For Congresswoman Cheri Bustos, it has always begun with listening.
That’s why on just about any given Saturday, you can find her walking the aisles of one of the many grocery stores across the 17th Congressional District, in what she calls “Supermarket Saturdays.” From cities like Moline, Rockford and Peoria, to smaller communities like Canton, Kewanee and Galena, she walks the aisles to ask folks what’s on their minds, what they want her to know, what they want her to fight for or fight against. And she wants to know about them personally:
Protecting Medicare and Social Security
Medicare and Social Security are sacred trusts that we must protect.
Since 1965, Medicare has been a solemn promise to our nation’s seniors: if you work hard and pay your taxes, health care coverage will be there for you when you need it most. I will fight to keep that promise for both current and future generations.
To ensure Medicare’s long-term financial stability, I support the implementation of common sense reforms like switching to electronic medical records to lower costs and better coordinate services. I also think it’s long past time that we pass common sense reforms to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices to reduce costs for taxpayers and seniors.
Social Security is another vital safety net program that our seniors rely on. I believe that we need to make the expansion of Social Security a priority – even if it means asking millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share. Because of this commitment, I strongly oppose any effort to gamble Social Security on Wall Street through privatization or to allow any cuts to guaranteed benefits.
Our seniors have worked hard to retire with dignity and I will always stand up for them.