To the Editor:

Thank you, Congressman Paul Tonko, for signing onto a letter with other congressional Democrats, asking Speaker Kevin McCarthy to cleanly raise the debt ceiling without cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

Speaker McCarthy is scheduled to speak in New York today, April 17, about the debt ceiling and the need for budget cuts. We must all keep in mind that Republicans are proposing cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

For example, Senator John Kennedy and Congresswoman Nancy Mace have both discussed raising the retirement age. Making fewer people eligible to receive retirement benefits would constitute a “cut” to Social Security. On Feb. 10, 2023, Time.com published an article which summarizes various GOP proposals to cut Social Security, including a proposal by the Republican Study Committee to raise the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67 and the Social Security eligibility age from 65 to 69.

Senator Ron Johnson has said that Congress must look at “everything” when considering budget cuts. The list of Republicans who would consider cuts to Social Security and Medicare goes on. The fear is that Speaker McCarthy will demand cuts to these programs in order for the debt ceiling to be raised.

Raising the debt ceiling is necessary for the country to pay its bills for debts that it has already incurred. Republicans did not hesitate to raise the debt ceiling during the Trump administration. Seniors and folks receiving disability benefits should not be made to suffer, and the benefits on which they depend should not be used as bargaining chips.

Congressman Tonko has joined other Democrats in asking Speaker McCarthy to negotiate in good faith for a “clean” debt ceiling without extraneous policies, including cuts to Social Security and Medicare. I would like to use this forum to thank Congressman Tonko for his advocacy and for working to protect benefits for millions of Americans.

Jill Loew

Guilderland