The Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, tasked with reducing the federal deficit, is the wrong body to recommend reforms to these social programs. The commission leaders are targeting numbers, and the people behind the numbers will suffer under this plan.

B’nai B’rith International, a long-time advocate for seniors, is concerned the burden of these proposals will fall disproportionately on the aged, the poor, and the middle class.

“We are dismayed that these programs, essential to the well-being of so many seniors, are in the chairmen’s cross hairs,” B’nai B’rith International President Dennis W. Glick said. “Social Security does not contribute to the deficit at all, so including it in a deficit-reduction plan is flat-out wrong and should be a non-starter.”

To be sure, the federal deficit is out of control. But the approach of the chairs is inequitable. On the surface, some of the proposals look plausible. But digging deeper, it’s apparent the plan would drastically reduce benefits over time.

“An appropriate starting point is agreeing on a goal—solvency, equity, and sufficiency for Social Security and Medicare—not cramming cuts to these programs into a deficit reduction scheme that appears to focus more on cuts than their ramifications,” B’nai B’rith Director of Aging Policy Rachel Goldberg, Ph.D., said.

We urge the commission to reject this blueprint. Fiscal controls are needed, but they won’t be accomplished through cuts in Medicare and Social Security benefits.