billion slush fund Obama set aside for the Health and Human Services Administration (HHS) to delay millions of seniors from finding out they will be losing their Medicare Advantage coverage starting in October, which is a sound and fair idea. It’s bad enough the President cut $500 billion out of Medicare to pass his health care law, but to propose further cuts to seniors program to win votes is downright craven.
“I speak on behalf of seniors across the nation when I applaud Speaker Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for standing up to Obama’s attempt to make further cuts to vital seniors programs. It’s time the President stopped using seniors as a whipping boy, and pitting young and old against each other.”
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