S Representative Ed Markey (Malden Catholic, Boston College, BC Law) is a fighter for consumer and environmental protection, job creation in the New Economy, Social Security, and health reform. He has regularly received highest ratings from the League of Conservation Voters, the Consumer Federation of America, the Children 's Defense Fund, the National Education Association, and Taxpayers for Common Sense.
Question: Given the current economic climate, what are your priorities for the budget surplus and why?
Answer: Seniors sacrificed to create a balanced budget - it is a ''Senior Surplus. '' Now that their sacrifice has produced a growing surplus, the sacrifice should be lessened immediately. The Congressional Budget Office confirms that the Medicare and Medicaid cuts under the Balanced Budget Act (BBA) of 1997 have soared to over $200 billion - nearly $100 billion more than was estimated in 1997. These cuts have devastated community and teaching hospitals, home health agencies, and nursing homes, all of which provide vital health services to our seniors.
Therefore, our first priority for the Senior Surplus must be to strengthen Medicare and Social Security. I favor: 1. keeping the trust funds for Medicare and Social Security in a budgetary lockbox; 2. restoring the excessive cuts made by the 1997 BBA, and 3. dedicating a substantial portion of the surplus to expand Medicare to include a prescription drug benefit.
In addition, we must turn our attention to building and repairing schools, hiring 100,000 new teachers, providing health insurance for more of the 44 million uninsured Americans, providing tax relief to working families in a targeted, responsible way, and ensuring that all our children receive the educational training needed to compete for jobs in the Information Age. It would be neither wise nor just, however, to use most or all of the surplus on a trillion dollar tax cut that disproportionately benefits the wealthy.
