TO THE EDITOR:
I appreciate Mr. Philip Johnson’s response last week to my column (“No, Senator Johnson, it’s not a Ponzi scheme,” CN+R, Feb. 16-22), in which I called for “ongoing and responsible policy analyses and debates to assure the continued solvency of Social Security and Medicare.”
I think he and I agree it is vital, using his words, that there is “a retirement and medical program that will be sustainable and offer like benefits to what we currently have.”
I also agree with Mr. Johnson’s concern about the federal debt. In a recent Forbes article, the author aptly indicated that the debt “could negatively impact the U.S.’s position as a global political, economic and social power.” She placed responsibility for the debt on “pretty much every administration.”
I agree that we are in a period of “disunity,” but I hope it is not “fanciful” to be optimistic about efforts to safeguard the economic and healthcare security of American workers and retirees. In signing the 1983 Social Security Amendments, President Reagan gave cause for such optimism: “Each of us had to compromise one way or another. But the essence of bipartisanship is to give up a little in order to get a lot.”
We all should be concerned if we can’t find ways to work together to address essential issues facing our state, nation and world. I remain optimistic that we can. Keep in mind the bipartisanship we have seen with passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and the CHIPS and Science Act as well as in the support of Ukraine. Let’s join in expecting our elected leaders to act responsibly in word and action.
Dennis Streets, Pittsboro