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Senior Citizen Politics
Senior Citizens Hear Little on Social Security or
Medicare in State of Union
 'Senior citizens' never mentioned and 'elderly'
mentioned once
January 24, 2007 Although President Bush spoke
for nearly an hour in delivering the State of the Union address last
night, the entitlement programs, which primarily serve America's 37
million senior citizens, was mentioned in only one paragraph. The term
"senior citizens" was not used at all and "elderly" was used once.
In an early part of the speech, he talked about the
need to balance the budget and made this statement about entitlement
programs:
"And, finally, to keep this economy strong we must
take on the challenge of entitlements. Social Security and Medicare and
Medicaid are commitments of conscience, and so it is our duty to keep
them permanently sound. Yet, we're failing in that duty. And this
failure will one day leave our children with three bad options: huge tax
increases, huge deficits, or huge and immediate cuts in benefits.
Everyone in this chamber knows this to be true -- yet somehow we have
not found it in ourselves to act. So let us work together and do it now.
With enough good sense and goodwill, you and I can fix Medicare and
Medicaid -- and save Social Security."
Although saying government is failing to keep these
key programs "permanently sound" and that Medicare and Medicaid can be
fixed and Social Security saved, he offered no specific suggestions on
how to achieve these goals.
In 2005, Social Security was the centerpiece of the
State of the Union address. With the President Bush saying the words
Social Security 18 times, as he pushed for private investment
accounts.
Last year, Social Security was mentioned only three
times in the State of the Union, while Medicare and Medicaid received
two mentions. The only real proposal of action came late in the 2006
speech. It lasted for two paragraphs proposing "a commission to examine
the full impact of baby boomer retirements on Social Security, Medicare,
and Medicaid."
In his first address to Congress in 2001, Bush
mentioned Social Security 14 times and Medicare 12 times. He announced
he would form a presidential commission to reform Social Security.
He also said in that 2001 address "Medicare must be
modernized, and we must make sure that every senior on Medicare can
choose a health care plan that offers prescription drugs."
Probably the most far-reaching proposal in last
night's speech concerned to steps he is proposing improve health care.
It was in this introduction that he made the only
mention of the "elderly."
He said, "When it comes to health care, government
has an obligation to care for the elderly, the disabled, and poor
children. And we will meet those responsibilities. For all other
Americans, private health insurance is the best way to meet their needs.
But many Americans cannot afford a health insurance policy."
He proposed a standard tax deduction for health
insurance that will be like the standard tax deduction for dependents.
The second proposal is to help the states that are
coming up with innovative ways to cover the uninsured. "States that make
basic private health insurance available to all their citizens should
receive federal funds to help them provide this coverage to the poor and
the sick."
The two health care proposals were actually
introduced in a radio address to the nation last Saturday and further
details were provided in a White House briefing on Monday.
When asked if the proposal for a tax break on
health insurance would apply to the supplemental health insurance
purchased by millions of senior citizens to pay costs not covered by
Medicare, the White House spokesman was unsure.
>>
Read the enter speech, watch video and more from the White House, click
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