GOP: Keep your hands off Medicare, Social Security
Even though President-elect Donald Trump promised during his campaign not to make any changes to Social Security and Medicare, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Georgia Rep. Tom Price, who Trump appointed to oversee the national healthcare system, are in favor of privatizing Medicare.
Social Security and Medicare are not government handouts. They are entitlements paid for by one generation of workers to support one generation of retired and disabled workers, who contributed to the fund while they were still active. This has been going on for many past generations.
Medicare premiums are deducted each and every month from Social Security checks. Social Security is not part of the general fund and was not designed to bailout the federal government from any deficit even though it has borrowed billions of dollars from the fund and has never paid it back.
These programs are self-supporting and politicians should keep their hands off. I urge everybody to write to your congress representative and ask him or her not to vote in favor of privatizing Social Security and Medicare.
Alex Rubalcava, Fresno
This story was originally published January 11, 2017 at 12:19 PM with the headline "GOP: Keep your hands off Medicare, Social Security."