By Gene Roza
On July 2, activists from the Fresno area were joined by groups from the Modesto and Stockton areas on a bus to the Bay Area to protest cuts to Social Security along with more than 500 others in San Francisco. Fifty other locations throughout the nation including Los Angeles delivered the same statement.
We formed a human chain at the Federal Building against the chained CPI (Consumer Price Index), which would cut benefits. The message was and is: Tell President Obama “Hands off Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.” Escorted by San Francisco’s finest, we walked from the Federal Building, down Market Street passing out information to hundreds of onlookers, to Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office.
We asked everyone to call the President at 202-456-1414 and our Senators and Representatives at 877-762-8764 to tell them: No Cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid and Scrap the Cap. We also encouraged persons to get involved by joining the California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA), the California Nurses Association (CNA) and other organizations with parallel goals.
Social Security is the nation’s most successful program for seniors, people with disabilities and children who have lost a parent. Social Security pays for itself and does not contribute one cent to the national debt. Cuts to the needy are not the answer. Jobs with living wages and benefits should be a major part of getting this country working again.
CARA and others want to thank all those who took the time to carry the important message to San Francisco from Fresno, Oakhurst, Modesto and the Greater Bay Area. Help spread the word.
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Gene Roza is a charter member of CARA. Contact him at 559-905-3521 or c21generoza@aol.com.
