Tonight on Real Time with Bill Maher, Dan Savage was his one-on-one guest of the evening.
They covered the US political quandary of Trump as president, with his tiny hands and 10 second attention span and inability to see Russia & Putin as hostile forces to The Republic.
They spoke of the Republicans and their efforts (so far unsuccessful) to “repeal and replace Obamacare”. Then Dan Savage said something truly cogent.
He said that the Republicans have convinced everyone in the country that programs like Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security are “entitlements” which Americans ‘feel entitled to’.
But the factual truth of the matter is that they aren’t entitlements at all.
They are #EarnedBenefits
He’s absolutely correct.
Our society bought the Social Contract that Americans deserved an old age of dignity and not to spend your final years in a Poorhouse, and that to achieve such a thing would require EVERYONE who works to contribute to the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds in their regular payroll. About 15% split between the worker and the employer.
So that when you got old enough (or became disabled, or were born with a life-long disability) to need it, medical care and living expenses money at least would be something the Federal Government would provide no matter which State you lived in.
People today still working and contributing have almost ALL been paying this payroll tax #FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) their entire working life.
So no, Medicare and Social Security are not “entitlements”. We don’t just expect them to come to us because we deserve them.
We worked for them our whole lives, and we deserve what was promised to us for all of those decades. These are #EarnedBenefits. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.
Thank you, Dan Savage, for reminding us that reality is sometimes only which way you decide to look at something.