Blog
October 26, 2022
Retiree Group Endorses Mandela Barnes for Election to U.S. Senate
Cites His Commitment to Protecting Earned Social Security and Medicare Benefits
Madison – Members of the Alliance for Retired Americans proudly announced their endorsement of Mandela Barnes for election to the U.S. Senate from Wisconsin today. The Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans is a grassroots advocacy organization with more than 107,000 members across the state.
“Lieutenant Governor Barnes has shown with his positions that he will look out for seniors’ best interests in Washington,” said Gary Mitchell, President of the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans. “We trust him to work to expand and increase our hard earned Social Security and Medicare benefits. He knows that many seniors in Wisconsin rely on those benefits, and he’s working to protect all of our retirement security.”
Barnes’s opponent, Sen. Ron Johnson, has earned a lifetime score of just 4% in the Alliance’s Congressional Voting Record and does not support protecting Social Security benefits. In fact, Johnson called Social Security a “Ponzi Scheme” and voted to raise the retirement age to 70. He wants to gut Social Security and Medicare by requiring Congress to vote on whether to continue the programs every year.
In addition, Mr. Mitchell praised Sen. Barnes’s support for the Inflation Reduction Act, legislation to make vaccines free for all Medicare beneficiaries; lower drug costs by requiring Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for seniors; cap out-of-pocket drug costs at $2,000 a year; and cap insulin copays at $35 per month. Johnson voted against the Inflation Reduction Act and has even denounced it.
“The stakes couldn’t be higher for seniors. We need Mandela Barnes in the Senate fighting against any Republican plan to cut or ‘sunset’ Social Security and Medicare,” emphasized Mitchell. “Under the plan of Sen. Rick Scott (FL), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Social Security and Medicare would be automatically terminated within five years unless renewed by legislative action.”
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Contact: Gary Mitchell, gdmitche@wisc.edu