By Robert Nuese
Dear Commissioner Frank Bisignano,
I received your letter. It looked like an official Social Security Administration (SSA) communique, but I could see it was not from the institution that, as you say, “For nearly 90 years … has been a cornerstone of economic security for older Americans.”
So, it must have come from you, Commissioner.
I’d like to explain how the many astoundingly bad measures in “The One Big Beautiful Bill” will hurt Americans; how loss of health care for 17 million Americans will damage the health of the entire nation; how loss of food assistance, for millions of children who depend on it, will hurt them through their entire lives; how increasing the federal deficit by $4 trillion, without investing that money in benefits for most citizens, will mean less prosperity for all but a microscopic minority; how the tax changes, sold as beneficial to everyone, give less than $300 savings to a family earning under $50,000 a year, but give $90,000 to those with $1 million annual income.
It would take many pages to debunk the many lies inherent in your ludicrous claim that the bill will provide “… meaningful and immediate relief to seniors who have spent a lifetime contributing to our nation’s economy.” But the truth is simple. The bill will cause a colossal shift of wealth from regular folks to the super wealthy, and an overall impoverishment and sickening of our nation.
Your fraudulent letter confirms you don’t intend to do the job the American people have given you. That job can only be done by someone with thorough expertise in the field, and a passion to serve and protect our fellow Americans. You have neither. You only have the competence to do the job you’ve really been assigned: destroy Social Security.
There is only one way that you can say, “Social Security remains committed to providing timely, accurate information to the public and will continue working … to ensure beneficiaries understand how this legislation may affect them.” That is that you are lying.
Robert Nuese is a retired general/electrical contractor who receives Social Security in Graton.
I strongly disagree with Mr. Nuese. In fact, much of the big, beautiful bill was tailored made for the majority of the population of Healdsburg. First off, the 2017 tax reduction was scheduled to expire had this bill not been passed. The continuation of these cuts saves the average taxpayer thousands of dollars. Second, the largest demographic in Healdsburg is seniors. Seniors who make under $75,000 receive a $6,000 tax deduction. This deduction decreases for higher earners up to $175,000. Third, our main industry is hospitality, and this bill has no tax on tips or overtime. For our families, there is an increase in the childcare credit to $2,200.
Mr. Nuese is concerned about a loss of healthcare, but where was he in May when Govenor Newsom proposed freezing Medi-Cal for undocumented and charging premiums for undocumented currently enrolled? Mr. Nuese makes other baseless claims in his letter, but it is clear he doesn’t care about facts getting in the way of his opinions. Yes, the wealthy will get their proportionate benefit from this bill, but to get something like this passed within six months in office is historic.
The majority of Healdsburg will greatly benefit from the big, beautiful bill. Don’t let you hate of the current administration distort the fact that this is a good thing. If there is any person or group in Healdsburg hurt by this bill, everyone else will have thousands of extra dollars to help them out.