Aging And Retirement
SOCIAL SECURITY is one of the most important and effective programs to help Americans that we have ever instituted as a nation. I will never support any cuts or restrictions to Social Security. I am in favor of expanding Social Security. Though it was never meant to serve as a retirement program, currently 20% of couples and nearly half of unmarried Americans rely on Social Security for at least 90% of their retirement. The majority of all Americans rely on it for at least half of their retirement. Efforts must be made to help Americans retire with dignity, and keeping Social Security strong is central to those efforts. Social security benefits need to increase with inflation and cost-of-living increases.
I strongly support MEDICARE and would oppose any weakening of the program. I also support its expansion to include other necessary health services such as eye glasses and hearing aids. The federal government should be able to negotiate drug prices in the Medicare program to help make drugs more affordable.
Older Americans are rightly concerned about rising PROPERTY TAXES. When property, sales, gas, and other similar taxes go up, it affects the poor and middle class far more than the wealthy, especially when they are on a fixed income in retirement. We must make our tax system more fair, and that means making the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share. One of the best things the federal government can do is give aid to local governments to help pay for education and infrastructure. That way, regressive local taxes like property taxes can be kept down.
We need to fix the LONG-TERM CARE system. The cost of long-term care is too high and has priced most Americans out. At the same time, the care providers are underpaid. I authored and succeeded in passing a bill in the Minnesota Legislature that increased pay for home care providers. In Congress, I will support efforts to provide Americans with financial protections for long-term care, promote programs that will help people remain in their own homes rather than be forced to go to a facility, and set strong standards for both at-home and facility care. We should make sure that all who need these services can get them, confident that they won’t be financially ruined or mistreated.