LOS ANGELES, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Senior citizens at an AARP annual conference in Los Angeles said the future of critical federal programs looked uncertain as budget woes dominate the news.
"There is a certain level of uncertainty," said Keith Brown, 59, a a retired federal employee Virginia, The Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
Brown recommended taxing the rich before cutting vital programs.
Samuel Campbell, 69, a retired teacher from Georgia, said, "They think if they take money from Medicare and Medicaid, it will solve the budget problems. They aren't thinking what it will do to the people who rely on Medicare and Medicaid."
Lynda Flowers of AARP's Public Policy Institute warned that one proposal that would essentially shut down Medicaid and turn in into block grants for states, just made the program all the more vulnerable. "States could run out of money and they would have to make up the difference by cutting services," she said.
AARP Chief Executive Officer A. Barry Rand said, "If these benefits are cut, as many political leaders now propose, it would force millions of older Americans and their families out of the middle class, closer to the dangers of poverty. We are all fighting and we must all fight to make sure that doesn't happen."
As the Republican party gears up to choose a candidate to challenge President Barack Obama in the next national election, the rhetoric has been heating up concerning entitlement programs, especially with an economic recover on weak legs.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican candidate, has called Social Security a "Ponzi scheme," and a "monstrous lie," the Times said.
