A Villager was able to share with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell his fears about possible cuts to Social Security.
Village of Hadley resident Eric Lipsetts, told Mucarsel-Powell that he and his wife “do not live fancy,” during a meet-and-greet Tuesday morning at the Sumter County Democratic Party headquarters in downtown Wildwood.
Lipsetts told the candidate and a group of supporters that cuts to the Social Security program would adversely affect both he and his wife’s ability to reside in The Villages. He said their combined income from Social Security has been sufficient to enable them to enjoy The Villages’ lifestyle. A cut to those benefits would mean that they would be forced to drain their savings. They likely would be forced to move out of The Villages within three or four years, he told Mucarsel-Powell, who is poised to take on incumbent U.S. Rick Scott in November.
Mucarsel-Powell told the audience that one of the main reasons she decided to run is to protect Social Security. She said she watched her mother, who now lives with her, work 12-hour shifts every day to provide for her family.
“She worked hard for her benefits,” Mucarsel-Powell told the audience. “And now needs the Medicare benefits she has earned.”
She said that the Scott, as well as former President Donald Trump, has advocated raising the retirement age to 69, which would be a cut in benefits. She pledged to fight any cuts in Social Security or Medicare benefits.
Her solution to the coming shortfall in the Social Security trust fund is to lift the $168,600 cap on earned income subject to the tax so those earning in excess of $500,000 would pay Social Security taxes on those earnings.
Murcarsel-Powell, who represented Florida’s 26th Congressional District from 2019 to 2021, reminded the audience that the Social Security Act was signed into law by President Roosevelt on Aug. 14, 1935 and that the program has enabled millions of Americans to retire with dignity.
“Now instead of celebrating this anniversary, we find ourselves fighting to protect this program from Donald Trump and Rick Scott,” she said.
She said that Scott has proposed eliminating the Social Security and Medicare programs, as well as the Affordable Care Act.
Mucarsel-Powell also advocates increasing the basic Medicare benefits to include dental and optical care. She said that in order to save the Social Security program from the Republicans, the Democrats must elect Kamala Harris as president, keep control of the U.S. Senate and take control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Barbie Harden Hall who is hoping to defeat incumbent Congressman Daniel Webster for the District 11 seat which includes The Villages, stressed the importance of defeating Trump in November as both Trump and Scott would be a threat to the Social Security program.
“Too many in Congress are working for the benefit of their parties instead of working together for the people who voted for them,” Harden Hall said.
State Representative Tom Keen, who won election to the Florida Statehouse by winning in a district that had been held by the Republicans for 40 years, also urged the audience to turn out to support Democrats in November.
