Letters: Debt ceiling debated

Regarding the federal deficit debate ["Both sides gotta give," Editorial, July 12], many politicians think that capping or cutting Medicare and Social Security is part of the solution. Most Americans don't agree. Polls show that at least 78 percent of people believe that Congress should find ways to solve the nation's deficit without cutting Medicare and Social Security.

Half of older Americans rely on Social Security for 50 percent or more of their family income. Medicare beneficiaries today pay an average of $5,500 in medical costs each year out of their own pockets.

After a lifetime of hard work and paying into the system, older Americans have a right to expect these benefits.

Peter Hanson, Nesconset

Editor's note: The writer is a legislative advocate for AARP.
 

Nobody likes to pay taxes, but they are necessary to maintain government and to provide services that most Americans expect. Several political candidates have proposed smaller government by cutting Social Security and Medicare.

I was a Depression Age baby and my father never stopped telling me about the men who stood on the street corners selling apples to support their families. My father also said, "Don't complain about paying taxes; it means that you are earning money. Isn't that better than being unemployed?"

Lucille Newman, Valley Stream
 

When the sky didn't fall after the first debt doomsday of May 3, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner extended the deadline to Aug. 2. This date too will prove meaningless.

If the debt ceiling is not raised and bills need to be paid, the executive branch can choose to use the tax withholding income that it receives throughout the year to pay interest on our debt. Foreign debt payments equate to less than 10 percent of the government's current revenue. All the president needs to do is make public that he has instructed the Treasury secretary to meet all loan obligations before paying other bills, and he will succeed in averting this "crisis."

Millions if not billions of our tax dollars are wasted on useless federal programs. The only way this debt is not paid is if the president feels it's more important to fund programs like the study of methane gas emissions from dairy cows rather than pay our foreign debt.

November's sweeping changes made by the voters to House of Representatives were a mandate to get our fiscal house in order and put Americans back to work. Republicans insisting on spending cuts without job-killing tax increases are fulfilling that mandate. Unless the president, solely for political reasons, decides otherwise, Aug. 2 will not be doomsday. In fact, it can be heralded as a great day in American history: the day our leaders finally decided to turn away from decades of reckless spending and put America on the road to fiscal recovery.

Mike Quadrino, Smithtown
 

It astounds me that supposedly intelligent, educated members of Congress seem to ignore the facts and have no knowledge of history. We the people are being asked to give up more of our benefits while getting nothing in return.

We are told that raising revenues (taxes) would be job killing. Well, with our present tax rates, which have been in effect for eight years, we have 9.2 percent unemployment, so we are not exactly stimulating jobs.

In fact, looking back over the last 20-plus years, the healthiest economic times were the late 1990s and 2000. Unemployment was at 4 percent, the federal government was running surpluses, and we had a reasonable tax rate.

Sooner or later all Americans avail themselves of federal benefits. Before we cut our own benefits beyond reason, we should all kick in just a little more.

Bruce Schoenberg, Smithtown