Below is the August 1995 GVDC Newsletter, which I'm placing here as a test -- also because it was a special issue for our observance of the 60th Anniversary of Social Security & the 30th Anniversary of Medicare, and because it contained a lot of fun stuff.

August 1995 GVDC Newsletter _ page 1

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Bill on August 14, 1935. Watching are (from left) Rep. Doughton, Senator Wagner, Secretary Perkins, Senator Harrison (in rear), Senator King, Rep. David Lewis and Rep. Samuel Hill.

Welcome to the 60th Anniversary of
SOCIAL SECURITY !

... and the 30th Anniversary of MEDICARE !

Three generations of Americans, led by those who pulled our country up from the Depression and those who fought to save the world from the fascists, have benefitted from the Social Security system. In fact, the stability that Social Security provided was one of the major factors that helped President Roosevelt save Democracy and our economic system in the 1930s, when 25% of all Americans were unemployed.

On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Medicare Bill at the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, in front of the former President. President Truman had proposed a Medicare-like system twenty years earlier - 50 years ago now - but the conservative majority in Congress (Repubs + Dixiecrats) would not implement his proposal.

In fact, the original Social Security Bill called for a National Health system, but President Roosevelt removed it from the bill when the same conservative majority vehemently opposed it. It was not until the Democratic landslide in the 1964 election that liberal Democrats had a majority in Congress, which enabled them to pass Medicare.

However, since the election of Richard Nixon as President in 1968, most of our retired citizens have seen their benefits and their standard of living erode, as ever-growing budget deficits have fueled calls for reductions in "entitlements." Especially since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Entitlements_ are not solely made up of welfare checks, as the Republicans would have you believe. Entitlements_ also include military pensions and other pensions for retired Federal government workers. And entitlements_ also include Medicare and Social Security!

So when you hear Republicans or Dixiecrats-turned-Republicans running around calling for cuts in "Entitlements," they're not talking about Welfare. They're talking about YOUR pensions and YOUR Social Security and YOUR Medicare!

Some of the younger, more extreme right-wing Republicans in Congress even produced "Veterans" at recent Congressional hearings who said that they'd gladly reduce their pensions in order to balance the Federal budget. Ditto for recipients of Medicare and Social Security. Obviously, none of those testifying ever lived solely on their Social Security or on their military pensions. And none of them ever lost everything they had to pay for skyrocketing medical bills. Those testifying all had other incomes and could afford good medical insurance.

Following the Second World War, which ended 50 years ago this week, the United States enjoyed the highest standard of living in the history of the world. We led the world in environmental safeguards. We were the largest creditor nation in the world -- until the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Unbelievably, in less than eight years, President Reagan's irresponsible spending on military weapons that didn't work, on "Star Wars" and on secret shelters that not even Congress was told about bankrupted the Federal government. Reagan saw the United States became a debtor nation for the first time since before World War I. Reagan's deregulation of the Savings & Loan industry, spearheaded by Vice President Bush, bankrupted that industry and cost taxpayers further hundreds of billions of dollars. President Bush's yearly deficits dwarfed President Reagan's. Luckily, George Bush was only in office for four years.

<<---- Click to see National Debts Chart (22K)

The Republican-controlled news media is teaching Americans to hate their government. They're saying that your voice doesn't matter, that your vote doesn't count. They're lying.

But they've succeeded in reducing participation in our Democracy. 18% of the electorate voted for Republican Congressional candidates in the last (1994) election. And 18% voted for Democrats. The vast majority of Americans didn't vote. To save America, we ALL have to participate.

EVERYONE has to VOTE!

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Welcome to the 60th Anniversary of SOCIAL SECURITY ! ... and the 30th Anniversary of MEDICARE !

Welcome to the 60th Anniversary of
SOCIAL SECURITY !

... and the 30th Anniversary of MEDICARE !