Republican efforts to 'strenghten' Social Security and Medicare

sThe Republican Party history on Medicare and Social Security is well-known:

1. Almost all Republicans in Congress opposed the creation of Social Security. 
2. 75% of Republicans in Senate try to kill legislation providing Social Security benefits to dependents and survivors as well as retired workers. 
3.  1950: 79% of the Republicans in the House and 89% of Senate Republicans voted against disability insurance to defeat it. 
4. 86% of Republicans in Senate oppose disability insurance. 
5. Ronald Reagan tried to prevent Social Security implementation. 
6. George H.W. Bush: Described Medicare in 1964 as “socialized medicine.” 
7. Republican Barry Goldwater ““Having given our pensioners their medical care in kind, why not food baskets, why not public housing accommodations, why not vacation resorts, why not a ration of cigarettes for those who smoke and of beer for those who drink.” 
8.  93% of Republicans in House and 62 percent in Senate voted to kill Medicare again. 
9. 1981-President Ronald Regan and Republicans cut $24 billion from Social Security. 
10. 1981-99% of Republicans in the House and 98% in the Senate voted for legislation containing $22 billion in Social Security and Medicare cuts. 
11. President Ronald Reagan and Senate Republicans proposed $40 billion in benefit cuts over three fiscal years 
12. 1996-Republican Bob Dole openly bragged that he was one of 12 House members who voted against creating Medicare in 1965. “I was there, fighting the fight, voting against Medicare”. 
13. 2004-Every Republican voted against the solvency of Social Security and Medicare under President George W Bush. 
14. 2005-2006: President George W Bush and Republicans tried to privatize Social Security opting to put some funds into the Stock Market 
15. 2009-137 House Republicans voted to convert the Medicare program that provides 46 million Americans with health insurance into a system of vouchers
16. Sep 2009: In September, Sarah Palin penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed which similarly called for “providing Medicare recipients with vouchers that allow them to purchase their own coverage 
17. Republican Michele Bachmann said “people need to be weaned off Social Security and Medicare and that, essentially, the American social safety net ought to be privatized."

From: Harry Hope <rivrvu@ix.netcom.com
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,alt.politics.liberalism,alt.fan.rush-limbaugh,alt.politics,alt.politics.usa,alt.rush-limbaugh,alt.society.liberalism Subject: Why Are Republicans Trying To Destroy Our Social Security?
Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2010 07:27:34 -0400