NCPSSM - National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
07/23/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/23/2024 10:56
National Social Security/Medicare Advocacy Group Endorses Kamala Harris for President
"The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare proudly endorses Kamala Harris for President of the United States. As Vice President, she has championed the administration's policies on behalf of older Americans - including strengthening Social Security and Medicare and lowering prescription drug prices for seniors. She has been in lockstep with the President in his pledge to protect Americans' earned benefits against Republican proposals to cut and privatize them - including Donald Trump.
'(We) will protect Social Security. Donald Trump will not,' Harris recently posted on social media. 'How can you claim to fight for seniors when you intend to cut Social Security and Medicare, which is a lifeline for so many older Americans?"'
Donald Trump, who once called Social Security a 'Ponzi Scheme' and said this year he was 'open' to 'cutting entitlements,' cannot be trusted to protect Social Security and Medicare. As President, he submitted successive White House budgets that would have slashed both programs by hundreds of billions of dollars. He recklessly suspended Social Security payroll contributions during the pandemic and hoped that the FICA tax would be 'terminated.' He actively spreads disinformation that undermines seniors' earned benefits - including the outright lie that undocumented workers are collecting Social Security.
Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, once called for trillions of dollars to be cut from 'entitlement' programs and for the conversion of Medicare into a voucher program. Vance has close ties to Heritage Foundation, which authored the infamous Project 2025 - a blueprint for a second Trump term that would shred vital social programs and repeal the Inflation Reduction Act (which is lowering drug prices for American seniors). Though he has reversed his position on benefit cuts, he, like Trump, does not merit the trust of seniors and their families.
Unlike the GOP ticket, Vice President Harris has always been on the side of older Americans as a consistent supporter of Social Security, Medicare, and lower drug prices. The Biden-Harris administration held the line against GOP-proposed benefit cuts - and was able to enact the historic Inflation Reduction Act, giving Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices with Big Pharma, capping insulin costs, and limiting seniors' out-of-pocket costs. But there is more to be done.
The battle to lower prescription drug prices must continue. Both Medicare and Social Security must be put on a sound financial footing and expanded to meet 21st century seniors' true needs. Further action is needed to crack down on the abuses of privatized Medicare Advantage plans and to preserve traditional Medicare. The Biden-Harris administration has made admirable efforts in that direction.
We proudly support the Vice President as she takes the lead on these crucial issues after so ably supporting the administration's commitment to seniors' financial and health security. We look forward to working with President Harris to build on the tremendous successes of the past four years." - Max Richtman, President & CEO, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
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Media inquiries contact:
Walter Gottlieb