U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell recently put forward the claim that Medicare and Social Security are major problems in respect to the national debt. To be sure, Social Security is part of the debt, but only because George W. Bush spent down the reserve fund to pay for the war in Iraq. The debt is not owed to some foreign country, but to the American taxpayers like you and me.
To mask the robbing of the trust funds, the Republicans in Congress call Medicare and Social Security “entitlements,” as if they are something draining on the Federal budget. In fact, they are self-funded out of payroll taxes. They have nothing to do with the Federal deficit. It is as if you purchased an insurance policy on your home, and when the house burned down, you were told by the insurance company that they had spent all your premiums, and would not pay you the “entitlement” of an insurance settlement.
It is time to replace Congressmen like Sean Duffy with someone who will represent us, rather than the Koch brothers and all the Wall Street one-percenters. That is why I am voting for Mary Hoeft for our 7th District House Representative. She will bring back true representation of northwestern Wisconsin interests in Congress.
Keith O. Anderson, Cumberland
