Dear Editor:
I would like to thank U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-Red Hook, for the Town Hall meeting. The main focus for constituents was the guarantee of Social Security and Medicare. The congressman was correct in stating that the funds should be out of the hands of the politicians.
People do not understand: Social Security is not a guaranteed benefit. It can be manipulated, modified, skewed and distorted to meet political agendas. Currently, the program skews benefits based on income. They want to increase the debt ceiling to make sure the program is viable; in the next breath, they want to expand benefits that will undermine the very existence of Social Security The benefits should be given only to those who have participated in the program.
The same goes for Medicare and Medicaid. Legislation offered by state Sen. Sarahana Shrestha, D-Esopus, to provide health benefits for illegal immigrants is insanity. After having brought in the Fifth Column, now we have to provide benefits that will destroy all programs. No one ever has defined the rich. You can confiscate all the funds of every billionaire and yet it would not provide the money they are looking for. It is the working middle class they are after and want to suck them dry. Then society collapses.
Joan Paccione,
Woodstock, N.Y.
