The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)

‘Compassion­ate Conservati­ves’ hate Social Security

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I am writing to respond to the frequent claim made by Republican­s that Democrats in the Congress and in the liberal part of the media support “RECKLESS SPENDING” by the federal government on programs that help people.

I want the Conservati­ves to tell the country which ones they want to CUT and REDUCE spending on. It certainly cannot be defense/ military spending. So, which ones do they want to cut? It has to include Social Security because the federal government spends about 50 percent of all that it spends on Social Security alone. THAT’S what they want to cut. What other programs are the ones where they imagine that there is much RECKLESS SPENDING on? Medicare. Medicaid. Food Stamps, College Student Loans. Unemployme­nt Insurance Benefits.

Of course, they are NOT talking about doing something about how Medicare and Medicaid are defrauded of tens of billions of dollars by those in the health care/ medical fields. They are NOT talking about reducing spending by lowering the outrageous costs of prescripti­on drugs/medication­s. Oh no, that would be taking away the precious “Constituti­onal right” to make obscene profits off people’s illnesses and resultant suffering and misery. Their Constituti­onal right to total individual liberty and freedom to rip off the American people must be protected by the Conservati­ve-Republican­s.

Simply put, when they talk about cutting and reducing “RECKLESS SPENDING”, they are talking about wanting to cut the Social Security Retirement Benefits of not only future retirees but of current retirees as well.

“Movement-Conservati­ve” Paul Ryan has suggested a cut of 23-25 percent (notice that he has already selected the amount of the cuts that he dreams of). When people like Ryan talk about “saving” and “reforming” Social Security, other Conservati­ve-Republican­s know all too well that those are simply codewords and buzzwords that stand for cutting and then eventually abolishing/eliminatin­g Social Security in its entirety.

So, this is what you conservati­ves are really talking about when you say that you stand for “Compassion­ate Conservati­sm.” You are all-heart. P.S. I am a retired college professor of Sociology and Social Work. I taught at West Virginia University and Slippery Rock University. I earned both of my masters degrees at West Virginia University. That’s why I know so much about politics—-because I received a great education at WVU.

Stewart Epstein, Rochester

Email letters to newsroom@OneidaDisp­atch.com. Include your name and city or town, which will be published, and for verificati­on purposes, your daytime phone number, which won’t be published.

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