A longtime professor of literature at Bucks County Community College, Chris Bursk, knows that not every story has a happy ending.
Much as the 68-year-old teacher loves his job, Bursk isn’t entirely thrilled at the prospect of working till age 80. “I’d like to retire. But I don’t think I could afford it,” he said.
His students’ future seems bleaker still, Bursk said. “So many worry about the world they will inherit and how they will get by,” he said.
That’s an excerpt from the Bucks County Courier Times coverage of Penn ACTION’s Work ’till You Die event at the office of Cong. Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-08). The world Chris Bursk’s students will inherit will be a lot harder for them if the Ryan/Fitzpatrick plan to destroy Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security is made law. To help prevent that from happening, the Save Social Security Coalition, which is led in Pennsylvania by Action United and Penn ACTION, held four similar events around Pennsylvania on April 28 and 29 to say no to the Ryan plan to end Medicare as we know it and to reduce Social Security benefits.
The event at Cong. Fitzpatrick’s office was postponed until May 5, when sixteen concerned citizens came out to hold the Congressman accountable for his support of the foolhardy Ryan plan. The theme of the event was Work ’till We Die, which is a reference to any attempts to raise Social Security’s retirement age or Medicare’s eligibility age. We brought out props to remind the Congressman that some jobs involve not only the standard emotional stresses that employment brings but also physical stresses like lifting heavy objects (waitress trays, tools) or working in loud environments (construction work). For people in those lines of work, working at those jobs past their forties is a long shot. To suggest that they should stay on the job until they are 70 is an outrage. And, to take away their Medicare, which most people need to treat injuries and illnesses incurred by a lifetime of living, is a sin.
You can see the Courier Times’ video of the event – including our walk up to the Congressman’s office – here. If you support Social Security and Medicare and want to see those programs strengthened instead of turned into privatization schemes that benefit the middlemen on Wall Street, leave a comment below. We’re especially interested in hearing from people who have benefited or are benefiting from Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.
Background: In April, Congressman Fitzpatrick joined with every other Republican member of the House to vote Yes on the Ryan plan to end Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. During the week of April 28, Penn Action called out members of Congress–including Representatives Barletta, Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, and Meehan, who have voted
- for proposals to replace Medicare with a coupon that after ten years will provide only one third of the benefits seniors get today;
- for a $1.7 billion reduction in Social Security
- to slash 1.4 trillion from Medicaid which provides health care fo seniors, women, children and people with disabilities
- to give another $1.1 trillion tax cut to the richest Americans and cut their tax rate and the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25%.