DENVER-In response to a possible government shutdown, advocates from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare and National Council of La Raza held a rally today on the west steps of the State House. The issue pointed to the millions that is marked for economic and retirement security of US families but would be threatened by a government shut-down. The groups said that they were sending a message to Congress to demand proper funding for and protection of critically important programs to middle-class residents such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Henry Barlow is the State Coordinator for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare,
“We are a group of volunteers who are organizing across the state and building groups of volunteers in each congressional district with someone in each district serving as coordinator of that district. Small groups of us have been in the offices of Senator [Mark] Udall and [Senator Michael] Bennett and to the congressional offices of Representative[s] [Jared] Polis, [Diane]Degette, [Scott]Tipton, and [Mike]Coffman. This is our first public event in a public forum, with invited guests. We expect to have many more such events and we invite you to join us. What we’re witnessing in Washington is cause for great concern. We hear much talk about shutting down the government and many cuts are now made that are vital to the health and wellbeing of our American population including older citizens, very low income, and very vulnerable people whose health is at great risk. The future income of retirees is very much at stake. In this event we will highlight the difficult situation many of our citizens face and we invite everyone to join us in our efforts to protect these vulnerable populations. I cannot overemphasize the need for us to be effective advocates. We must inform, educate, recruit, and mobilize our fellow citizens so that the hard-earned progress will not be lost in what is happening now.”
Jesus Altamirano is Regional Field Coordinator for National Council of La Raza,
“National Council of La Raza has continued to really call out on Congress to make sure that they understand what’s at stake for the Latino community. But not only for the Latino community but for all of Colorado and the rest of the nation. This issue about shutting down the government is not something that should be taken lightly. It is something that all Latinos across the nation especially in Colorado will have a detrimental effect on. In order for Congress to take into consideration what’s at stake for Colorado, take a look at the numbers of what’s going on with programs that are federally funded such as Head Start. Here in Colorado we would have 57,000 fewer children served including 21,000 Latinos out of which 501 would be impacted here in Colorado. For WIC [Women, Infants, and Children-food supplemental program for low-income women] we would have 7,100 participants lose access. [For] Title 1, 12,000 fewer lower income public school children would receive the help that they need to succeed. This is simply not acceptable for us to continue as a community, to continue as a nation to make sure that individuals get the help that they deserve. And not to mention that when social security and Medicare are being played with or being threatened that they will be cut or ages will be increased, this is something that the Latino community will be hurt more than any other community. And we want to make sure that everyone has the same benefits because of the things that they pay into and they should be getting at the same time. But assuming that the shut-down does in fact come to pass come tomorrow morning, what will happen? Just to give you an idea if the shut-down takes place 4,512 workers from the health and human services department will be furloughed. That’s nearly 52% of its staff. That means 52% of HHS’ staff will not be able to provide the benefits and resources that community members throughout Colorado, throughout the nation deserve. This has to stop. We call on Congress today to really pay attention to what’s at stake from their constituents. Today you’ll hear from other constituents who will be suffering directly if the government shuts down.”
Cecelia T. Flores is a community activist and volunteer with Denver Hispanic Organizations,
“Women will suffer more with these cuts that have families with children. If you cut off SNAP, how are they going to feed their kids? Cut out the food stamps, the kids are going to suffer. There are more single women that have children, there are women who are older that are by themselves and don’t have families to help them. I’d like to think that [in] our Latino culture we take care of our families and our mothers and fathers. I took care of my mother for 20 years until she died. And there are other cultures that do that same thing. I’m not saying that [just] the Latino culture does that. There are many other cultures that do that. But that is in a sense, our cultural safety net. We need a US safety net that isn’t stopped by Congress. We’ve gotta stop Congress from shutting down tonight. I was a federal employee when we had the last stoppage and we were sent home. I worked for the Small Business Administration. And for me, it was not that bad. I didn’t have a mortgage at that time but other people did. Other people had kids. And for those 3 weeks, they had to scramble to find money. And so please do not stop the government. I’m especially appealing to our Senators Udall, and to Senator Bennett, especially Senator Bennett. I will say that a white Latina is asking him not to be forward looking to support our cause for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.”
Barlow then talked about priorities for the group,
“Social Security hasn’t contributed a dime to the federal debt. So we don’t feel that it’s appropriate to treat SS as something to cut. We haven’t talked about how the future cost of living increase for SS would be calculated. The change CPI. That is something that will really hurt a lot of people over time. So we’re very much concerned about that. We are concerned that there may be a focus on Medicare when in fact the problem with healthcare in this country is the excessive cost apart from Medicare. We need to pay attention to how to cut the cost of healthcare generally so it is not pricing people out of the market or leaving them out in the cold. The problem with not implementing Obamacare is that there are people who are to some extent represented by those we have here that are homeless. Where will they go for healthcare? These are things that are very much on our minds.”
Refufia Gaintan/The Nation Report
